Wine Tasting Supremo

Thank you to everyone who wrote re the last blog....your understanding and support and wise words brought tears to my eyes... I went back and read my blog to see what I really did say and even in the light of a new day I still mean it all ! However ,this blog is for those wine lovers out there and my visit to three commercial/professional wine tasting caves in and around Beaune. Many folks come to Burgundy in search of the exceptional Burgundy wine...the best one ever! My desires are less formidable than that. I would like to be able to pick up a glass of wine and say ahh that is from Burgundy...can you not taste the ???? in this wine all characteristics of the wine of Bourgogne. Well, I have been drinking a lot of wine these last few weeks...hope the bank does not cut me off...and predictably I still prefer the whites over the reds...but that was my preference at home also..though there I had to compromise whereas here the fridge is full of whites with not a red in sight. And when you go to a tasting the majority of the wines to taste are red...3 to 1...reds to whites.
So I have been to the Patriarche Pere et Fils, the Marche aux Vins, and the Chateau de Pommard for wine cellar tours and then tastings of their wines. Patriarche and Marche are very similar in their operation..in fact the cards listing their tasting wines are almost exactly alike and the way the tours are organized identical. You pay a set fee..in both cases 10E and as the tour progresses you get to sample 14 and 15 wines respectively... 3 white and the rest red. Naturally you progress from the softer less complex wines to the more complex and full bodied wines. You taste in a small round metal dish about 4 inches in diametre. The size of the cup limits what you can put in it and therefore what you get to drink but I found that it was possible to go back and take another sample as the guide is not always with you...however the idea here is not to get drunk but to try and identify the wines and their differences and similarities. These cups are called tastevins and I do not relly like them as it is impossible to swirl and Ifound that when I went to sniff I always ended up dunking my nose right in. It is also dark in the caves and therefore very dificult to see the colour of the wine...this is not a place for real tasters but more for show and the opportunity to encourage you to buy afterwards. Having said that both of these caves should be on your list to visit as here for 20E you can taste 29 Burgundy wines...and if you take your time and really think about what you are tasting it is a real treat...I am looking forward to going with Bruce and Jamie who are heavily into the Sommelier courses as I write this . The Patriarche cave is amazing and alone well worth the 10E visit. It is acres under there and millions of bottles of wine.. seeing it all stacked up so uniform and "plummed" they tell me was amazing. The bottles go way back and I actually saw some from my birth year..they tell me everyone should have a bottle from their birth year. So if you are in Beaune for a short time and can only do one cave I would suggest the Patriarche just for the caves...but I also feel like I preferred their wines.. although it was not on the tasting .I know I have mentioned before the Chassagne-Montrachet 2004 blanc which I am drinking now of theirs and really do love. Anyway here is a list of what I tasted that day.

Aligote 2003 short finish simple wine
Pouilly-Fuisse 2001 19E grapefruit,not much oak, good finish
Savigny-Les-Beaune 2000 13.50E light, flowery..nothing outstanding
Marsannay bottled at the Domaine 1999 14E watery , short aftertaste, slight mineral

Marsannay 1999 14E, a bit of flint, slight tannin considering the age, long finish
Fleurie 2003 13E Beaujolais... I wrote yuck beside it
Ladoix Cote de Beaune 2001 13.20E no real berry taste, tannin and acid
Savigny-Les-Beaune 2002 18.50E some berry taste, tannin, not too complex
Chambolle-Musigny 2004 26E getting better, strawberries,flinty,nice soft finish, some tannin
Chevrey- Chambertin 2003 28.70E nice strawberries/tannin balance ,nice finish
Beaune 1er Cru..2001 24E did not like this one finish was bitter
Pommard 1er Cru 2001 32E lots of friut and tannins
Hautes Cotes de Nuits 2002 12E
Chassagne-Montrachet 2001 18E flint

So I went through all that and can pick out some distinguishing features...the flint or mineral taste of the wines ..it is there or not there..I like it there and the better the wine the more it is there..the berry flavour changes from red berries to dark berries and I seem to like the dark berries although the red are softer on the palate. Tasting in the cellars is also cold and I found the red wines to be too cold for my palate to pick up on all the nuances.

The second tasting ,a week later, was at the Chateau de Pommard..an absolutely beautiful spot and a well known name in the wine world. The present owner bought the Chateau and 20 Acres of vineyards in 2004 and has made it in to a show place...museum rooms,artwork by Salvadore Dali, small cellar not nearly as impressive as Patriarche and always a guide. the Tour is 15E and you taste 5 wines and a marc... I passed on the latter as the alcohol content is 45%. You taste in a tasting glass which I preferred and we were lucky enough to have a room and not need to taste in the cellar ...too busy that day to accomodate everyone. So for once you could actually see the wine. All the wines are made on that Domaine...unlike the other 2 caves whose wines are made all over Burgundy and from various vineyards and winemakers. Patriarche is a huge producer buying lots of grapes from many vineyards as well as wine from vineyards. As for Chateau de Pommard I had to ask for paper to make my notes on but here is what we tasted .

Meursault 2005 1 year in oak nice fruit , some mineral , not a long finish but a nice finish
Grand Vin 2004 a lot of red fruit, soft tannins but a slight bitter taste on the finish
Grand Vin 2001 should wait before drinking..red fruit.mushroomy nose, more tannin. soft finish
Grand Vin 2003..the hot summer! more concentrated darker colour, black fruits very deep taste with lots of tannins very nice
Grand Vin 1997..already 10 years old and ready to drink..they are offering this at a d/c price..browning along the edges, more complex,very dry and full of tannin.. need some food with this before I would buy.

They passed around a price list for these wines and then the expectation was that you would buy.. I was walking back to Beaune so 3 km of carrying wine was not in my strategy. But I was also not sure that I thought the wine worth the price which was high 40E plus a bottle anyway. Later I looked in some of the wine guides and saw that Pommard scored only 2 stars out of 4 for its wines. Glad I hesitated although if I want some you need to go back to the winery as I have not seen them about town. I am going to stop now and do the next Marche aux Vins in its own blog for no reason then I want to get up and stretch. But to reiterate I am still looking for what is a Burgundy wine and I am hoping my class this Saturday at the Vin d'Ecole will help me with that. See you in a bit