Burgundy

Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier, Clos de la Maréchale, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru, 2004

Julian — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:22:32 +0000

Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier, Clos de la Maréchale, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru, 2004

For a mercifully long time, you have had no updates on this Wine Rambler's hare-brained and underfunded quest to find impressive and affordable Pinot Noir from Burgundy. I don't deceive myself that many of our readers more wise to the world of wine have secretly hoped that I would have given up, Burgundy being a region for deep-dyed aficionados only. Au contraire, my friends, and tonight, it is time for a new installment in this ongoing story of quixotic determination and befuddled ignorance.

It was up to Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier this time. Could this bottle of Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru finally be the one to open the floodgates to all that near-orgasmic Burgundy magic?

Julian Wednesday, 02/03/2011

Bibendum's Burgundy 2009 En Primeur Tasting (in pictures)

torsten — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:23:40 +0000

It is wine tasting season here in London. Events fight for a time slot in the busy schedules of sommeliers, wine writers and other trade folk, and even the humble Wine Rambler had to turn down several invitations. Among the events I decided I had to attend was Bibendum's Burgundy 2009 En Primeur tasting, held 11 January in the impressive rooms of RIBA, the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Burgundy produces some of the world's finest wines, and as they do come at a price a tasting is a fantastic way of learning more about them. Learning about Burgundy is in fact one of our new year's resolutions, so the Bibendum tasting was a great and timely opportunity for me to have a peek into the world of Burgundy.

Marquis d'Angerville, Volnay Premier Cru Taillepieds, 2001

Julian — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:19:15 +0000

Marquis d'Angerville, Volnay Premier Cru Taillepieds, 2001

At the beginning of this new year, we resolved that we would try, seriously try, to understand Burgundy. We've just about let you down so far, so let's get into it without any further ado: Let's get into this bottle of Marquis d'Angerville, to be precise. One of the great names of burgundy, a second-rank vineyard (first rank would be "Grand Cru"), a vintage that should now have reached good drinking age. Should be a safe bet.

Julian Sunday, 24/10/2010

A taste of Chablis

torsten — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:53:46 +0000

A taste of Chablis

Among wine jokes, the one where someone says they don't like Chardonnay but love Chablis has to be one of the classics. Overused as it may be, I have actually met someone who during the course of an evening of drinking wine told me about how he had had a marvellous Chablis at a restaurant recently and that the only type of wine he really hated and never ever drank was Chardonnay.

Whatever you may think of this joke, you can argue that it reflects a popular perception of Chardonnay as very oaky, often over-oaked in fact, versus Chablis representing a light, elegant style of Chardonnay that is mostly untouched by oak. As this is a style of wine the Wine Rambler is really interested in, I was more than happy when I was recently invited to taste a flight of Chablis - in fact, the nominees of the 24th annual Chablis Wine contest run by the Burgundy Wine Board.

torsten Friday, 16/07/2010

Punch-up of the pinots (blind-tasting madness part 4)

Julian — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:30:54 +0000

Punch-up of the pinots (blind-tasting madness part 4)

Since the well-remembered Silvaner symposium, Wine Rambler full committee meetings have regularly featured a pair of wines with a characteristic similarity (grape variety and vintage, mostly) that we taste without knowing which is which. Is this a sensible thing to do? The detractors of tasting blind argue two things: It favours bolder, more easily understandable wines at the expense of quieter, more refined types, thereby contributing to a levelling of taste and the loss of originality and regionality in wine. It also, in their view, turns tasting wine, which should be about enjoyment and open minds, into a sort of competitive sport. Valid concerns, surely, but we keep finding that without putting your own palate to the test once in a while, you lay yourself open to the twin dangers of preconceived notions and of auto-suggestion ("Label says this has notes of ripe blackberries. Yeah, I think I'm picking them up..."). So we're stumbling on with the blind tastings.

Julian Sunday, 14/03/2010

Domaine Bachelet, Côte de Nuits-Villages, 2005

Julian — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:24:42 +0000

Tasted blind, and very subjectively, here.

Tasting: France vs California and Bottle Shock at the Clapham Picturehouse

torsten — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:27:29 +0000

Thursday evening we ventured to the Clapham Picturehouse to see a movie about wine. And to drink some, of course. The movie is Bottle Shock and it features the (in)famous 1976 Paris wine tasting during which the French wine elite was defeated by the products of the (then) newcomers from California. To re-enact the Judgement of Paris, the cinema offered eight wines, four each from France and California, and the movie ticket for £22. So off we went!