Older Burgundy’s In Folliez (Vinotopia)

The reason for this meeting in restaurant Folliez in Mechelen was the visit of a (hopefully) future American Master of Wine. Reason enough to taste a nice series of older wines.

We began with a few beautiful white Burgundy’s with in between them a couple of top California Chardonnays: Kongsgaard and Marcassin. Nice comparison, though the flight was dominated by the 2001 Coche-Dury Perrières. Even the 1997 Montrachet from Ramonet didn’t attain its level of complexity.

Margaux 1985

We continued with a couple of magnificent Margaux 1985, a vintage that has the reputation of rapidly maturing. Well, the wines were still going strong after 24 years – beautiful to drink, with reserve to age further. The Château Margaux was slightly better than the Palmer.

Henri Jayer

Then my vinous virginity was lost with my first bottles of the legendary Burgundy winemaker Henri Jayer. And although this certainly were no topcuvees (namely Vosne-Romanée Cros Parentoux and Richbourg), it still was a very memorable experience – everything in balance and finesse, pure, lovely texture, and surprisingly much matter for two vintages of modest reputation. Especially the Nuits Villages 1987 was very impressive.
Then we tasted a bottle of 1964 Chambertin Clos de Bèze of the historical domain Clair-Dau – not the best bottle that I have had from this domain, but not bad either.

Landonne

Finally we tasted a couple of nice northern Rhônes, with a blissful 1997 Guigal La Landonne taking top honours.
This beautiful tasting was concluded with a Rieussec 1990.

The full tasting notes can be found on Vinotopia.

The tasted wines

1	NV Brut – Deutz (Champagne – Champagne)
2	2002 Chardonnay – Kongsgaard (California – Napa Valley)
3	2001 Meursault Perrières – J.-F. Coche-Dury (Bourgogne – Meursault)
4	1996 Meursault Perrières – Domaine des Comtes Lafon (Bourgogne – Meursault)
5	2004 Marcassin Vineyard Chardonnay – Marcassin Vineyards (California – Sonoma Coast)
6	1997 Montrachet – Domaine Ramonet (Bourgogne – Montrachet)
7	1999 Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières – Domaine d’Auvenay (Bourgogne – Puligny-Montrachet)
8	1985 Margaux – Château Margaux (Bordeaux – Margaux)
9	1985 Palmer – Château Palmer (Bordeaux – Margaux)
10	1987 Nuits-Saint-Georges – Henri Jayer (Bourgogne – Nuits-Saint-Georges)
11	1981 Echezeaux – Henri Jayer (Bourgogne – Echezeaux)
12	1964 Chambertin Clos de Bèze – Domaine Clair-Daü (Bourgogne – Chambertin Clos de Bèze)
13	1997 Côte Rôtie La Landonne – E. Guigal (Rhône – Côte Rôtie)
14	1998 Côte-Rôtie La Landonne – René Rostaing (Rhône – Côte Rôtie)
15	1997 Brunello di Montalcino – Castello Banfi (Toscana – Brunello di Montalcino)
16	1990 Rieussec – Château Rieussec (Bordeaux – Sauternes)