Date: 12-Jan-2006 04:04
Author: Bob Ross, Editor. Email
Subject: TN: Bonneau du Martray + blind tastes - Otto Nieminen
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TN: Bonneau du Martray + blind tastes - Otto Nieminen
Posted Nov-8 8:50 AM
From Otto Nieminen
To ALL [Msg # 578.1 ]
TNs: Yesterday a friend put up an excellent tasting of Corton-Charlemagnes mostly from B du M. What amazed me was that many of the C-Cs had almost Riesling-like aroma profile! After the tasting we had a few "cleaning up" wines - perhaps quite a few more than we should.
Starter:
Jerome Prévost La Closerie Les Beguines NV
100% Pinot Meunier, 12,5% abv. The colour was rather orange. The nose had figs and steel, ripe citrus, red apples and flowers. The mousse was perfectly judged. The palate was strongly citrussy, with lots of fruit - yet not really fruit forward -, high minerality and an intense, razor-like acidity on the aftertaste. Very good, indeed.
Philippe Pacalet Corton-Charlemagne 2003
Rather evolved colour. The nose was very perfumed, with hedge, grass, some minerality, olive stone and even maltiness. The palate was very fruit forward, very full, yet somehow still lacking in depth on the mid-palate. There was very little acidity. By far the best 2003 white Burgundy I've had, but still only decent.
Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne 2002
Colour was almost watery - utterly undeveloped, as was the scent: closed, reticent, very mineral, almost bacony, some liquorice and melon appeared during the evening. The palate had perfect poise and showed a wonderful natural and seamless progression from start to finish. The attack was sweetly fruity, but it gained intensity and acidity all the way until the fantastically mineral finish. Unbelievably long. Fantastic potential - one of the best young Burgundies I've tried.
Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne 2000
Some orange - rather developed colour for its age. The scent was rather monotonous with oak, marzipan, baked red apples - with air it also gained sea breeze and bread crust. On the palate the oak is better integrated than in the scent: impeccable balance between fruit, acid and minerality. The palate is layered, nuanced and deep and the aftertaste is long with a beautiful ripe, citrussy character, but for the moment at least is a little too fat for my taste. Very good, once the oak integrates on the nose.
Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne 1999
A little orange and developed. The nose was shut tight: some VA, wine gums, and even the tiniest hint of vinegar. The palate, however, was amazing. It was rather weighty, with concentrated fruit, very high but perfectly balanced acidity, multi-layered and effortless in its poise and grace. The steely aftertaste was very long. Probably excellent potential, but as the nose was thoroughly shut down, it's a bit hard to say.
Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne 1997
Light orange. The scent had grass, ripe citrus fruits, a touch of almonds, hedge and olive. The palate was fruit forward, very ripe, but also with fine acidity, and very high minerality. There was also a slight creaminess on the palate. Long. Very good.
Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne 1993
Light orange. The scent was deep and nuanced with a touch of bacon, much flowers, hedge, minerals, citrus. The palate had immaculate balance, was sweetly fruity, highly acidic, and kept on gaining in intesity until the long aftertaste. Very good, indeed - and certainly the most enjoyable of the wines now, but will still develop.
Then we moved on to have a whole bunch of blind wines.
Tenuta Teracrea Raboso 2003 (Veneto)
90-95% Raboso, the rest Pinot Noir, 13% abv. Neither a grape nor a producer that I had heard of before. The scent had lots of dung, peaches in sugar water and a slight citrussy edge. The palate was juicy but with moderate tannins and high acidity and decent length. Obviously not on the same quality level as the Corton-Charlemagnes, but it didn't suffer from the company. Good. (My guess was Bandol. This has to be the best QPR I've had this year - it costs 5 euros!)
Chateau Vignelaure 2000, Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence
The full-bodied scent had lots of cassis and garrigue, cherry and tobacco. The palate was very extracted, structured, sweetly fruity and a little earthy. Good, indeed.
Jeanneret Shiraz 1999, Clare Valley
Another great QPR - 11 euros! The colour showed slight development. The scent had leaves, cassis, red pepper, red berries and a hint of dung. The palate was very full bodied, tarry, but with good acidity and tame tannins. Good, indeed. (My guess was modern Right Bank Bordeaux )
Domaine Tempier Bandol Cuvée Spéciale La Tourtine 1995
A fantastic, animal scent of dung, sous-bois, leaves, strawberry, tobacco. The palate was rather structured, but sweetly - almost juicily - fruity, pleasantly animal, and long. Very good, indeed once it opened up. Should still be cellared. (I'm ashamed to say that the slight tarry and strawberryish notes evident before the wine opened up, led me to believe that this is Grenache from Australia I'm not a very good blind taster, am I?)
Ramos Pinto Vintage Port 1983
The colour was dark, but with a bit of paling on the rim. The scent was rather dry, with lead, dried figs, tar, lavender, a hint of chocolate and very much liquorice. The palate was very sweet compared to the scent, tarry, fairly young tasting but still with resolved tannins. The aftertaste was long and had a very pronounced liquorice (actually more salmiak) taste. Very good. (I guessed Fonseca 1977.)
Henschke Noble Rot Sémillon 1998
Orange. Nose was very full of botrytis, honey, a touch of wax, and quite a bit of marzipan. The palate was immensly sweet, slightly bitter and fantastically acidic. Long. A lovely drop! (I guessed the grape as Muscat, grrr, can't I get anything right any more.)
Oremus Tokaji 6 puttonyos 1981
Darkish orange / brown. The scent was rather roasted, with coffee, much rot, an alluring greenness (odd: it was almost like unroasted coffee-beans - it's rare in a wine to sense both roasted and unroasted coffee beans!), smoke, boiled beans, singed wool. The palate was high in acid and rot, very sweet but perfectly balanced, lighter than the Henschke but very intense. Long and lovely. (I was totally lost on this one too, because it lacked the spiciness I usually find in Tokaji.)
Philippe Delesvaux Carbonifera 1997, Coteaux dy Layon
Orange/gold. Intensely botrytised, intensely sweet with a hint of wax and with a strange and very attractive almost minerally edge that one taster likened to oyster shells but was more like fresh crab to me. The palate was very thick, almost like motor oil in its consistency, immensly sweet, immensly botrytised, immensly acidic - immense in every way. An excellent über-sweetie, but the acids didn't quite cope with the sugar on the aftertaste. Excellent, anyway.
This tasting note was originally posted on the Wine Lovers Community in the Wine Tasting Notes Folder. The original Message and comments related the Message may be found by using the Message Number at the beginning of this tasting note. TN Edited by RCR.