February 24, 2006. A Burgundy "Terroir" tasting
This was a tasting of 2002 Burgundies ( both red and white). The idea was to assemble wines from the same vintage, winemaker, area and just different "terroir".
On the whites we had the following:
2002 Etienne Sauzet Chassagne Monrachet - Village wine
Nice mineral and granite overtones. Good acidity and citrus flavors. Good finish. Slightly thin and watery but not much more can be expected at this level. ~87pts
2002 Fontaine Gagnard Chassagne Monrachet - 1er Cru Clos St. Jean
The beginning nice soft, elegant, fruity/citrus nose with slight hint of mineral/rocks. Much more in the wine than the Sauzet Village wine. In the mouth rounded and elegant. With time, the minerality came forward and acidity (higher than le grand Montaigne) seem to come forward as well as everything else. This wine did not show itself of compared to Le Grand Montagne initially but closed the gap within 1-1.5 hours and was more "complete" at the end. ~91pts
2002 Fontaine Gagnard Chassagne Monrachet - 1er Cru Le Grand Montaigne
Faboulous explosive nose of granite/rocks. Citrus, lemony and punchy. With time this tamed down while the Clos St. Jean kept getting better. I would give the Clos St. Jean marginally better points on it being "rounder" at this point. However, we ran out of time and its possible this wine still had a 2nd wind ( it was immobile which is a good indication that it can last). ~91+pts
On the reds:
2002 J.F. Mugnier Chambolle Musigny
Nice nose immediately on opening. Soft, elegant and easily the better drinking of the pair at this point. Decent palate .. cherrys, strawberries ~ 87 pts.
2002 J.F. Mugnier Chambolle Musigny - 1er Cru Le Fuees
On the nose no contest Le Fuees wins in terms of complexity and depth. In the mouth a bit more tannic, closed and astringent at this point in time but defintely a superior wine ( just takes more time). After 1 hour, it unfolded while the village Chambolle collapsed. At this point the village Chambolle tasted watery and insipid alongside the 1er cru. ~90pts.
Very interesting to taste these wines. It defintely shows that simple village wines do not necessarily taste inferior... at least initially. There is wisdom in drinking the lower class wines earlier and saving the 1er and Grand crus for later. At the same time, the taste of "terroir" really becomes evident as the number of variables ( vintage, winemaker, area) were all controlled as much as possible. People relatively unfamiliar with Burgundy were able to discern the difference after a few tries. Well done !!
On the whites we had the following:
2002 Etienne Sauzet Chassagne Monrachet - Village wine
Nice mineral and granite overtones. Good acidity and citrus flavors. Good finish. Slightly thin and watery but not much more can be expected at this level. ~87pts
2002 Fontaine Gagnard Chassagne Monrachet - 1er Cru Clos St. Jean
The beginning nice soft, elegant, fruity/citrus nose with slight hint of mineral/rocks. Much more in the wine than the Sauzet Village wine. In the mouth rounded and elegant. With time, the minerality came forward and acidity (higher than le grand Montaigne) seem to come forward as well as everything else. This wine did not show itself of compared to Le Grand Montagne initially but closed the gap within 1-1.5 hours and was more "complete" at the end. ~91pts
2002 Fontaine Gagnard Chassagne Monrachet - 1er Cru Le Grand Montaigne
Faboulous explosive nose of granite/rocks. Citrus, lemony and punchy. With time this tamed down while the Clos St. Jean kept getting better. I would give the Clos St. Jean marginally better points on it being "rounder" at this point. However, we ran out of time and its possible this wine still had a 2nd wind ( it was immobile which is a good indication that it can last). ~91+pts
On the reds:
2002 J.F. Mugnier Chambolle Musigny
Nice nose immediately on opening. Soft, elegant and easily the better drinking of the pair at this point. Decent palate .. cherrys, strawberries ~ 87 pts.
2002 J.F. Mugnier Chambolle Musigny - 1er Cru Le Fuees
On the nose no contest Le Fuees wins in terms of complexity and depth. In the mouth a bit more tannic, closed and astringent at this point in time but defintely a superior wine ( just takes more time). After 1 hour, it unfolded while the village Chambolle collapsed. At this point the village Chambolle tasted watery and insipid alongside the 1er cru. ~90pts.
Very interesting to taste these wines. It defintely shows that simple village wines do not necessarily taste inferior... at least initially. There is wisdom in drinking the lower class wines earlier and saving the 1er and Grand crus for later. At the same time, the taste of "terroir" really becomes evident as the number of variables ( vintage, winemaker, area) were all controlled as much as possible. People relatively unfamiliar with Burgundy were able to discern the difference after a few tries. Well done !!
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