Tasting at Victoria Park

Last week we had the first of our Burgundy 2010 tastings at Victoria Park, having not tried the 2010 wines since they arrived in New Zealand I was looking forward to this one. This was the first in a series of Burgundy tastings we are running and looked at Bourgogne and Village wines. The next tasting looks at 1er Cru with the third tasting a real gem – all Grand Cru – details are on the Glengarry website.  The first flight was; Domaine Vincent Girardin Meursault Le Limozin 2010, Domaine Lamarche Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits 2010, Domaine de Bellene Bourgogne VV 2010 and Domaine Jessiuame Santenay 2010. The Meursault was magic, pure, clean and very precise (we are now thinking well have to do a 2010 White Burgundy tasting), the two Bourgogne were excellent, there were a few wine industry people in the room who were shaking their heads as to how these wines could be sold for such great prices compared to some of the Pinot noir on the market here. The final red wine of the flight took a step up to the village level, it was great to see a progression, which prompted expectation for the next flight. Santenay is one of the villages I look out for on wine lists, it’s a lesser known village and in the right vintage (which this clearly is) and in the right hands, you are in for a well priced treat. The second flight was all about looking at the differences of three villages, the wines Domaine Michel Gros Nuits Saint George 2010, Domaine Anne Parent Pommard Croix Blanche 2010, Domaine Tortochot Gevrey Chambertin Champerrier VV 2010. This was a great flight for learning the differences between the villages, from the savoury chewy and spicy characters of the Gevrey, to the perfume and plush characters in the Nuits, finishing with the rich, round berry characters in the Pommard. When I visited with Anne Gros, I recall her mentioning that for her the 2010 vintage expressed very clearly the terroir of each site and village, these wines will be a wine educators dream. The final flight, three wines Alex Gambal Vosne Romanee VV 2010, Domaine Gros Frere et Soeur Vosne-Romanee 2010 and Domaine Anne Gros Chambolle-Musigny La Combe d’Orveau 2010, as we tasted through each of these, I was sure I’d come to the wine of the night, all we’re excellent and all stand out. If I had to pick one wine from the night, it would have to be the Anne Gros Chambolle-Musigny La Combe d’Orveau, delicious, the length was so long, I still had the memory of it with me as I headed home.