White Burgundy

April 14th, 2010

White Burgundy - "I'll have a glass of Chardonnay, please"

"The best tasting yet!" said some of our members.

Chardonnay is not only the most popular wine in the world but it is also one of the oldest known grape varietals. During this session, we taste five selections from the grape's place of origin - Burgundy, France. Chardonnay vines grows reasonably well wherever they are planted but history has proven that in the region of Burgundy, the grapes' true colours shine the brightest. Some of the most sought after wine are Burgundian Chards and on this Sunday, we are privileged to sample some very special wines.  

The wines sampled are listed below in order of tasting:

2005 Meursault, Domaine de Chateau Meursault
2005 Chablis, 1er Cru Vaillons, Domaine Jean Collet
2006 Chablis, Grand Cru les Clos, Domaine Louis Moreau
2005 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru, Domaine Louis Latour
2007 Pouilly-Fussé, Terroir, Domaine Jean Pierre Sevè


The five wines selected for this tasting span an array of regions and wine making styles: the unoaked Chablis; minerally and clean while the Meursault and Chassagne; rich and creamy by comparison, followed by the fruit-forward Pouilly-Fuissé. Judging by the numbers, there was no clear favourite here. In fact, all the wines, oaked or not, were very enjoyable and as usual, the food accompanying the wine selections was phenomenal.       

Our group tasted and ranked the wines in order of personal preference. The top 3 labels were as follows:

1 - 2005 Meursault
2 - 2005 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
3 - 2006 Chablis, Grand Cru les Clos

Normally one selection stands above the others while another is clearly disliked by the majority. This was not the case today. Surprisingly, the village level Meursault, a group purchase, was the preferred wine of the afternoon, edging out the others by a narrow margin. Of the five wines, the Meursault was the most perfumed and continued to display a multitude of aromas in the glass, never tiring as the afternoon progressed. Gary and Joy's 2006 might have been a bit young at only 4 years but with decanting and an hour in the glass, the Chablis Grand Cru began to open beautifully. The Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru donated by Tyler and Jacquie was a bit of a 'love-hate' affair with the membership; several ranked the wine as their favourite while a few found it the least desirable. In all, a very interesting tasting experience and a great opportunity to sample Chardonnay from this great region.

Thank-you for joining us and we look forward to seeing you again in May when we explore one of the wine world's great debates: Bordeaux and its difference of style and opinion.