WineBoard - Chardonnay/White Burgundy/Pinot Blanc/Melon

White Burgundy Recommendation?

Sat, 05 Mar 2016 05:05:31 +0000

It's been while since I've had a nice white burgundy... I have some friends who like Acacia chardonnay a lot and I'd like to introduce them to a good french white. Used to enjoy Pouilly Fuisse but haven't bought any for awhile.

Anyone have a recommendation for something affordable (like <$30) along these lines? I feel like a bit of a traitor, living in Northern California and seeking out Pouilly Fuisse.

So, shoot me.

Anyway, help would be welcome!

J.

2012 Christian Moreau Grand Cru Le Clos

Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:16:28 +0000

Out of magnum.

Perhaps a bit tight and the travel all around the world with no time to settle did not help...but

This was still a very nice wine, minerally, with a steely austerity, good density with a strong acidic backbone. Everything you'd want in a good chablis.

2012 Sine Qua Non In The Abstract

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 18:36:04 +0000

Deep golden yellow.When I smelled and took a sip, I said “Wow. Are they doing a chardonnay now?” Lots of pineapple and cream, plus apples and white flowers. Turns out the blend is 37% chardonnay, 31% roussanne, 16% petite manseng and 16% viognier. Barely belongs in the "Chardonnay" folder here, but what the heck. A beautiful wine that is absolutely seamless from start to finish. Although being silken in texture, it also expands into a very long finish. RP gave this 97 points. I say 94+.

2012 Kistler Sonoma Mountain

Sun, 29 Mar 2015 02:03:38 +0000

It pays to know your clients tastes. At dinners, there are many times that I have to order wines that I know will be big favourites with the table but frankly I would never buy them for myself. This is one of those wines.

I love chard. I love chablis, I lover meursault, I love any combination of words before the word montrachet, and especially love it when there are no words in front of it.

But Kistler,...? I've had these wines many times and I know that they are well made, just not my style. This wine continues the noticeable trend of kistler backing off the oak but there is still a lot of oak here. This is one oaky large chard. Full malolactic fermentation, not an ounce of apply or crispiness left. Not much lift....but well made.

And I've very glad that my clients like it because it is not cheap especially out in a restaurant and I will never complain because we all have our own tastes.

2013 Chablis, Domaine William Fèvre

Fri, 06 Mar 2015 05:57:45 +0000

Everything I like about an inexpensive Chablis including the price!

Lovely wine to look at, pale, bright, promising the crispness that one looks for. Nose is light, with promise of minerality. Love that cool austerity on the first tough, then the light minerals come in, like having a few stones in the bottom of the glass leaving its mark in the taste. Not particularly generous with the fruit but sufficient to keep things in check. Good minerality and makes one crave a plate of oysters.

1999 Jean Raphet et Fils Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

Mon, 09 Feb 2015 02:25:50 +0000

Yes we are a stubborn bunch and we were gonna open Corton Charlemagne until we found a good one. Thank good for Raphet!

This was a wonderful vibrant wine, good structure, waxy and a bit honeyed? Great little bottle that disappeared in no time flat.

1999 Jadot Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru

Mon, 09 Feb 2015 02:20:26 +0000

Sigh...I wish I had better news. This one was so flat and so dead that we all looked at each other at a loss. Time in the bottle never did anything for it. If you have any of these, you need to look at them. Hopefully it was just our bad bottle.

2000 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne

Tue, 03 Feb 2015 15:23:40 +0000

Had to follow up the 1999 with this one.

Thankfully in much better condition but not from the best of vintages. The colour is still rather pale. Nose is light and elegant, with hints of apples, lemon marange and tropical fruits. This is a tighter wine, good structure, noticeable acidity still delivering some freshness and grip to the wine. And yet, not thrilling. For the price of entry on this bottle, I expected more.

1999 Bonneau du Martray

Mon, 02 Feb 2015 22:10:02 +0000

This is one of the brands that I fine a lot of variation in from the 90's premox and this bottle was certainly suspect.

a bit flabby and not quite a steely as it should be, a telltale slight hint of a maderized not, some of this blew off but it did not make this a better wine. Unfortunate as the texture of the wine was still wonderful, but it was not in the best of condition.

2006 Domaine Leflaive Bienvenue Batard Montrachet

Mon, 02 Dec 2013 20:40:19 +0000

Wow, another great wine!

This one was perhaps a bit on the young side as it improved all night long (consumed over 4 hours). This was the perverbial, lick the stone wine. Minerally all the way with a good density, great structure and fruit (citrus) to back it up. Lively and verve, this was a great bottle. Unfortunately we don;t keep out GC's long enough nowadays for them to develop in fear of premox. And then we are left with wines that are consumed too young as in this case. Having said that, this was showing really well.

Why I love Herbert Lamy... Domaine Hubert Lamy Bourgogne Les Chataigners

Wed, 27 Nov 2013 22:11:36 +0000

I love this stuff. I was pulling together a large 5 pound pot of mussles and needed a dry white. So i looked and saw this one and was frankly a bit concerned. A basic bourgogne from 10 years ago, forgotten and a bit dusty. But this was a Lamy bottle. On opening, it was actually a bit asleep! Still, this thing was a very decent bottle, elegant, minerally to the end, drank well with the mussels indeed. Not quite as fresh as a new wine but this one is maturing and was a wonder for the price and humble backgrounds.

2005 Comtes Lafon Meursault Charmes 1er Cru

Mon, 23 Sep 2013 15:50:51 +0000

When I first started looking at Burgundies and trying to learn about them (way back in 2003....oh my gawd that is 10 years ago..). a very nice sales person at a store that knew a lot about burgs became like a private tutor. oh only if I had bought half the stuff he told me to..... regrets are many here. but I did listen to him on Lafon.

These were not particularly cheap even back then but I loved his clos de la barres and for every 3-6 bottles of that, I'd buy one of these... (and the reds were nice and much cheaper back then too..around $30..)

This is a GREAT bottle of white burgundy. Power and reserve, Elegance and ripeness, tropical and mineral, tense but so smooth. How do you do that? Long finish and just about as Meursault as you can get. I know it is pricey, but it is lovely.

Hyde De Villaine Chardonnay Commandante

Wed, 03 Jul 2013 03:28:58 +0000

This was opened along with good company, a Batard Montrachet, a grand cru Chablis and a meursalt. It stood up well to its competition. Explosive nose, troprical fruit, totally different personality than its euorpean counterparts. Probably the best Chard from HDV by far.

'10 Valley of the Moon, Pinot Blanc

Tue, 02 Jul 2013 19:53:22 +0000

2010 Valley of the Moon, Sonoma County, Pinot Blanc ($12.99 NH Liq Store). Alcohol level 13.5%. Gave floral notes on the nose and some stone fruit upfront. More of the same in the middle along with a crisp minerality. The finish was short and clean. We matched it with broiled pork chops (too wet to grill), baked potato, and sliced tomato

2011 Coyote Bowl Chardonnay (from Church and State) on Vancouver Island BC Canada

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:20:06 +0000

2011 coyote bowl chardonnay
Steely, bananas, some influence of new oak. Not all together just yet. Good acidity. Slightly medicinal finish but otherwise clean and enjoyable.