WTN: White Burgundy

This evening, CSW hosted Fabio Montrasi (from Milan; married a French woman whose family owns Chateau des Rontets in Fuisse). Here are the wines:

Rontets 2007 Pouilly-Fuisse Clos Varambon ($32.99) - aromas of tart green apple and wild flowers, the mouth is a laser of green apple and minerals, with acidity in spades, a very nice Chablis-like wine

Rontets 2007 Pouilly-Fuisse Pierrefolle ($39.99) - nose of tart green apple, the mouth is a bit rounder than the Varambon, with the same mineral backbone, very nice

Rontets 2007 Pouilly-Fuisse Les Birbettes ($44.99) - from the oldest vines (planted between 1910 and 1920), nice wine but liked the Pierrefolle a little more

Rontets Saint-Amour 2009 ($26.99) - this is gamay juice from Beaujolais, beautiful nose of cinnamon and strawberry, in the mouth the wine is intense, tight and on the acidic side for gamay

I have no experience with Rontets but those prices seem high for Pouilly-Fuisse. When you use words like very nice does that imply that you think it is worth the premium over more modestly priced Pouilly?

My notes are my perception of each wine (generally irrespective of price; although there are limits to that). I have the benefit of working a few blocks from CSW and they offer some very interesting wine tasting opportunities. I'm not always a buyer of the wines that are offered at these tasting, but I have recently started to post some brief notes from these tastings on WLDG (hopefully they're of interest to some of the readers).

More specific to your question, this was my first exposure to Rontets. When I allocate money to white burgundy, I generally buy at the bourgogne level...recent purchases include Matrot and Bouvier; picked up both for about 20 bucks a bottle. The Rontets are very nice wines, but they don't fit my current wine budget. So I can't say whether they're worth (or not worth) the premium from your perspective.....although the Pierrefolle at $30 instead of $40 would have drawn my interest. I hope this helps.

Did you go to the riesling tasting on Saturday? I was dashing in to pick up some wine and was tempted by the offerings (especially the 2004 Schloss Johannisberg, which would have been nice to try) but they were only just then opening the wines and I had to run.

I did. I really liked the Schafer-Frolich 2009 Nahe Estate Riesling Medium Dry - peach, grapefruit and lemon peel on the palate, decent complexity, good value for $21.

The Rontets are very nice wines, but they don't fit my current wine budget. So I can't say whether they're worth (or not worth) the premium from your perspective.....although the Pierrefolle at $30 instead of $40 would have drawn my interest. I hope this helps.

Yes this helps. Thanks.