TN's: Chassagne & Chablis anchored by '98 Smith Haut Lafitte

[Michael Malinoski]

Peter and Trish opened up their new home to our regular wine group this past month. Peter set the theme as any Chardonnay from Europe, but we all gravitated to France for our individual selections, so this ended up pretty much being a white Burgundy event.

1996 Duval-Leroy Champagne Blanc de Chardonnay Brut. This sparkler has a delightfully vibrant and engaging nose of lemon verbena, ginger, granny-smith apple, chalk, tangerine peel and graphite dust. It is softer and more rounded in the mouth, with a fine glycerol feel. The lovely and luscious flavors of lemon, lime and tangerine sour ball are draped over soft background acidity, but the whole thing turns more tingly and tangy on the fleshy but fresh finish. That progression and dynamic works really well for the wine and as the night goes on, the wine just takes on more and more lifted flavors. Three of the eight tasters had this as their WOTN.

2005 J.A. Ferret Pouilly-Fuisse Les Moulins. Strong aromas of apple skins, pear flesh and wet chalk give a tease but fall short of really making a connection. In the mouth, the wine is initially a bit straightforward, with the flint and chalky yellow fruit holding to a narrow path across the palate. However, as it warms, it begins to flesh out a bit--with apple and pear flavors turning richer in character and texture. The drying finish is a bit grainy, though, and the overall package is decent but just doesn’t really excite.

2000 Domaine William Fevre Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses. The first of our three Chablis has a nice crisp nose of flint, slate, lime pulp, lemon peel and chalk dust that is still taut and tightly-coiled. It shows a lot of verve, but also grows in volume over time. In the mouth, it is very chalky, tending toward creamy-textured. Flavors of chalk and citrus are airy, with a more grounded character toward the back of the palate. This is a nice, dry, airy Chablis that is still pretty young.

2005 Dauvissat-Camus Chablis 1er Cru La Forest. Aromas of lemon oil, river rocks, lime zest and cool grapefruit are tight and chiseled, slowly expanding and unfolding in layers as it warms. In the mouth, this is much more expressive than the previous two wines, pumping out tons of flavor. It is richly-fruited and layered, with a lovely glossy texture but also plenty of cut and drive. It turns a bit more pithy in texture and more white peach-flavored on the lacy finish, which maybe fades a bit too quickly but leaves a lovely airy feel. This is textbook delicious Chablis now, but should hold for a good while, too. My WOTN and tied for the group’s #3 wine.

2006 Dauvissat-Camus Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. The nose here is dialed back and more finessed, with soft sweet oak caressing classy aromas of grapefruit and peach. In the mouth, it is light but fleshy, with sweet pear and yellow apple fruit flavors, softly-sculpted acidity and fine-grained oak. It is more open-textured and less obviously structured, but the finish is long and persistent, ending light on its feet.

2001 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre. This wine is super-spicy on the nose--with nutmeg, mace and Christmas hard candy aromas sprinkled over fine yellow fruit. In the mouth, this is obviously much more mouth-filling and weighty. It shows off a lot of spice and plump rich fruit. As it sits in the glass, it actually seems to scale it back a bit and find a more elegant vein. The sour acidity really comes forward and makes the wine really mouth-watering. Later, it takes another up and down roller-coaster ride along the rich vs. elegant track before finishing with persistent acidity that coats the teeth. It’s a tough wine to pin down, but always keeps it interesting. My and the group’s #2 wine of the night.

1990 Fontaine-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Maltroie. The nose opens up with a dose of matchstick sulphur but really comes around with fascinating aromas of toasted crème brulee, spicy leather, ginger bread, bronze, mustard seed and savory stock. In the mouth, it starts out hard-nosed and stony but opens up a lot with some air. It features ticklish acidity and flavors of powdered minerality, dried clay, pineapple, tangerine, stony lemon and grapefruit. It has a fine, balanced finish with very good length and gives a fine showing of itself despite some of the unusual elements it featured at the outset. Tied for 3rd place among the group for wine of the night.

2004 Henri Darnat Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Morgeots. This smells like the essence of wet rocks, as well as seashells, briny boiled lobster shells and botanical herbs. On day two, it is much the same, but a bit creamier in character. On the palate, this is the most mouth-filling and full-bodied wine of the night. Pear fruit, mint, chalk and tangy sour lemon ball flavors are persistent and full all the way through to the finish. On day two, it shows a lot more oak influence but still a lot of flavor, but much less structure.

2006 Louis Jadot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets. One finds a more elegant nose on this wine, with soft powdery chalk, green ferns, yellow pixie stick dust and crushed rock aromas in a fine package. It has immediate presence on the palate and a big mouthfeel. It has a lot of spices and some youthful wood, but it is extremely vibrant and nicely-balanced by gentle fruit and floral notes. It features a soft, fleshy finish with a hint of wood spices. It is nice and will be better in a few years. My #3 wine of the night.

At this point, Andy was begging for some red wine, so Peter popped the cork on one.

1998 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Pessac-Leognan. Rich ripe plum, sweaty saddle leather and brown spice aromas just leap out of the glass after a pop and pour. Also along for the ride are aromas of smoky campfire embers, mocha paste, chocolate and muddy horsehide riding below dark cherry, black raspberry and black currant fruit. It is really enticing. In the mouth, it is not really as ready to rock, though. It is toughly-textured and leathery, with a decided tannic character. It comes across as very young, with dark currant, plum and black raspberry fruit a bit marred by the heavy, drying tannins. The finish gives some lift to the wine and breaks through the toughness a bit, but it is best to wait on this or give it some extended decant time.

We also had some sweet wines to end the night with dessert.

1987 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume. This Chenin smells of honey, beeswax, waxy citrus skin, bergamot and dried ginger, but in a crisp and focused way. It is not really rich-smelling, but instead lighter and nicely spice-tinged. It’s a light-bodied wine with out a lot of depth or density, but instead focused on pretty, light and airy elements. Toasted sugar, light honey and lilac flavors though the middle lead to nice quince, litchi and brown spice notes on the light but cleansing finish. Not a big or profound Baumard, but nice in its own way.

2003 Fonseca Vintage Porto. The bouquet is immediate, strong and forthright—showing off lots of spiced prune, fruitcake, rich incense and pure blackberry aromas. It pulls in some leafier, perhaps slightly earthier clay notes over time, but stays very young and bold. In the mouth, it has an intense entry that leads to a densely textured mid-palate that is again rather intense and youthful. It gives a big shot of flavor tinged by some woody spices and spirits and is on to the warming finish. It almost feels a bit rushed through the middle, where it ought to linger and flesh out a bit more, but I am sure that will come with additional age.


-Michael

[Blanquito]

See, I'm not the only one drinking 2003 vintage port!

Great notes as always, Michael.

[SteveH]

A terriffic white night selection Michael, followed by clear and extensive notes.

I have never had any Dauvissat bottling that was less than outstanding. Their hand picked fruit is always harvested at just the precise moment. The king of Chablis in my book.