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by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

Calif and Burgundy Wines - March 3, 2013

We tried the other week (3/3/13) some French & Calif Burgundies:

  1. Verse Chard WeeksVnyd/SonomaCoast (12.9%) 2011: Light yellow color; rather steely/metallic light
    appley/melony/Chard rather fragrant almost R-like nose; very tart/lean steely/metallic rather
    appley/melony/Chard bit perfumed talc/spicy very attractive flavor; very long/lingering light steely/
    metallic some appley/melony/Chard quite tart/bracing finish; almost like a Riesling in character; doesn't
    taste thin/eviscerated like some; in a Chablis style but lacks the minerality/chalky character of Chablis.
    $25.00
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  2. Arnot-Roberts Chard SantaCruzMtns (35 yr old dry-farmed Wente clone; 12 brls; 12.7%) 2011: Light gold color;some earthy/mineral/chalky light melony/Chard light toasty/oak fairly fragrant nose; rather tart/lean bit metallic/steely spicy/melony/Chard some earthy/mineral flavor; long very tart/lean bit eviscerated/tight slight melony/Chard finish; some slight SCM/chalky/mineral character but seems rather lean/eviscerated; not sure what age will do for this wine. $30.00
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  3. Arnot-Roberts Chard WatsonRanch/NapaVlly (30 yr old vines; 13 brls; 13%) Healdsburg 2011: Med.light gold color; rather ripe/lush/melony/Chard quite fragrant/perfumey light toasty/oak lovely nose; somewhat tart rather rich/lush/ripe/melony/Chard/spicy light toasty/oak flavor; fairly long tart lush/ripe/melony/Chard/spicy light toasty/oak finish; good balance & acidity; a good/mainstream Chard at a good price. $30.00
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  4. LouisLatour AC: Chassagne-Montrachet (13.5%) Beaune 2009: Med.gold color; somewhat buttery bit toasty/oak some earthy/minerally/appley/Chard/perfumed talk bit complex rather low-key/quiet nose; soft some buttery/ toasty/oak light mineral/appley/Chard slight Christmas candy pleasant flavor; very long caramel/butterscotch/ candied some melony/appley/Chard finish; a very nice/drinkable/attractive Chard. $41.00 (SFW&S)
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  5. PaulPernot et ses Fils AC: Puligny-Montrachet (13.5%; MeBalP) 2009: Med.gold color; rather pungent/SO2/skunky/stinky/reduced slightly pineapply/Chard nose that clears only slightly; fairly tart/tangy/metalliv very light pineapple/Chard/mango almost vapid/watery flavor; med.short some tart/tangy/grapefruity light pineapple/mango/Chard rather vapid/watery finish; move along folks/nothing to see here; way overpriced at $60.00 (AV)
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  6. LouisLatour AC: Corton-Charlemagne GrandCru (14%) 2010: Med.gold color; strong perfumed/ripe/melony/Chard bit Mosel valve oil/R-like/gunflint/spicy light pencilly/oak very attractive nose; fairly soft some melony/Chard/perfumed/mango light pencilly/oak bit mineral/gunflint attractive flavor; long fairly lush ripe/melony/Chard/mango light pencilly/oak finish; quite a lovely nose but doesn't deliver quite as much on the palate;quite an attractive Chard but don't see it as anything profound; some suggested that it would become something magnificant w/ age but I can't see that in what I taste. $90.00 (AV)
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  7. Drew PinotNoir FogEater/AndersonVlly (13.6%; www.DrewWines.com; 50% BaloVnyd/ MorningDewVnyd; Clones:50% Rochioli, 25% Pommard, 14% 777, 8% 828, 3% Martini; TA: 0.63, pH: 3.53; 210 cs) 2010: Med.dark color; lovely floral/violets/PN/cherry light smokey/toasty/oak some wild berries/herbal quite aromatic some complex nose; somewhat tart bright/black cherry/floral/violets/ PN/cherry light toasty/smokey/pungent/oak balanced flavor w/modest tannins; very long bright/cherry/ black cherry/PN/floral/violets slight earthy/dusty light pungent/smokey/oakfinish w/ some smooth/integrated tannins; can probably use several yrs of age; a very lovely Calif Pinot. $42.00
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  8. Peay PinotNoir SonomaCoast (13.8%; 875 cs; Drk: 3/12-3/15-3/19) 2010: Med.light color; slight violets/floral/PN rather musty/corked/TCA-lashed nose; way too corked to get much from it. $42.00
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  9. Failla PinotNoir KeeferRanch/RRV (600 cs; 14.1%) 2007: Med.color w/ slight bricking; rather earthy/dusty/pungent/loamy slight black cherry/PN rather charred/toasty/oak bit funky nose; soft rather charred/burnt/oak slight black cherry/cherry pie/PN some earthy/loamy/herbal flavor w/ rough/coarse tannins; long rather charred/toasty/burnt/oak some black cherry compote/cherry pie/PN somewhat earthy/loamy finish w/ ample tannins; a strange earthy sort of Pinot that was much better/brighter several hrs later. $51.00
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  10. Mongeard-Mugneret AC: Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Verglelsses (MeBaD; 13%) 2010: Med.light color; slight earthy/mushroomy rather fragrant violets/lilacs/PN/spicy slight volatile/EA quite spicy/fragrant very light toasty/oak nose; fairly tart light very spicy/floral/violets light pencilly/smokey/oak flavor w/ light tannins; med.long bright/floral/violets/lilacs slight earthy/mushroomy light pencilly/oak finish w/ light tannins; quite a pretty Pinot in sort of a Calif style; about the level of a basic Siduri RRV Pinot. $47.50 (SFW&S)
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  11. Dom. de Montille AC: Nuits St.Georges (13%) Volnay 2009: Med.color; very dusty/walnutty/green walnuts/earthyvery charred/burnt/oak nose w/ virtually no fruit; soft rather earthy/dusty/loamy/green walnuts very slight cherry/PN some charred/burnt/smokey/oak flavor w/ modest/bitey tannins; med.short strong charred/burnt/oaksome earthy/loamy/walnutty some tannic finish; a real paucity of Pinot fruit and more like an underripeOR Pinot than RedBurg; very disappointing. $68.00 (LCSWS)
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  12. Dupont-Tisserandot AC: Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru LesCazetiers (MeBaD; 13.5%) 2010: Med.light color; bit pungent/smokey/toasty/oak/charred very slight black cherry/PN some complex/old Burgundian nose; tart bitlean/hard/bitey rather pungent/smokey/oak light cherry/bright/Pinot somewhat lean/hard/tannic flavor; med.long hard/tannic tart/lean/austere light cherry/floral/Pinot some toasty/pungent/smokey/oak finish;pretty tight now and needs some age; probably the most old-timey Burgundian wine that I recall from the days of yore; may develop into something magnificant w/ age but takes a real leap of faith. $85.00 (AV)
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  13. Peay PinotNoir Pomarium Estate SonomaCoast (14.1%) 2010: Med.light color; lovely very perfumed/ aromatic strong floral/violets/cherry/PN light pencilly/oak slight earthy/mineral/herbal very fragrant nose; rather tart very strong floral/violets/PN/cherry/bright/very spicy light pencilly/oak/toasty very perfumed flavor w/light/lithe tannins; very long/lingering bright/cherry/PN/floral/violets/lilacs light pencilly/oak slight earthy/herbal finish w/ modest tannins; can use several yrs of age; a beautiful Caalif Pinot. $60.00
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  14. Stonestreet Chard GravelBank/AlexMtnEstate (272 cs; 14.5%) 2008: Med.light gold color; strong ripe/melony/Chard/pineapple/mango rather toasty/caramel/oak light earthy/mineral quite attractive nose; fairly tart/lean ripe/melony/Chard/mango/pineapple/spicy bit metallic/mineral/gravelly some toasty/caramel/oak flavor; rather long ripe/melony/Chard/mango/pineapple some toasty/caramel/oak finish; lots of ripeness but the structure to support all that fruit; this kind of Chard is what keeps me to returning to that variety. $50.00 (vSC)
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  15. DomaineBertagna AC: Clos St.Denis GrandCru (13.5%) 1995: Med.color w/ some bricking; rather aged/tired/old red some earthy/mushroomy/truffly/root cellar some pencilly/cedary/old wine complex nose; soft rather tired/old red cedary/pencilly/old wine light smoky/oak/pencilly some mushroomy/root cellar somewhat complex old wine flavor w/ light/bitey tannins; long slight smoky/cedary/pencilly/old red bit mushroomy/truffly/loamy finish w/ light tannins; some glimpses of great RedBurg therein but a bit on the tired/lifeless side. (vSS)
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  16. Siduri PinotNoir Rosella'sVnyd/SantaLuciaHighlands (14.6%) 2002: Dark color w/ slight bricking; strong pencilly/smokey/oak/classic Siduri oak slight volatile/perfumed some herbal/PN/black cherry/cherry pie nose;soft strong pencilly/smokey/oak/Siduri oak some herbal/PN/black cherry bit dried-out flavor; med.long strong smokey/pencilly/oak some herbal/black cherry/PN biit earthy finish w/ light/drying tannins; a pretty classic fully-mature or over-mature Siduri Pinot w/ the Siduri signature oak. (vLA)

And the usual stuff from the BloodyPulpit:

1. I go way back w/ French Burgundy (well...not from the very start) to the early-70's when you could buy PremierCrus in the low $teens and GrandCrus not that much more expensive. Recall DRC LaTache & Richebourg at HappyHollow in KansasCity around $25. Bertagna GrandCru in the upper teens. Barolets in the $20-$50 price range going way back in yrs. And, of course, TonyRodent down below $10. Those were some of my most memorable of wines. But, as the prices dramatically escalated and I was no longer willing to pay those $$'s, I pretty much turned my back on Burgundy. Over the yrs, as friends have laid a Burg on me from time to time, I would see glimpses of what once drew me to Burgundy...until I find out the price.

There has been a lot of buzz about how a new generation of winemakers have been making waves in Burgundy and raising the bar to new heights. So I felt it was time for me to revisit Burgundy...which was the idea of this tasting. Having been out of the Burgundy market for so many yrs, I was pretty much flying blind. I was not going to spend days & days reading BurgHound to find out what's hot. I mainly went w/ old-time names that I recalled as making good Burgs in days of yore, plus relied heavily on the recommendations from the three shop owners I bought from locally. Obviously, the prices were all below $100, so I wasn't tasting the creme de la creme from Burgundy.

I thought it would be interesting to pair the wines w/ some from Calif....not to determine, once & for all, who makes the best Burgundies in the world...but to see where the respective Burgundy worlds stood. I selected the Calif reps as folks who were solidy in the "In Pursuit of Balance" crowd; a group who reportedly make wines of lower alcohol and more an old-world style (whatever the heck that means...lower in alcohol, I guess).

So...what was my take-away from this tasting (being a LosAlamos guy....we make WAG's and highly confident extrapolations based on one, sometimes zero, data points)?? I saw no compelling reason to jump back into buying Burgundies again. It can be argued that all these wines need time to develop...that I wasn't willing to pay the big $$'s to get the really good stuff....that I only picked the low-end/TonyRodent-level Burg producers...that I picked the wrong vintages...yada/yada/yada. That said...I will probably be putting more French Burgs in my tastings. We'll do this again w/ LarryArchibald picking the French ones so we'll know we get good ones...rather than the schlock I picked out. Maybe my palate has been so shot by high-octane
Calif Zins that I can no longer appreciate the finesse & nuance that characterize Burgs? Maybe I'm going to have to raise my pain level to over $100/btl if I'm going to drink Burgundy. But there is enough passionate folks out there for Burgundy that I plan to continue (cautiously) try Burgs in hopes I'll find something that will inspire me for the genre like they once did. Or...maybe....by the end of the day I'll just blow off, like I have w/ Barolo/Barbaresco. the entire genre as not worth my time and $$'s. That it's just not a category that my palate can appreciate. That you have to kiss too many frogs to find a prince. I swear....it's a minefield out there.

TomHill

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