White Burgundy is well liked and admired by your scribe. It covers a wide area from northerly Chablis to southern Maconnais with the heart of the most expensive in the region being the Cote de Beaune. On this Blog we often have discussed in detail my particular favs of Chablis Les Clos, Meursault Perrieres, and Chevalier Montrachet. Also, I am a big admirer as well of Corton Charlemagne, a wine that truly captures power with a stony acidity balance which can age spectacularly. Fortunate to taste many very old ones especially from the late 1920s (before pre-mox vintages) and though are quite variable as expected have provided some of the greatest complex white Burgundy ever experienced. However, today it is even more risky to wait decades to open them.
Corton Charlemagne with that famous hill has many producers led by the Top Five of Louis Latour (10+ hectares), Bonneau du Martray (6 1/2), Bouchard Pere (nearly 4), Domaine Rapet (3+) and Romanee-Conti (nearly 3). One of the smaller owners we cherish is Tollot-Beaut based in Chorey-Les-Beaune but with a tiny .24 hectares of Corton-Charlemagne vines in east facing Les Renardes planted on chalky marl back in 1956. During the seventies and eighties during many visits to Burgundy we usually stayed in a Gite de France rental nearly next door to this winery and visited them several times. Always impressed by the dedicated quality wines of the Tollot family (back to 1880), the old historic cellars, and the limited production of only one or two barrique Bourgogne (now more like 5 and aged 18 months in 60% new oak) of their Corton-Charlemagne. The C-C was not available in Canada but was discovered first by Frank Schoonmaker for export to the USA and discovered by us in Portland Oregon through the Al Giusti Wine Merchant. Enjoyed many younger vintages showing textbook appellation signatures of lively tension filled acidity balance with a unique terroir. Especially found that the 1979 & 1985 vintages aged well over time and we opened our last bottle of each last week. First night was the elegant 1979 CORTON-CHARLEMAGNE TOLLOT-BEAUT that displayed a deep golden colour with rich sweet flavours paired with a tomato lasagna dish. Enjoyable but a maderizing bottle that didn’t have enough fruit remaining that was so prominent in the earlier ones. Should have opened years ago when singing at its best.
Second night was 1985 CORTON-CHARLEMAGNE TOLLOT-BEAUT matched with a wild Alaska Sockeye salmon that was sensational. Reminiscenced back to my days as Chair of the IWFS Wines Committee with some of our most spirited debates ever among John Avery, Michael Broadbent, Clive Coates, and myself about the merits of 1986 vs 1985 white Burgundy ratings. I supported 1985 ripe creamy structured staying power (1985 Meursault Charmes Francois Jobard) while 1986 less clean, often heavy with much botrytis (memories of Sauternes-like 1986 Meursault Poruzot Francois Jobard). This 1985 C-C T-B is still fresh enough fruit fleshy from the naturally higher acidity of the site yet marvellously mature smooth very complex bouquet and textured flavours. Best white Burgundy we have tasted so far this year. Sublime purity. That’s what aged white Burgundy is all about! Hope you have had or will have this experience! Good luck.
You might also like:
 |
 |
 |
The January 2024 deep freeze of temperatures in the high -20sC (following the cold December 2022 one) destroyed so many vines in the Okanagan vineyards. The damage has been so extensive that many wineries are expecting no wine production from Okanagan grapes this year. Many grape varieties have been affected including so many successful Pinot Noirs. Winemaker Grant Stanley & Owner Bill Knutson of outstanding Spearhead Winery report 100% loss of Estate pinot noir grapes in 2024. Perhaps the hardest hit grape variety has been Syrah. Severine Pinte, talented winemaker/viticulturist of both Le Vieux Pin in Oliver & La Stella in Osoyoos calls it “catastrophic”.
Will they risk replanting their fantastic Syrah or not?
It is a real dilemma for wineries as the marginal grapes like Syrah that have been so successful up till now are the most vulnerable to these increasing winter freezes. Where does Syrah go from here? For the wine consumer the decisions to be made are much easier. Buy now all the Syrah (and Pinot Noir) from the Okanagan that you are able to find in your local marketplace. Supplies will continue to be way down and demand will be way up pushing prices even higher. This buy recommendation comes from wide experience by your scribe in tasting many vintages of Syrah produced in British Columbia over the past few years. What amazes me the most is that some of the most successful and best aging ones are quite inexpensive. In fact all Okanagan Syrah is very good value. This was an undiscovered success story gathering momentum but now has been roadblocked.
Among the best Syrah for aging has been CHABERTON ESTATE WINERY from the Fraser Valley but accessing top Syrah fruit from the Okanagan Valley. Not surprising as the co-owner (with retired Vancouver respected lawyer Eugene Kwan) is Hong Kong businessman Anthony Cheng – a red Rhone admirer and keen wine aficionado. They developed an excellent Reserve Syrah under the “Canoe Cove” label with a Chinese character stylized seal meaning “Superior” by calligrapher Tang Cheong Shing. Tasted recently the 2006 & 2004 vintages that both showed an amazing complex bouquet textbook Syrah definition. Chaberton accurately described it as “The strong varietal characteristics of blackberry, cherry and plum harmonize perfectly with a spicy cinnamon, dark chocolate and smooth vanilla finish. ” Surprising ageability! The more current vintages of 2016-2019 (shorter heavier bottle with black label) continue in this same vein with riper fruit:
2016: 100% Syrah from Okanagan Valley in Oliver at Desert Hills. Juciy plums with smoky cloves on the nose plus smooth flavours with a touch of white pepper at 13.6 abv
2017: Similar with more cinnamon easier drinking at 13.4 abv
2018: Fuller blackberry/cherry notes with more black pepper spice is big and rich at 14.7 abv
2019: Aged 26 months in new oak barrels is toasty but with lots of big fruit mocha pepper notes with a touch of elegance at 14.2 abv. $32.
Another Okanagan Syrah falling under the radar has been SANDHILL Syrah Terroir Driven Wine. The 2015 was selected out of 600+ wines from 85 wineries and from all the Platinum medals for the very top Premier’s Award at the BC Wine Awards in 2017. What amazing value under $30 Canadian! Tried the 2015 & the 2018 Sandhill Syrah recently and they indeed are big fruit value for the money. No rush. Good luck in searching for our diminishing Okanagan Syrah!
