I could not think of a better way to drink wine, indulging in a glass of fine Burgundy, and know that part of our “efforts” will go in support of a charity. This credit of this exercise must go to our host of Kheam Hock Burg’s Table who has generously donated all the wines and hand-prepared each course of the wonderful dinner while we, the attendees, get to share the ‘credit’ of donating the ‘cost’ of the dinner in aid of the Salvation Army’s Children Fund.
The theme of this session was 2000 Burgundy. We were first served with a blind white – the highly refreshing, crisp, Bourgogne Aligoté from Coche-Dury. I initially thought it was a village Chassagne-Montrachet (too lean to be a Meursault and too austere to be a Puligny), but the acidity was too penetrating and the midfeel too hollow and dilute. I could not pen down which commune, but was quite sure is a villages AC from a lesser commune, or just a Bourgogne AC. The first pair of Puligny-Montrachet Les Perrières began with the pouring of Louis Carillon which was clearly evolved and aged. Although denser in color, its hue, however, was less brilliant. The flavor on the palate did not persist in spite of early-showing attractive sweetness. This wine echoed my early thoughts on 2000 white Burgundy. Many do not taste as impressive as they were 2-3 years ago. This displayed leaner palate, lacking midpalate and finishing grip. Etienne Sauzet on the other hand proved why they are one of the leading producers from this commune. Crispier, fresher, better structured and firmness, with telltale stone fruit in a well delineated and delicate palate.
It is clear to me now, 2004 whites are superior to 2000 whites and will ultimately outlive the latter in time to come. However, I am more pleased and optimistic about 2000 red. Although stylistically similar to most 2004 reds I have tasted, I have encountered many surprises. Both wines share the similar elegant, delicate, edge-free and forwardness. Not particularly dense, but with good balance, early charm, and excellent fruit purity. Perhaps, the only difference is that the 2004 features more red fruits, while in 2000, there is a combination of red and black fruits. Additionally, the overall tannins and sappiness also seem more detectable in 2000 than 2004.
2000 Henri Gouges NSG 1er Cru Les Pruliers started off tough, tannic and coarse. Like 2004, this is the vintage winemakers should be cautious not to over-extract. Extra care and skill are needed to perform gentle color extraction. I initially thought this wine was overly extracted, with flavors featuring wild, leathery, sauvage elements. I was pleasantly surprised at how much it transformed after some aeration. The wine turned sexy, with almost candied sweet raspberries. Although still showing the typicity of Nuits rusticity and earth, it was quite appealing and pleasurable. 2000 Nicolas Potel VR 1er Cru Les Gaudichots (a prestigious VR premier cru vineyard, where the site is adjacent to La Tâche) was to me, quite a disappointment. The wine seemed to suffer from rapid aging and its finishing tartness seemed to be a result of less than perfect stalks or was simply over extracted. Although the wine did show the telltale Vosne dark raspberries, pliancy and spices, its stalky, meaty element rapidly turned pungent so much so that most of the fruit was buried and it came across very fleshy and flabby on the palate. I also detected some brett element throughout the tasting. Hudelot-Noëllat is one of my favorite producers in Vougeot, but tonight, their usual consistency was absent. The 2000 Clos de Vougeot seems to suffer from reduction on the nose. Showing meat-stock, sweaty saddle with dark raspberry which turned jammy with aeration. The Georges Jayer bottling of Echézeaux, which was clearly made by the master, Henri Jayer, was another masterpiece. Don’t even attempt to describe this beauty. How can one refuse wine of such exclusive balance, such that an inch more of tannin/acid/sweetness would become excessive and intrusive. In Jayer’s wine, you’d never feel the finishing tannin or acidity, or alcohol. You can only feel the presence, but you can never trace its weight. The balance is exemplary. All his wines demonstrate unparalleled brightness, fruit purity, rich yet weightless, voluminous yet genteel feel. Every component is precisely positioned and in harmony. The sleekness and stylishness are timeless. I have yet to meet anyone in his generation or after, to have ever pulled off a wine in such league. I suspect his skill will never be duplicated, but, let’s only hope there’d still be some of his wines left to remember on how great a burgundy can be!
(Let’s bear in mind that all our pairs of 2000s were served “semi-blind”, so although we knew which pair of wines were served, we need to guess which is which. So far, we had done well.)
I like the following pair as their qualities were more consistent. 2000 Rousseau Chambertin-Clos de Bèze to me behaved more like a Charmes-Chambertin than Clos de Bèze, showing pliant, sexy, soft and seamless palate, in addition to dark cherry coated fruits with confectionery element. It was juicy and delicious, but did not have quite the pitch and minerality of Rousseau’s le Chambertin. Still, I detected good sap in this charming juice. 2000 Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze clearly was my cup of tea and quite distinctly Gevrey in style. Well pitched, fresher, with mineral-scented red fruits (as opposed to Rousseau’s black fruits) - cherries and rose petals. The solid acidity lent the wine firmness and focus. More obvious sap. Impressive! Jadot practices “blocked malolactic”, and it’s rare for the domaine to conduct full malolactic. Winemaker, Jacques Lardière once told me that it was the natural acidity he was after and in some years, no “malo” was conducted.
The theme of this session was 2000 Burgundy. We were first served with a blind white – the highly refreshing, crisp, Bourgogne Aligoté from Coche-Dury. I initially thought it was a village Chassagne-Montrachet (too lean to be a Meursault and too austere to be a Puligny), but the acidity was too penetrating and the midfeel too hollow and dilute. I could not pen down which commune, but was quite sure is a villages AC from a lesser commune, or just a Bourgogne AC. The first pair of Puligny-Montrachet Les Perrières began with the pouring of Louis Carillon which was clearly evolved and aged. Although denser in color, its hue, however, was less brilliant. The flavor on the palate did not persist in spite of early-showing attractive sweetness. This wine echoed my early thoughts on 2000 white Burgundy. Many do not taste as impressive as they were 2-3 years ago. This displayed leaner palate, lacking midpalate and finishing grip. Etienne Sauzet on the other hand proved why they are one of the leading producers from this commune. Crispier, fresher, better structured and firmness, with telltale stone fruit in a well delineated and delicate palate.
It is clear to me now, 2004 whites are superior to 2000 whites and will ultimately outlive the latter in time to come. However, I am more pleased and optimistic about 2000 red. Although stylistically similar to most 2004 reds I have tasted, I have encountered many surprises. Both wines share the similar elegant, delicate, edge-free and forwardness. Not particularly dense, but with good balance, early charm, and excellent fruit purity. Perhaps, the only difference is that the 2004 features more red fruits, while in 2000, there is a combination of red and black fruits. Additionally, the overall tannins and sappiness also seem more detectable in 2000 than 2004.
2000 Henri Gouges NSG 1er Cru Les Pruliers started off tough, tannic and coarse. Like 2004, this is the vintage winemakers should be cautious not to over-extract. Extra care and skill are needed to perform gentle color extraction. I initially thought this wine was overly extracted, with flavors featuring wild, leathery, sauvage elements. I was pleasantly surprised at how much it transformed after some aeration. The wine turned sexy, with almost candied sweet raspberries. Although still showing the typicity of Nuits rusticity and earth, it was quite appealing and pleasurable. 2000 Nicolas Potel VR 1er Cru Les Gaudichots (a prestigious VR premier cru vineyard, where the site is adjacent to La Tâche) was to me, quite a disappointment. The wine seemed to suffer from rapid aging and its finishing tartness seemed to be a result of less than perfect stalks or was simply over extracted. Although the wine did show the telltale Vosne dark raspberries, pliancy and spices, its stalky, meaty element rapidly turned pungent so much so that most of the fruit was buried and it came across very fleshy and flabby on the palate. I also detected some brett element throughout the tasting. Hudelot-Noëllat is one of my favorite producers in Vougeot, but tonight, their usual consistency was absent. The 2000 Clos de Vougeot seems to suffer from reduction on the nose. Showing meat-stock, sweaty saddle with dark raspberry which turned jammy with aeration. The Georges Jayer bottling of Echézeaux, which was clearly made by the master, Henri Jayer, was another masterpiece. Don’t even attempt to describe this beauty. How can one refuse wine of such exclusive balance, such that an inch more of tannin/acid/sweetness would become excessive and intrusive. In Jayer’s wine, you’d never feel the finishing tannin or acidity, or alcohol. You can only feel the presence, but you can never trace its weight. The balance is exemplary. All his wines demonstrate unparalleled brightness, fruit purity, rich yet weightless, voluminous yet genteel feel. Every component is precisely positioned and in harmony. The sleekness and stylishness are timeless. I have yet to meet anyone in his generation or after, to have ever pulled off a wine in such league. I suspect his skill will never be duplicated, but, let’s only hope there’d still be some of his wines left to remember on how great a burgundy can be!
(Let’s bear in mind that all our pairs of 2000s were served “semi-blind”, so although we knew which pair of wines were served, we need to guess which is which. So far, we had done well.)
I like the following pair as their qualities were more consistent. 2000 Rousseau Chambertin-Clos de Bèze to me behaved more like a Charmes-Chambertin than Clos de Bèze, showing pliant, sexy, soft and seamless palate, in addition to dark cherry coated fruits with confectionery element. It was juicy and delicious, but did not have quite the pitch and minerality of Rousseau’s le Chambertin. Still, I detected good sap in this charming juice. 2000 Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze clearly was my cup of tea and quite distinctly Gevrey in style. Well pitched, fresher, with mineral-scented red fruits (as opposed to Rousseau’s black fruits) - cherries and rose petals. The solid acidity lent the wine firmness and focus. More obvious sap. Impressive! Jadot practices “blocked malolactic”, and it’s rare for the domaine to conduct full malolactic. Winemaker, Jacques Lardière once told me that it was the natural acidity he was after and in some years, no “malo” was conducted.
We all patiently waited for the next flight to be served. It was a pair of Le Musigny by Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier and de Vogüé. As I have said before, nothing is more thrilling for me these days than the pleasure of drinking Le Musigny. And even more so, this time it was both my favorite producers. Clearly, they are two very distinct styles. One might perhaps argue that de Vogüé possesses too strong a house-style. However, few would object to the captivating sexy sweetness of de Vogüé, that is so explosive, dramatic, flamboyant and showstopping. How could anyone refuse or forget such palate staining sweetness, caressing satiny palate and such gorgeous, velvety sensuousness? 2000 de Vogüé was no exception. It had more volume and more confectionery elements than, say, the purer style of 2000 Mugnier. The palate also showed darker fruits and was more textured, whereas Mugnier’s came across lighter, but more transparent and more delineated. It was difficult to tell in blind this de Vogüé actually came from vintage 2000. Its volume and scale outperformed the vintage. I equally admire Mugnier honest style, which faithfully reflects the vintage with its fruit purity, wood-absent palate and refined, detailed personality. What a treat!
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