Last week I slipped away with the family to Lido Key. While there I blocked out a “work day” to write the email features and the Wine of the Month. As it turns out I cannot hide anywhere and ended up attending a little Burgundy tasting that afternoon in Sarasota. Below are my notes for the event of the wines tasted. These are all good, workhorse Burgundy, designed to provide solid drinking for the next decade.2008 Matrot Mersault “Les Chevalieres” One of the grand old names of Meursault, this property produces old school wines big on structure and aging potential. The Les Chevalieres vineyard lies southwest of the town of Meursault at the beginning of the slope that contains the Grand Cru sites in Puligny and Chassagne farther to the south. The Matrot parcel is old vines, 50+ years, near the top of the slope. The result is that in a vintage like 2008, prone for flabby wines, theirs is often better balanced and more structured.Medium gold/green color, medium viscosity. Nose of fennel pollen, dried straw, oyster shell, green apple and lemon grass. Fairly dense in the mouth, firm grip of minerality straps the fruit but the wine maintains good length. At least 5 more years in the cellar.2006 Domaine Girardin Puligny-Montrachet Vieille VignesSince the early 1990’s Vincent Girardin has established himself as a reliable source for top quality Burgundy, built for the modern consumer. With this wine you see a vivid example of the precision of Puligny, with a nose of nectarine, lemon verbena, yellow apple and bees wax. On the palate this wine shows an immediate sense of lift, with precise fruit framed by firm acidity. This wine really needs at least 3 more years and should age nicely for up to 10 years.2007 Matrot Volnay-SantenotsLike their white wines, the Matrot’s reds are classic, elegant wines built for the cellar. This wine comes from one of six vineyards located in the Meursault appellation, the neighbor to the southwest, but due to similar climate conditions are allowed the Volnay designation. The Matrot version also comes from old vines.Without surprise this wine is medium garnet colored and shows moderate viscosity. The nose shows hints of pomegranate, raspberry, fresh thyme and sage. This wine is surprisingly broad in the mouth with the fruit kept lively by vivid acidity but soft tannins. Good now this wine will improve for 3 to 5 years.2007 Girardin Gevrey-Chambertin Vieille Vignes Produced from several blocks across the appellation where the vines are more than fifty years old. The wine was aged in 33% new French oak.The color of this wine is dark ruby and there is some staining in the tears. The nose is a heady blend of blackberries, black raspberries, Assam tea and dried porcini mushroom. This wine is big in the mouth, with the ample fruit quickly framed by firm tannins and moderate acidity. Ok to drink now, this wine will really need five to seven years to show it’s stuff.2005 Girardin Pommard Les VignotsI was floored to see some of this wine still around and the distributor told me Vincent made a lot so they have been able to reorder four different times since the initial release. If you regret not buying more 2005’s when you had the chance, now you make good.This vineyard is unique in that it runs almost exactly east-west, in a small valley that encompasses the town of Pommard. I find the wines in this part of Pommard are usually less tannic and easier to enjoy in the first decade of existence. That said, this is a very dark wine with a deep nose of charred meat, cooked cherries, soy sauce and tamarind. In the mouth the wine hits with a big impression of black fruits before the vivid acidity and moderate tannins wind this wine up. Although drinkable now this wine can use at least five more years in the cellar and should last for up to a decade.
An afternoon, not quite wasted
August 14, 2010
