This Thursday night the wine tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton was supposed to be White Burgundy. As usual, however, George threw in something to mix things up. It was a Heitz lightly oaked Chardonnay from Napa Valley. We didn’t know that until the wines were uncovered at the end so he surprised all of us. All of the wines were quite good with a fairly broad cross section of who liked which on the best. Three vintages were covered, 2006, 2007 and 2008 so we could see differences in the vintage and the age of the wine.
2006 Macon-Villages Old Vines ~ Chardonnay (Mommessin) – Medium yellow color. Toast, honey and yeast in the nose. The flavor was like the nose with some added mineral flavors. There was good acid and a long pleasant finish. There didn’t appear to be any oak or that the wine had gone through malolactic fermentation.
2006 Meursault “En l’ Ormeau” – Produced by Yves Boyer-Martenot the color was a medium yellow. The nose was complex with burnt match, asphalt, and a slight stinkiness that blew off eventually. The flavors were complex and smoky with tart fruit flavors. This wine had a lot of acid and a long finish.
2007 Meursault “En l’ Ormeau” – The next years vintage of the previous wine also had a medium yellow color. The nose was an understated version of the 2006 with burnt match and a slight stinkiness. The flavors were very complex with smoke and minerals. This wine tasted better balanced than the 2006 as it had less acid with complex flavors and a lighter mouth feel.
2008 Meursault Bourgogne Blanc – The color of this wine was light yellow. The nose smelled of tart cheese. The flavors tasted of citrus, minerals and a bit of cedar. The finish was frustratingly short with good acid and a light mouth feel. Most tasters were frustrated by this wine and wished it offered more flavor. In spite of the frustration, it was the favorite wine of the group.
2008 Heitz Napa Valley Chardonnay – The color of this wine was light yellow. The nose was complex with fruit and a bit of licorice. Flavors were crisp and clean with tart citrus fruit. There was a lot of acid and a long finish. This wine was the second favorite of the group.
2008 Meursault “Les Narvaux” – Another Yves Boyer-Martenot Mersault. In fact all four of the wines from Mersault were from this producer. The color was medium yellow. The nose was closed. The flavor tasted of tart cheese, was clean and had a light mouth feel. There was a huge amount of acid in this wine. Some tasters described minerals and tropical flavors.
The take away lesson for this tasting is that California wine makers can make good un or lightly oaked Chardonnays. The Heitz fit right in with all of these Bungundies and was the second favorite of the group.
Well, this week we will be tasting “Sweet Wines and Tart Cherries”. Hum…what will that entail?
