Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Guests for dinner and we opened the following bottles with surprising results:

2001 Louis Carillon Puligny Montrachet les Perrieres: premoxed - yuch

2007 Michel Niellon Chassagne Montrachet les Champgains: pale yellow, crisp with some nice notes but not a lot of depth, a disappointing showing

2003 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier Montrachet: flabby, thin, disjointed, my worst ever bottle of Leflaive and a real reason why 2003 white burgundies are so disappointing

2008 Paul Pernot Bourgogne: by far the cheapest and by far the best wine of the evening; great fruit, nice depth, good structure, a wonderful surprise.

I think it's the 2006 Louis Carillon P-M I have and it's just delicious but I'll drink up the other couple of bottles asap, over the summer for sure. In fact I'll make it a point to drink up any white burgs I have that are drinking well.

Price nor reputation can give the best expression. Nice the less expensive wine was the best to your palate. I find that sometimes also.

Jacques, it is worth the disappointments to find a < $20 white Burgundy that will provide good drinking for the next couple of years.

Most of you probably already know the problem is not limited to white Burgs.

I poured down the drain last Saturday three consecutive bottles of badly oxidized 1990 Haut Brion Blanc. Three different sources purchased at three different times. Hard to say it was "premature" but usually HBB can cruise along for at least 30 years. A little while ago, a 1995 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc met the same fate.

It looks like white Bordeaux is rapidly succumbing to the same dreaded disease, as John Gilman warned us last year.

Stuart

I have stopped buying premier cru or grand cru white Burgs (except some Chablis), and am trying to drink up my 2001 and 2002 bottles before bad things happen. My current strategy is to buy basic Bourgognes and Chablis for everyday drinking, and drink Champagne when I want something nice.

Stuart,

Sad story for such an amazing wine in it's middle age? We've had the pleasure of enjoying this several times in the past and HBB still remains one of our all time favourite white Bordeaux if not white wine overall. With limited experience regarding a 21 year old white Bordeaux I can't say if this is premature oxidation or not. Not many white dry wines have the acidity to keep this long. Sauvignon Blanc and semillion without the added sugar content I certainly wouldn't put the faith in a white over 20 years old to be still firing on all cylinders. Certainly at auction I wouldn't consider buying.Riesling,chenin blank and not many other white grape varietals in a dry style will hold that long...chardonnay included in my mind. How does a 1990 Pape Clement hold up by comparison? Certainly the last number of 1999 HBB that I've had the pleasure of enjoying have been exquisite!

Not a happy story.

Danny

Thank goodness for German whites!

Yup, a nice '07 Leitz "Dragonstone" going down quite nicely tonight.

Guys
I've been importing Remoissenet white (and red) Burgs for a few years and interestngly I have never had a premoxed bottle. Even from the 90s.
Yet many producers I have given up on- too many bad experiences.