WTN: Mâconnais

2009 Domaine Michel Cheveau Mâcon-Fuissé Les Grandes Bruyères
From a single vineyard in Fuissé. Medium-bodied, well balanced, steely, mineral, Chablis-like, with citrus and apple notes. Very good. This has been a reliable wine for me in recent years.

2009 Maison Joseph Drouhin Saint-Véran
The first really subpar wine that I have had from Drouhin. Medium-bodied, flabby/blowsy, with a bit too much oak for what's underneath. There are certainly better wines from the Mâconnais out there.

2007 Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon Mâcon-Milly-Lamartine
Medium-bodied, nicely balanced, with moderate acidity; pleasantly mineral, with light nutty/buttery oak and citrus/apple fruit, plus hints of baking spices. Not the most complex perhaps, but the finesse and seamlessness here more than make up for that. Very good.

2005 Maison Verget Pouilly-Fuissé Terroir de Fuissé Vers Asnières
From another single vineyard in Fuissé. Light hazelnut nose. Medium to full-bodied, bone dry, soft, and focused, with good underlying acidity and moderate new oak. Mineral-driven, with pear, apple, butter, and caramel notes. Some coffee and limestone on the finish. There is a nice balance between the minerality and the oak here, in the Verget house style. Very good+.

surprised by the Drouhin note, their St Veran is one of my "go to" bottlings. I know 2009 is fairly ripe, but the oak would be a big change from other vintages
thanks for notes

Nice notes, Andrew. I'm looking increasingly to the Mâconnais for QPR white Burg. Most of the good ones tend to have an attractive freshness and minerality with a touch more fat but less steely distinction than Chablis.

2009 Maison Joseph Drouhin Saint-Véran
The first really subpar wine that I have had from Drouhin. Medium-bodied, flabby/blowsy, with a bit too much oak for what's underneath. There are certainly better wines from the Mâconnais out there.

Jim Cowan just had a nice review on the 2007. Might the '09 have been too young? I'm very puzzeled about the oak. Are you sure that was underneath? Can't ever remember having an oaked St Veran.

Appreciate the feedback. The overall balance of the Drouhin was completely off for me, and perhaps that contributed to my impression of oak there. Oaked St. Verans certainly do exist (see: Rijckaert En Faux, for one example). I am personally doubtful that any age would have made a difference with this particular bottle in this riper vintage, Jim's 2007 duly noted.

Anyway, I am glad that others have had better experiences with this wine than I had. Maybe I'll look for a another vintage sometime in the future, and give it a try.

Appreciate the feedback. The overall balance of the Drouhin was completely off for me, and perhaps that contributed to my impression of oak there. Oaked St. Verans certainly do exist (see: Rijckaert En Faux, for one example). I am personally doubtful that any age would have made a difference with this particular bottle in this riper vintage, Jim's 2007 duly noted.

Anyway, I am glad that others have had better experiences with this wine than I had. Maybe I'll look for a another vintage sometime in the future, and give it a try.

Andrew,
I'm chiming in late here, but I've enjoyed Drouhin's St Veran over several vintages now and I'm notoriously quercophobic, especially when it comes to Chardonnay. I'm sorry to hear about your bottle, but hopefully it's an anomaly.

Mark Lipton