10/23/09

Corton Charlemagne, Bonneau du Martray 2000

I've drank nearly a case of this wine over the past 5 years.  It's been very interesting to follow its progression

Day bright, deep straw yellow with some hint of green and a moderate to thick watery miniscus.  It has a particularly beautiful texture while swirling.

Bright pear, green apple, fig and candied ginger play off of marzipan and subtle lemon leaf.  There is a strong chalky minerality but perhaps less than in its youth.  The marzipan increases in intensity as the wine breathes and somewhat subverts the chalkiness.  There is little of the cream cheese/sour yogurt aroma left at this stage of evolution.  Some what disappointing as this is one of the trademarks that I love in great examples of Corton Charlemange.

The palate has gained considerable breadth over the last year.  The biggest change in flavor s is the dramatic increase in oxidative flavors.  It's not soo salty like 'pre-mox'; it's more of a ripeness thing I suspect.  The other flavors are similar to the nose with some more tropical papaya notes.  The wine has very good acidity but seems all around tamer and less focused than it used to.

I'm not sure where this is going.  I'll drink most of the rest of what I have left, as I preferred earlier examples.  Who knows, maybe its just a stage and the wine will get better. 

Clos St. Jaques, Fourrier 2004

I don't feel guilty drinking young Fourrier.  I adore the wild, untamed fruit his wines possess in their youth.  This bottle was decanted for 2.5 hours, put back in the bottle and transported to a wonderful dinner at the Birchrunville Cafe.

BAM!  Sauvage blackberry, raspberry and curranty fruit with pure stony minerals and underbrush.  Enough funk to draw comments from the peanut gallery, but really clean and bright to Pinot lovers.  The fruit is just wild and plays expertly off the resinous earth tones.  Quite open at this stage of its life.

The palate is silky smooth with fully integrated tannin and almost no perceivable acid.  It's shocking how supple the texture is, like drinking silk.  The texture is so soft in-fact, I looked back at the bottle to make sure I had brought the right wine!

With more air the wine grows increasingly complex.  The acids peak out and some tannin becomes  noticeable.  The flavors are all there and perfectly complement the lithe texture.  After about an hour in the glass the first hint of bitter tannin peaks out.  In another half hour the wine is tight, acidic and painful.  Thankfully by this point the bottle is empty and its time for dessert.