Canadian Wine Guy » Burgundy

2006 Chateau de Davenay Montagny 1er Cru

CanadianWineGuy — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:39:21 +0000

A recent white Burgundy release by LCBO/Vintages, this showed up (shockingly) at the Market (St Lawrence) shop. I plucked one off the shelf on Friday with the view at drinking right away. At $26.95 this is not exactly a bargain white, but it is still a good price for a 1er Cru. The literature about Montagny is limited so you must dive into the Cote Chalonnaise reading to get more information on the small area within this sub-region. The large Michel Picard group owns this vineyard and has an informative website which allows you to drill down to see details such as terroir and cellaring notes. Instead of condensing their notes I will simply jump right into tasting notes and thoughts.

With a vibrant golden yellow colour and green apple nose this wine looks the Burgundy part. After a good swirl or two and the initial sips you will notice the acidity right away, something that is common from Montagny. The apple gives way to pear and pineapple and the balance is even. While acidic, this is still a very palatable white. Despite this wine having gone through malolactic fermention there is none of the buttery velvety texture that is common with many Chardonnays made in similar fashion. This is a brisk, clean wine with good fruit and hints of mineralization. I would imagine that a couple of more years in the bottle would further compliment this offering. I’d recommend 2 to 5 while the wine-maker says 3 to 10 from bottling. Overall this is a good release and holds true to the regions typical wines. Think poultry and white fishes as a nice compliment/pairing.

The CWG Subjective Rating is 88 put of 100.

Mrs CWG & Bacchus say

woof woof woof (I enjoyed this)

2005 Gevrey-Chambertin en Billard (Alain Burguet)

CanadianWineGuy — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:23:48 +0000

It is rare that we bring back a bottle from some trip and open a bottle right away, but on this occasion we were concerned about a potential corked situation and we were in the mood for a good bottle of wine. Thus this wine was opened probably 5 years in advance of what we expected. This Côte-d’Or, Burgundy was highly recommended from the Caves Augé local guru. Augé is one of the oldest wine shops in Paris, located in the 8ieme on blvd. Haussmann this shop will delight the senses immediately upon entering (see picture below to see what I mean). Once inside do not be shy to ask for help. Name a region and a price range and watch the shopkeep work his magic. In this case we wanted something in the 35 to 50 euro range for our Bourgogne choice. Part of our requirements beyond price were the ability to cellar and something he would drink himself. Not difficult requirements, and pleasantly we were rewarded with a fine wine. Before I go on to the tasting it should be noted we did buy two of these, but I doubt we will open the second for many a year as the below will indicate. But when we do, I will blog about it here. Another note should be that the Gevrey-Chambertin region is the closest region to the famous city of Dijon and therefore the most northern part of Burgundy. On to the tasting!

This wine decanted showed it’s youth with a vibrant purple-red colour and heavy nose of cherry and spice. Once inside our pinot glasses we swirled out more of the same fruit and hints of casis. First sip gave a quick view of what was in store, big bold and beautiful. Good solid tannins with heavy fruit make this wine jump at you in such a way as to want to more and more. This beauty will benefit from significant cellaring time, in the range of 7 to 15 years. It is stellar Burg’ and represents the vintage well. If you happen to come across this in any capacity pick some up, you will be well rewarded. We ended up paying under $60 Canadian after exchange which makes this one ‘helluva’ a steal. Online auctions have this in the $65 US range if they have stock, so keep your eyes peeled.

The CWG Subjective Rating is a 91 out of 100.

Mrs CWG believes

we made a good choice getting two of these!

LCBO – Vintages Burgundy Release 25 March 2009

CanadianWineGuy — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:53:57 +0000

If you get regular emails from Vintages this one may interest you. There are some very good wines featured and if you are looking at buying this may be a good time to look at these:

(Overall List Here)

2006 Bouchard Pere & Fils Volnay Taillepieds 1er Cru for $65 a bottle
2006 Champy Volnay Taillepieds 1er Cru for $65 a bottle
2006 Joseph Drouhin Savigny-les-Beaun Les Talmettes 1er Cru for $45 a bottle
2006 Louis Latour Montagny la Grande Roche 1er Cru for $28 a bottle (White)

2002 Joseph Drouhin Morey-Saint-Denis

CanadianWineGuy — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:33:05 +0000

Sitting around last night, Mrs CWG and I decided that we needed to coif a Burgundy and looking through our wine database we settled on trying the 2002 Joseph Drouhin. For those that know me know that I am more of a Bordeaux man, in fact there was some thought put into naming this the canadianbordeauxguy blog (but darned if that isn’t a mouthful!). Burgundy’s to me have always been a secondary choice. Of late though I have started to dive into them with great attention and this Drouhin win is no exception. If you are shopping for Burgundy reds it is not hard to find a plethora in the $30 to $60 range, this will lead to a great deal of pondering, searching or simply reading labels and hoping you are buying there right one. A hint for purchasing a Burgundy red blind look for a Grand Cru or Premier Cru as you will probably be getting a top tier wine. They are pricier but if you are spending $30 what is an extra 8-15 to get a Premier Cru? This wine in question is neither a Grand or a Premier but when buying it I was pretty confident of the quality, Drouhin is a large producer and I have had some of his other Burgundies before. The Drouhin site is one of the better websites for understanding the producer and drilling down to the details of the wine, it is very much worth reading. Enough on that, let’s move on to the tasting!

Removing the cork and decanting created the first split view between Mrs CWG and me in a long time. She simply did not like the smell, referring it more to the “sewer” portion of the aroma wheel where I quite enjoyed it and got more of a deep raspberry with a bit of a smokiness. Once the first few slurps were done Mrs CWG’s viewpoint changed dramatically. Raspberry with blackberries, vanilla and oak are very predominant here. The wine is a tad soft to start but finishes with a bit of oomphf. It is a good representative for a Burgundy, well rounded enough to please with soft and subtle tannins. To say this was easy to drink is an understatement, the wine disappeared before we knew it. I think that $39 is a tad much for this though when it comes down to it, but overall we enjoyed it, and that is what drinking wine is all about.

The subjective rating of the day for this wine was 88 out of 100. Good, enjoyable, nothing to write home to ma and pa about.

Mrs CWG wants to know where all the wine went so fast!

late edit: This wine could continue being cellar for at least 3 to 8 years, I missed that this morning!

Morey-Saint-Denis 2002

2004 Mommessin Fleurie “La Chapelle Des Bois”

CanadianWineGuy — Sun, 20 May 2007 01:47:33 +0000

Mommessin, an old wine maker situated close to the town of Mâcon in the Burgundy region of France. The Burgundy region is considered one of the top three wine regions in France for reds, but that whole concept of “top” is too suggestive. Suffice it to say, the Burgundy region is probably the most diverse. From Chablis to Beaujolais the region’s appellations and wines vary greatly. This wine from Moemmessin comes from the highly regarded Beaujolais region and while most people know Beaujolais for their Nouveau’s, the real first class wines from this region are the Cru Beaujolais. There are ten Crus and this wine comes from the Fleurie part. Unlike most wines from the Beaujolais region, Crus are more robust, stronger and can be aged longer. Also, unlike northern Burgundy reds which are primarily Pinot Noir based, the Beaujolais region is uniquely Gamay only. This wine is 100% Gamay.

Having had this wine before I had a good idea of what I was getting myself into. Aging was not required, though unlike most Beaujolais it will add a bit to the wine if left on it’s own another 2 to 4 years. I am not the biggest “light” red wine fan so I naturally sway to the Cru Beaujolais over it’s appellations brothers (and sisters). This wine is well balanced and a good representative for Fleurie and the La Chapelle Des Bois designation. On to the tasting:

First smell was fruit, fruit and fruit. The fruity nose was distinctive with strawberries being the only discernible scent. The colour was balanced and not too “purple” for a fruity wine, almost a hint of rust on the edges. Initial sips and chews brought forward a nice mix of berries and a hint of flower. Reading the label tells me the flower smell is close to violets and peonies, I will trust the winemaker’s nose on this one as I all I noticed was a hint of flower to go along with the soft berries. The taste of oak followed with several more tastes, but not an overwhelming oak, a nice compliment to the existing flavours in my mouth. The finish was smooth and solid with the tannis being well behaved. I think what I liked about this wine more then anything is that it is completely balanced, from aromas to tannins to colour. This is the well polished Mercedes c240, not too expensive but many years of fine automaking has yielded a fine product with good heritage.

This wine has earned it’s 88.
Mrs.CWG says

“light and soft, enjoyable”