Blind starter
Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Francaises 1998
What a lovely nose: red apples, figs, bread crust, flowers and all sorts of Pinot oriented descriptors, yet with such a lightness of touch that I thought it a blend. I can't repeat myself too often: what a lovely nose!
The palate was a bit of a let down: too much fruit compared to the acidity. This was just too full bodied for my taste. The mousse was utter perfection in its size and intensity and the flavours themselves were lovely, but I really would have wanted more acidity.
The aftertaste was bloody brilliant: precice, pure, mineral and interminable. Lovely stuff; but a pity about the lack of acidity. My first VVF and I sure do see why it is a legend. Now I'd like to taste some more acidic vintage.
I like blind and half-blind tastings. Unfortunately the Burgundies were fully open:
Domaine de la Romanée Conti Montrachet 2003 is by far the best '03 white Burg I've had. The nose is rather New Worldly with its popcorn notes, but there is a touch of minerality and some delightfully bitter notes also. The palate is full bodied of course and lacking in acidity, but fresh thanks to the bitter notes. A very fair effort, but weak compared to the previous two vintages of the wine.
DRC Echezaux 2003
A rather pretty wine. At first very dark toned and odd, but with air it became totally Burgundian: elegant (when compared to the other 2003s only), some nice bitterness to make up for the deficient acidity. Lovely tannins, though I guess some might consider them too harsh for Burgundy.
Side comment: I thought the Echezaux much more on par with the other DRCs compared with the previous two years. It was the greatest positive surprise of the day: I haven't liked the Echezaux in 01 and 02 as much when compared to the rest of the DRC range.
DRC Grands Echezaux 2003
Initially it was oddly chemical on the nose. It cleared up to be a very ripe, earthy wine with some really odd scents reminiscent more of Southern Rhone than Burgundy. The palate was juicy, sweet, big, but red toned. Given blind, I'm fairly sure I would have gone to CdP! Hot finish. An enjoyable enough wine (if one doesn't think of the price), but it wasn't Burgundy.
DRC Romanée-St-Vivant 2003
I like my Burgundies to have brightness and freshness. This did have some of that and it was recognisable as Burgundy - but, alas, the oak was rather spicy and exotic and just too noticable. It did have some nice animal qualities to the bright, red toned fruit, but still the whole just didn't convince me. The palate was a bit soft and lifeless and would have needed more acidity and less alcohol to work for me. A fair effort, but not more than that for me.
DRC Richebourg 2003
The previous DRC have been fair wines, but just not much to my tastes. But this Richebourg is just weird! The nose is raisiny, dark toned, choclatey and much too alcoholic. The palate is also raisiny and alcoholic and unfortunately much too long as the aftertaste is fiery. This is the first time I've tasted a DRC and thought it thoroughly unconvincing.
DRC La Tâche 2003
Though this is a weird wine, like the Richebourg, at least this is a good wine IMO! Sure it doesn't smell like Burgundy with its loamy, earthy, dark toned and roasted fruit, but at least it is incredibly complex and deep. The palate is also much more dark toned than I would have expected from here, it is impressive and tannic rather than lovable and seducive. A truly impressive wine. Not terribly Burgundian IMO, but a truly impressive wine.
DRC Romanée-Conti 2003
A nice red toned nose, but rather too simplistic. But this, more than any other tonight, was truly Burgundian in its outlook. It was light and elegant for the year, with some true grace. The palate was red toned, seemingly higher in acidity than any of the others. It was light on its feet rather than ponderous. This seduced me rather than impressed me. I like it. Honestly.
Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin Coeur du Roy 2003
Bubblegum?!?! That's it on the nose. Weird. Big, burly, harshly tannic palate with no mid-palate, harsh finish. Quite unpleasant. And overoaked and overextracted to boot!
Dugat-Pay Gevrey-Chambertin Petite Chapelle 2003
Ok, this is at least wine. It is utterly spoofulated, but at least it resembles wine: sweet fruit, drying tannins, the finish drops of a cliff, but it's wine.
I don't get Dugat-Py. I've tried some 2001s and 2002s and now these 2003s but I just find them repulsive. Though I'm told that the oak will integrate, I just don't see that what is underneath the oak will be pleasing either. Hence my surprise at the next two wines:
Dugat-Py Charmes-Chambertin 2003
Blimey! This is a big wine, burly and masculine, and dark toned and tannic and much too oaky, but I do sense some true Burgundian fruit beneath all that. It is bitter and tannic and dry despite the sweet fruit. I don't know what is going on here, but it does seem much better than any Dugat-Py I've tried before. Weird.
Dugat-Py Chambertin 2003
Apparently only 166 bottles were made of this. It was wasted on me: I thought the nose strangely lactic - like yoghurt -, much too oaky and graceless. The palate was similar. But again, there was a fleeting glimpse of honest Burgundy underneath.
I'm still not convinced of Dugat-Py's wines, but I am slowly beginning to understand why some rave about them.
Then we tried half-blind the first growths from Bordeaux with one fully blind joker:
Latour 2003
A big, banana-bread-like, dark toned, smoky, brooding nose - impressive rather than enjoyable. Thick, sweet, freaky, harsh and a little dirty palate yet oddly enjoyable. A freakish wine, but I won't mind drinking it again.
Haut-Brion 2003
A much lighter wine than the previous. Much sweetness and banana-bread on the nose, not brooding but weird and unexpressive. The palate was lighter and fresher, had better acidity than the previous, but also lacked the complexity. Frankly a pretty weak effort. My guess: doesn't belong with the group, i.e. the joker, left bank?
Mouton Rothschild 2003
A pretty fair effort, though still a bit of a freakish wine: soft, sweet, banana-like nose with lots of coffee. Soft, light, but savoury compared to the first wine of the flight. Guess: the softness + more right bank feeling = Haut-Brion.
L'Angélus 2003
Very exotic nose: almost eucalyptus-like, with a pronounced spicyness, yet with some true left-bank character. The palate has cassis, pronounced oak and is sweet and flamboyant. Guess: flamboyant + cassis + spice = Mouton. Oops. I suck at blind tastings.
Margaux 2003
Coffee and darker tones abound on the nose, yet with some red toned "elegance" and tobacco. Very soft palate, doesn't have the acidity to be graceful, long aftertaste. Fair.
Lafite 2003
A rather classically styled nose for a change, savoury and herbal - recognisable as Bordeaux, for a change. The palate was much too sweet and new world like, however. Very weird. A thoroughly enjoyable wine, but the divide between the nose and palate is really strange. Good.
After all these acidless wines I asked to have a couple highly acidic whites blind:
Bernard Chéreau La Griffe Muscadet 2005 was odd: smelled more like a super-ripe Sauvignon Blanc to me than Muscadet. I did like the minerality of it, but otherwise I thought it boring. I'll stick to the other Chéreau-Carré Muscadets.
Joseph Scharsch Riesling 2004 was pretty nice: citrussy nose, mineral, typical Riesling with a touch of red toned fruit. The palate was fair in acidity, with nice fruit and typicity. Scharsch really makes some very pure wines at very fair prices. I like them very much.
Rayne-Vigneau 2003
A typical scent of Sauternes: botrytis, some sea shell character. Big body, low acid, but fresh and intense. A nice wine, I like it.
-O-
