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| March 15, 2008 |
  
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Fourteen White Burgundies from 2005
One, however, is not chardonnay. That's the first wine on this roster, the Domaine Michel Lafarge Aligoté Raisins Dores 2005, made from the aligoté grape used to produce crisp, friendly, drinkable wines in several regions of Burgundy.
The year, 2005, is splendid in Burgundy, for red and white wines. One reads quite a bit of commentary about how 2004 is a more "classic" year and that '05 produced white wines that are riper and more opulent than usual, but I have found, as you will see by these notices, that the whites from '05 are superbly balanced and finely-drawn, at least on the village and Premier Cru levels. The wines are also quite delicious, which does not make them Californian in any sense.
Prices are high. What else can I say, except that I'm sorry? The costs of milk, bread and eggs are going up too.
These wines are imported by Martin Scott Wines, Lake Success, N.Y. Visit martinscottwines.com
Domaine Michel LafargeAligoté Raisins Dores 2005 100% aligoté Burgundy, France About $21 Very good+ This aligoté – the “second” white grape of Burgundy – is clean as a whistle, but a low, steady whistle, not high-pitched and annoying. Wines made from the aligoté grape tend to be lean and acidic, and while this example of “golden grapes,” the wine’s nickname, is certainly bright and sinewy, it’s also earthy, vibrant and slightly floral, and its spicy lemon and lemon curd flavors are bolstered by limestone and shale. The vines from which this wine was made are over 70 years old. Very attractive. |
| Print Review: Domaine Michel Lafarge Aligoté Raisins Dores 2005 |
Domaine Simon Bize & FilsBourgogne Chardonnay 2005 100% chardonnay Burgundy, France About $21 Very good Here’s a clean, fresh and sprightly example of pure, intense minerality. This chardonnay is a lean, keen limestone machine, that given a few minutes in the glass, comes up with touches of dried spice, roasted lemons, orange rind and dried herbs with a faint whiff of honeysuckle. Mainly though, this is about scintillating acid and vibrant mineral elements that contribute to a sense of intense liveliness. Try with grilled trout or mussels. |
| Print Review: Domaine Simon Bize & Fils Bourgogne Chardonnay 2005 |
| Domaine Roget Lassarat Saint-Veran Cuvèe Prestige 2005 100% chardonnay Saint-Veran, Burgundy, France About $23 Very good+ There’s a lot of detail and a lot of dimension here for the price. The wine is dense, powdery, juicy and chewy, moderately lush yet balanced by zinging acid and resonant minerality. Flavors of lemon and lemon curd have a slightly honeyed aspect and, surprising for Burgundy, an exotic touch of crystallized grapefruit and ginger. Mainly though, as is the case with many white Burgundies from 2005, the strain of limestone that arrows through it is unimpeachable. |
| Print Review: Domaine Roget Lassarat Saint-Veran Cuvèe Prestige 2005 |
| Domaine Patrick Javillier Bourgogne Blanc Cuvèe des Forgets 2005 100% chardonnay Burgundy, France About $26 Very good This is the lightest of the wines reviewed on this page, which doesn’t put it out of the running; it’s just the reflection of a different, more nuanced style. The wine is enjoyable for its sunny delicacy, like fresh lemons ripening on a window sill, and for its subtle weaving of acid and mineral qualities. The texture is mild, slightly dense and notable, overall, for a sense of radiant buoyancy. Very charming. Drink through the end of 2008 or into 2009. |
| Print Review: Domaine Patrick Javillier Bourgogne Blanc Cuvèe des Forgets 2005 |
| Domaine Simon Bize & Fils Bourgogne Blanc Les Perrieres 2005 100% chardonnay Burgundy, France About $27 Very good+ The Bourgogne Blanc Les Perrieres ’05 from Simon Bize ratchets up the power, the intensity and the spice, shaping a chardonnay that’s not only larger in every respect but more layered than its cousin mentioned above. The balance between vivid acid and limestone elements and moderately lush flavors tucked inside a dense, almost powdery texture is beautifully accomplished. Drink through 2009 or into 2010, well-stored. |
| Print Review: Domaine Simon Bize & Fils Bourgogne Blanc Les Perrieres 2005 |
Domaine Roger LassaratPouilly-Fuissé Terroir de Vergisson 2005 100% chardonnay Pouilly-Fuissé, Burgundy, France About $34 Excellent Wow, sniffing this Pouilly-Fuissé Terroir de Vergisson ’05 is like thrusting your nose into your mother’s face powder; it has that talc-like intensity of crushed lavender and lilac, violets and verbena with a slight mineral glint. The wine is quite dry and crisp, burgeoning with the range of lemon, lemon curd and roasted lemon flavors with a hint of candied lemon and lime rind around the circumference and seething with purposeful acid and a limestone quality that if it were human one might even call restless. Great stuff. Drink through 2010 or ’11, well-stored. |
| Print Review: Domaine Roger Lassarat Pouilly-Fuissé Terroir de Vergisson 2005 |
Domaine Françoise & Denis ClairSaint-Aubin Blanc Les Champlots Premier Cru 2005 100% chardonnay Saint-Aubin, Burgundy, France About $36 Very good+ Here’s a lovely chardonnay that quickly turns serious in the glass. The transformation from winsome citrus flavors, spice and floral qualities to fairly profound earthy and minerally elements does not, however, disrupt the wine’s deft balance and integration, serving only to deepen its effects. The texture offers that attractive tension between crispness and lushness that well-made chardonnay have, though the finish falls more and more into the austerity of limestone and wet shale. Drink through 2010 or ’11, well-stored. |
| Print Review: Domaine Françoise & Denis Clair Saint-Aubin Blanc Les Champlots Premier Cru 2005 |
Deux Montille Soeur & FrèreMontagny Les Coeres Premier Cru 2005 100% chardonnay Montagny, Burgundy, France About $40 Excellent “Oh, my,” I wrote as my first note. What a lovely, beguiling chardonnay! Scents of jasmine and honeysuckle, lemon-lime and roasted lemon waft from the glass. The wine radiates wonderful purity and intensity that encompass delicious roasted lemon and lemon curd flavors with a hint of spiced pear, all electrified by clean, bright acid and powered by talc-like earthy, minerally qualities. Terrific wine-making. Drink through 2010 or ’11. |
| Print Review: Deux Montille Soeur & Frère Montagny Les Coeres Premier Cru 2005 |
Domaine Simon Bize & FilsSavigny-les-Beaune Aux Vergelesses Premier Cru 2005 100% chardonnay Savigny-les-Beaune, Burgundy, France About $53 Excellent This is a Vergelesses blanc that offers a lot of point, by which I mean that it attacks the palate from every direction equally, the moderately lush and spicy lemon and grapefruit flavors right there with the crisp, dynamic acid right there with the scintillating mineral qualities. A few minutes in the glass bring out a sort of moss on damp tiles earthiness that lays a foundation for a glossy, rather austere finish. Tremendously intriguing. Drink, well-stored, though 2011 or ’12. |
| Print Review: Domaine Simon Bize & Fils Savigny-les-Beaune Aux Vergelesses Premier Cru 2005 |
Domaine Bernard Moreau & FilsChassagne-Montrachet Blanc 2005 100% chardonnay Chassagne-Montrachet, Burgundy, France About $56 Excellent You feel this gorgeous wine as a distinct shape in your mouth, suave, bell-like, yet it doesn’t allow its allure to hinder the true work of clean acid, which provides the wine with a crisp, shimmering backbone, or with shale-like mineral elements that define the wine’s foundation and framework. Mixing housing and body metaphors here, but I don’t care; great wines themselves offer lovely (and sometimes tough) paradoxes. Classic lemon and lime peel flavors have a hint of candied grapefruit around the edge (another alluring touch), all cushioned in a texture of weight and substance. Drink through 2012 to ’14. |
| Print Review: Domaine Bernard Moreau & Fils Chassagne-Montrachet Blanc 2005 |
Deux Montille Soeur & FrèreMeursault Les Grands Charrons 2005 100% chardonnay Meursault, Burgundy, France About $56 Excellent Despite the designation “Les Grands Charrons,” this is a village Meursault, from a lieu-dit, a “named place.” Don’t think, however, that this is a “simple” village wine. No, this is deep, rich with dimension and detail, very spicy and flavorful but also elegant, spare, sinewy and stony. Acid is tremendously vital and vibrant, lending nerve and energy from start to finish. Drink through 2012 or ’14. |
| Print Review: Deux Montille Soeur & Frère Meursault Les Grands Charrons 2005 |
| Chateau Puligny-Montrachet Chassagne-Montrachet Blanc 2005 100% chardonnay Chassagne-Montrachet, Burgundy, France About $58 Excellent “Blanc” because producers in Chassagne-Montrachet are permitted to make red wine, which can be quite good, though rather rustic. In fact, 60 years ago or so, about 75 percent of the production of Chassagne-Montrachet was pinot noir, but changing fashion and the prices accorded to chardonnay wines from the next-door communes of Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet – one of those “like, duh” moments – brought about the dominance of chardonnay. This village Chassagne-Montrachet from the Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet is an expressive and eloquent example of the chardonnay grape. The bouquet is a highly perfumed mélange of spiced and roasted lemon, jasmine and limestone, with touches of pineapple and grapefruit. In the mouth, the wine delivers exquisite balance among vibrant acid, resonant mineral elements, citrus flavors that tend toward spicy lushness and a mere whisper of oak, wrapped in a texture that's light and supple. A lovely drink, now through 2010 to ’12. |
| Print Review: Chateau Puligny-Montrachet Chassagne-Montrachet Blanc 2005 |
| Dujac Fils & Père Puligny-Montracht 2005 100% chardonnay Puligny-Montrachet, Burgundy, France About $73 Excellent Dujac Fils & Père is the negociant arm of the meticulous Dujac enterprise. (See the next review.) As we would expect, this village Puligny-Montrachet offers distinct purity and authority. The wine is deep, rich and spicy, buoyed by chiming acid and supported by scintillating elements of limestone and damp shale, all of these qualities embodied in the sweet tension and resolution between tremendous earthy substance and an ineffable balletic nature. Drink through 2012 to ’14. |
| Print Review: Dujac Fils & Père Puligny-Montracht 2005 |
| Domaine Dujac Morey-Saint-Denis Blanc 2005 100% chardonnay Morey-Saint-Denis, Burgundy, France About $88 Exceptional Only a tiny amount of white wine is produced in Morey-Saint-Denis, which is, of course, known primarily for its Grand Cru pinot noir vineyards. Domaine is usually the designation employed in Burgundy to indicate a producer who owns vineyards or portions of vineyards from which the grapes derive for its wines. Domaine Dujac was founded in 1968 by Jacques Seysses, whose sons and their wives now carry on the work. For 2005, Dujac’s rare Morey-Saint-Denis Blanc is notably austere, dry, slatey and gravelly yet endowed with pure and resonant chardonnay flavors of roasted lemon, lemon balm and crystallized rind. In fact, for all its earthiness and substance – and this is a powerfully earthy wine -- it feels imbued with, even energized by, crystalline intensity and presence. A great achievement. Drink through 2012 to 2015. |
| Print Review: Domaine Dujac Morey-Saint-Denis Blanc 2005 |
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