Vive la France!

There are a lot of things to admire about the French. The beautiful language; the great food; the breathtaking landscape; the nudity in classy cinema; the music; the nonchalant way they play brutal, flowing rugby; their general joie de vie!

 But I think of all these, the thing I admire most is the effortless grace with which they make their wines.

 Take for example the wine tasting event that we attended today.

 At most reasonably sized Australian wine tastings you get, as you would expect, a pretty broad cross section of both style and quality of wine. Everything from the sublime to the virtually undrinkable (there is always one or two).

 Yet, the 2009 Vin de Bourgogne tasting, held by the French-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce today in Sydney, was altogether different.

 Vin de Bourgogne 2009

 Yes, there was still a wide variety of styles (you’d be amazed at just how many different types of wine can be made from exactly the same grape variety in Burgundy), and the wines varied from simple and straight forward to widely complex and appealing. But, regardless of the level of complexity or price, there was a definite underlying theme of quality and structural soundness than ran through virtually all of the wines that we tasted.

 There was an elegance present; a sophistication that you will simply not find in a similarly broad spectrum of Australian or New Zealand wines. Regardless of the price point these wines were aimed at, a common thread of quality and structure held them all together.

 The Wines

 There were a large and diverse number of exhibitors at the tasting, and while we got to as many as we could we were simply unable to make them all (apologies to those we missed out). Of the wines we were fortunate enough to sample, the following stood out from the pack:

 For Beginners

 2007 Domaine Bonhomme Viré Clessé – an uncomplicated little number, with crisp apple, peach, yeasty lees and plenty of acid.

 2006 Domaine Bonhomme Viré Clessé – the fatter, older brother of the leaner, more nubile 2007 above. Full of floral perfume and white fruit.

 2008 Domaine Gautherin Chablis 1^er Cru “Vaillons”– complex minerals and great depth of fruit flavour.

 Although these wines are unfortunately not currently available in Australia, they are still great examples of the quality and value for money that can be found at the lower end of the market and are a great introduction into the white wines of Burgundy. For more information on the availability of these wines in countries outside Australia (or if you are interested in bringing these wines into Australia or another country yourself) we suggest you contact Olivier Baret (awinetotry@orange.fr).

 A Step Up

 The wines of William Trouillet of Domaine Trouillet (www.domaintrouillet.fr) were a stand out for us too. Located in the village of Pouilly in the heart of the Pouilly Fuissé appellation these are wines of wonderful structure, elegance and sophistication. From the entry level Mâcon Solutré (simple perfumed red apples) through to the Pouilly Fuissé single vineyard offerings (complex spectrum of apples, white fruit and peach), these are wines of subtle class.

 The Chablis of Jean-Marc Brocard (www.brocard.eu) also impressed.

Simple, fresh, fruit driven and full of mineral complexity. These are wines of purity and integrity, with great acidity, clean crisp fruit and solid structure. If you like your Chardonnay naked as the day it was born (no oak to be seen here) this is the stuff for you. The 2008 Chablis 1^er Cru Montmains was a personal favourite (complex floral and crisp fruit flavours, with a tight mineral and acid backbone).

 Serious Stuff

 If you’re happy (or able) to splash A$200+ on a bottle then there were plenty of goodies for you too.

 The 2007 Domaine Faiveley Gevrey Chambertin 1^er Cru “Les Cazetiers” and the 2006 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Chambolle Musigny 1^er Cru “La Combe d’Orveau” were both seriously good wines. The Gevrey was full of mocha, coffee and cherries, while the Chambolle oozed silken cherry, vanilla, strawberry and cream.

 The standouts by far however, and the reason God created the noble Pinot in the first place, were the 2007 Domaine Faiveley Chambertain “Clos de Bèze” (super complex, cherries, leather, earth, wood, raspberry, silken mouthfeel) and the 2006 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Mazoyeres Chambertin Grand Cru (all the above and more – sex in a glass!).

 In fact (if I may be so bold), even if your not flush with cash, if you are into your Pinot (and there are not too many wine tragics out there that are not) then you should do yourself a huge favour and stump up the cash for a bottle of one of these – even if you do it only once in your life. This my friends is an excellent introduction to what true Pinot should taste like. Great fruit complexity, seamless structure, silken finish, depth, finesse and class. This is the real deal. OK it’s not a $15,000 Romanee Conti, but for around $200 you’re getting a pretty damn good insight into what is.

 Wines to drink now

 Interestingly, one of the other things that really stood out from this tasting was just how approachable these wine were today. The majority of the wines we tasted were from the 2007 or 2008 vintage, with the oldest being from 2006. This is an interesting move away for the more tannic, extracted wines of the past that needed a good few years in the bottle before quaffing. Of course, this is very much a reflection of the times, with today’s wine drinkers looking to consume their wines shortly after purchasing. I actually think it’s a good thing however, and from the wines we tasted today could find no obvious reason why the more serious of the wines on show would not last as long as they have in the past. Time will tell…

 Wine Tastings

 I love wine tasting. You meet great people and taste some wonderful wines. And no matter what happens you always expand your understanding of wine in the process. How good is that!

 Our many thanks go out to Olivier Deschang and the rest of the team at the French-Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry for putting on such a great event and putting up with us! It was extremely well organized and presented and we are very grateful for the opportunity to attend.

 Merci Beaucoup.

 Matt Watson