The fourth (1,2,3) joint effort between fellow Montreal blogger Marcus and I was an '05 Champy night. Maison Champy is the oldest 'négociant' in Burgundy, producing dozens of wines from vineyards across the region. Thus, with some careful shopping, you can put together a real comparison of various terroirs, which is what Marcus and succeeded in an "open-label" comparison.The 2005 Champy Gevrey-Chambertin "Vielles Vignes" was the tortoise of the night, starting a bit dull. Musty, muted at first, with air it opened up to reveal damp earth and woodsy notes, leather and flint, and a lovely underlying meatiness. Poised, with soft and generous fruit, velvety tannins and good crisp acid all in balance. Heftier than the Savigny, but simpler on the nose, I think we're going to see a better score after a few more years in the cellar. I am beginning to associate the softness on the palate and the meatiness with the Cote de Nuits.
cork. 13% alcohol
Score: 17+/20
Price: C$41.25 (SAQ)
The 2005 Champy Savigny-les-Beaune 'Aux Fourches' had an enticing and complex nose, starting mushroomy and earthy, then strawberry cream, oak and rose petal, some spiciness. Tangy, even edgey, on the palate with some mineraliness (something I find in other Cote de Beaune wines as well), it was perhaps a bit less balanced than the G-C above, but I found it more interesting. Tonight we call it a tie.
cork. 13% alcohol
Score: 17/20
Price: C$29.70 (LCBO)
The 2005 Champy Chorey-les-Beaune was not a bad wine, but so much thinner and less complex - flint and oak on the nose, smooth and earthy on the palate, with wet stones and decent fruit. Simple, satisfying, but not like the others. Drink now.
cork. 13.5% alcohol
Score: 15.5/20
Price: C$25.50 (SAQ)
Two more comments - first, despite the fact that I had dinner before I arrived Marcus prepared an excellent spread of cheeses, vegetable couscous, sauteed mushrooms and other delicious stuff to pair with our wines - the dishes worked perfectly. Second, there actually was a fourth wine, but it was so cheap and so Romanian that I have to save it for a separate post...
Many thanks, Marcus! (Marcus' tasting notes and more photos on Facebook)
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2 comments:
Great to see your notes Joe and thanks for participating.
Your link at the end of your post to my photos actually includes details and/or my tasting notes too. This may be confusing because they are in a "photo album" but I think I'm going to leave it on the Facebook page and link to it rather than re-post it.
It's also where I've jumped the gun on your Romanian find. So I've let the cat out of the bag!
Hi Marcus, always a pleasure! I changed the post to say "Notes and Pictures". No problem letting the cat out of the bag, only problem is that there are so few bottles left...
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