The Auswine Forum

This Friday just past, the esteemed Chinese restaurant Choi’s was the scene of the Melbourne Burgundy Social Club’s ‘Battle of Beaune’ as we pitted the elegance of Volnay against the power of Pommard.

As is always the case, the wines were served blind and were to be 1er cru level or above and from vintage 2013 or earlier (save for a few ring-ins).

Here are my reflections on the incredible wines:-

2010 Billaud-Simon Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses

[img]http://i66.tinypic.com/98u92d.jpg[/img]

- Golden yellow colour
- No obvious oak on the nose
- Definitely leaning towards Chablis on this one
- On the palate, crisp and mineral acidity
- Citrusy, lemon pith notes
- On the finish, a gentle spiciness and pleasant musk
- Serious, stern wine
- Restrained – not over the top
- Opened with time and temperature

2008 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay Caillerets 1er Cru

[img]http://i68.tinypic.com/2e543ld.jpg[/img]

- Colour like a Barolo – orange tinge around the edges
- On the nose, some oak notes prominent for me, but not in a bad way
- On the palate, menthol notes and plummy fruit
- Beautiful structure
- Fine tannins
- Very aromatic – beautiful nose
- On reflection, some sweaty notes
- Quite balanced – the volume is turned up on all fronts
- Really enjoyed this wine – probably my WOTN

2005 Christophe Vaudoisey Volnay 1er Cru Les Mitans

[img]http://i65.tinypic.com/34zbu6b.jpg[/img]

- Deep colour – very dense
- Full bodied wine
- Richer than the d’Angerville, but not the same structure – more fruit power than tannin
- Lovely spicy acidity
- Dark, red fruits
- Long finish
- Long term proposition

2005 Joseph Voillot Volnay 1er Les Fremiets

[img]http://i63.tinypic.com/33lzes9.jpg[/img]

- Meaty, savoury nose
- Colour – dark ruby red
- Most tannic wine of the tasting
- Little flat on fruit – not lacking, just subdued at this stage
- Acid & structure dominating for now
- Long finish
- Amazingly young

2008 Arnaud Ente Volnay 1er Cru Les Santenots du Milieu

-Fruit stripped
- Zingy acid
- Clearly faulty – serves me right for remarking at the start of the evening that we’d had a really good run on cork faults

2013 Comte Armand Pommard Clos des Epeneaux Monopole

[img]http://i63.tinypic.com/15d5jm1.jpg[/img]

- Decadence & richness
- Coffee notes on the nose suggests some oak
- Dark red colour
- Rich, fruit forward
- Distinctive cool climate Shiraz pepper notes
- Fresh acid
- Youth on its side

2012 Domaine Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes

[img]http://i67.tinypic.com/2ln7p7b.jpg[/img]

- Beautiful nose – best of the night - smells amazing
- Delicious wine
- Ticks all the boxes
- Everything says Volnay, so of course it must be a Pommard!
- Red colour – bright
- Feminine and elegant

2013 Main Ridge Estate Half Acre Pinot Noir

[img]http://i66.tinypic.com/14jqikw.jpg[/img]

- Put on as a back-up for the faulty Ente
- Wow!
- Really beautiful nose – the group seemed split on whether it was old world or new world at this stage
- Definitely held its own
- More prominent sweet fruit on the palate compared to the others
- But for screw-cap, could be French


2007 Weingut Reinhold Haart Goldtröpfchen Auslese

[img]http://i67.tinypic.com/2m3jt7b.jpg[/img]

- Didn’t take too many detailed notes on this wine – was enjoying it too much
- Only one thing to be said – delicious!

1970 All Saints Rutherglen Vintage Port

[img]http://i67.tinypic.com/ftlncm.jpg[/img]

- Fortified
- Nose says VP
- Black dense colour
- Liquorice bullets on the palate – thanks Con
- An outlier in style – haven’t had that much liquorice before
- Clean and rich spirit
- Angry when first open, settled after time

Thanks All for a great night and thanks for the write up.
I’m still not any wiser about the difference between Pommard and Volnay.

The Henri Boillot was a Pommard Les Ruigens.

Finished off the All Saints VP last night, just as good as Friday.

Cheers Con.

ConJ:
I'm with you...while I think Pommard generally has much bigger blockier tannins....Volnay still sits firmly as a typical Cote de Beaune in my mind...it is more elegant in that it has finer tannins..but the mouthfeel is still relatively "thick" because of the amount of phenols...and they tend to be blockier than most Cote de Nuits..(not always)..which is why while they are different, they're quite similar as well...

Plenty of people would disagree I'm sure...

Looks like a great tasting guys, sorry I missed it, my flimsy excuse being that I was in Coonawarra

Thanks for the great write-up, Diddy. I'm already looking forward to the next function - Battle of the Grand Cru's.

Awesome write up Diddy. Sounds like you guys have fun. As always con pulls out a magic fortified at the
end of the night!

Ozzie W wrote:Thanks for the great write-up, Diddy. I'm already looking forward to the next function - Battle of the Grand Cru's.

Yes, GC’s will be good!