by Rupert Bates

Bibendum’s latest contributor is Rupert Bates, a property journalist by day and keen imbiber by night. In this post, he puts the spotlight on Burgundy with three recent tasting notes…

English couple Su and David Bishop drank in the sights of Burgundy in Eastern France; bought a house between Beaune and Meursault and never looked back. Both in the building trade, they then converted a derelict coaching inn at Pommard and property company Arena Park Francewas born, meeting a demand for converted properties in the famous wine villages of Burgundy.  The sun and sea, a fast buck, or a slow life, are the lures when buying abroad. Bacchus plays a part too.

Toby Peirce, of fine wine merchant Quaff says: “Burgundy, for such an exalted wine region, is delightfully artisan and approachable for the keen amateur. You can wander into a village and be tasting within minutes. Bordeaux, by contrast, hides behind the huge facades of grand chateaux and their iron gates”.

“The small, bucolic villages of Burgundy belie its iconic status. Burgundy is a maze of tiny vineyards owned by thousands of producers, so quality can be variable, but this diversity has also created some rare wines grown on the world’s most expensive agricultural land. For real Burgundy hounds, it’s a joy to drive through Puligny Montrachet and stumble upon the hallowed two-acre walled vineyard of Le Montrachet (see picture above). Or stand next to the sign on the vineyard wall of La Romanee Conti.”

TAKE 3 – TASTING NOTES

Joseph Faiveley Macon-Prisse 2007

Can you have a dry-sweet taste? Its golden colour bounced off the sun, making it the ideal choice to start the barbecue with. It is a light and fruity white. I struggled to locate the aroma and came up with peach. New to this tasting notes game, it is surprising how difficult it initially is to match the tastes and smells to everyday palate and odour sensations. The French, with that whiff of Gallic insouciance, give you precious little detail on the bottles, unlike a lot of new world wines. It means you cannot cheat and words are not put in your mouth. But the wonder of French wine is often in the history and the families behind the grapes. The Faiveley dynasty in Nuits-Saint-Georges dates back nearly 200 years and six generations.

Louis Latour Meursault Blanc 2005 (£23.99)

Maison Louis Latour is another of the great houses of Burgundy making wine since the turn of the 17th century and still family run. You are in Chardonnay country in the Cote de Beaune and Meursault is one of the grand wine villages. I found this white crisp and buttery and superior to the Macon-Prisse. Dandelion was the flower that bloomed on the nose. There was a lemon tang too and the smell of fresh cut grass. But then again the lawn had just been mown. Whether climate and location affects the taste buds or not, this was just ideal on a bright summer’s afternoon, drinking alfresco, with chicken skewers turning on the flames.

Francois Raquillet Mercurey Rouge Vieilles Vignes 2007 (£18.49)

Again half the fun of wine tasting is researching the history. 11 generations of the Raquillet family have been making wine, with the village of Mercurey in the Cote Chalonnaise. This Mercurey was not quite a messenger from the gods; more a courier from the mortals. A half-full bodied Pinot Noir this was a Christmas cake wine with cherry and nutmeg. There were acidity and soft tannins, but it did not give me that long finish I crave from a red. This is a wine to drink inside, with rain on the windows and a fire in the hearth. Then I realised. The Mercurey is probably a perfectly good wine, but Germany’s fourth goal had just gone in against England in Bloemfontein and I was not on Bourgogne’s Cote D’Or, but West Sussex – admittedly a pretty English hotbed of flourishing vineyards. Is wine’s sixth sense a sense of occasion?

After my first amateur attempt at serious tasting, rather than pouring and snoring, I realise my nose and palate need a lot more education and that means a lot more field work and a lot more wine – marvellous!

You can follow Rupert on his website and on Twitter

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