Why Pay More For The French Stuff?
September 23rd, 2009
A friend last week invited me around for a nice dinner accompanied by some of his Burgundy collection. It was an evening of great wine and a perfect match between food and wine.
The wine which stood out most was a 2002 Premier Cru Pommard, Domaine de Courcel Grand Clos Des Epenots. I don’t know if any is available in New Zealand but a search of the internet shows that the wine is still available in the UK, France and Switzerland for around NZ$100.
2002 was a pretty good year for both Burgundy reds and whites and this Pommard was no exception. For me the nose was extremely complex, with plum and bacon. In the mouth there was a savoury and mineral character over-laid with plum, cassis, and strong cherry flavours. It was a delicious wine.
But what was most amazing was the aftertaste. It went on and on. It remained in the mouth for at least five minutes. Finding it difficult to place the flavour I cheated and had a look at some reviews on the internet. One focused on exactly this issue and hit it spot on. This wine tasted of iron, almost a blood flavour on the back pallet. I wouldn’t go as far as this other reviewer in saying “this was a wine for Dracula” but it is certainly an interesting character to this wine. Pommard wines are known for their long finishes, but this was an extreme example.
The iron was the most distinctive flavour from a spectrum of mineral elements in this wine. And this, for me, is why it is worth investing in good Burgundy. NZ pinots are good and getting better all the time, but we are still a long way from matching good Burgundy in terms of minerality and “terroir” character. Serve this wine with a reasonably rare lamb rump which you have coated with rosemary and pepper and you will have a perfect match. A rare steak would go very well also.
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