Omnium Gatherum - December 2009
Jump to: A White Burgundy... , The Purity of Brut...
Thu 31st Dec 09 A White Burgundy that did not disappoint
Chassagne Montrachet, Grande Montagne 2005 (Louis Jadot)
I am always rather nervous about broaching some of my finer bottles of white burgundy having had so many costly disappointments in recent years, mostly from vintages in the late 1990s and early noughties. On New Year's Eve thankfully this wine did not disappoint: mid-straw to gold; rich, ripe honeyed aromas with smoky complexity; rich on the palate, almost to the point of sweetness, honeyed fruit yet minerally too, very fine now with the capacity to keep and develop over the next five years.
Thu 31st Dec 09 The Purity of Brut Nature
Pol Roger Pure n/v ****
Brut Nature Champagne with zero dosage is very fashionable at the moment and was recently the subject of an extensive tasting in The World of Fine Wine magazine. Without any dosage to offset the naturally high acidity brut nature can taste skinny, one dimensional and very austere. But made from good quality, well-ripened fruit these wines can be supremely pure and refined. Pol Roger have named their brut nature 'Pure' and it is completely different to their 'White Foil', my usual house Champagne. The Pol Roger Pure wine is steely, slim (rather than skinny) with great verve and finesse and, yes, beautifully pure. It emerged as one of the best wines in the World of Fine Wine tasting but I think it is better in the better in the heat of summer than a freezing Derbyshire winter evening when a slightly fuller more mature style is called for. A question mark hangs over how these wines develop in bottle so I will try and keep at least one bottle back for the future. 17.5
