WSET Intermediate night three: Chardonnay & Pinot Noir
Posted on February 22nd, 2008
Saved in Red wine, White wine, Wine
This time out, the main focus was on Chardonnay and one of my favourites, the Pinot Noir.
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a hugely versatile grape, capable of growing in a variety of climates from the cool of Chablis to the heat of Australia and most places in between. Climate and vinification (how’s it made) play a huge part in how it acts out in the mouth. Nothing new there, but interesting nonetheless.
We tried a Chablis and a Puligny-Montrachet, both from Chanson Père et Fils. Although there’s only 100km between them (map) and made by the same producer, they’re remarkably different.
The Puligny-Montrachet was richer, more savoury and had stronger fruit. Both lovely, but both a little pricey in my book.
Pinot Noir
The two tried were a Bourgogne AC (Chanson Père et Fils) and a Villa Maria from Marlborough, New Zealand.
If nothing else, this face-off confirmed what I and many others have known for a long time: in most cases you’re wasting your money on Burgundy. To get what is a typical Burgundian Pinot Noir, you need to spend €40 and upwards. Otherwise, what you’re getting is a flat fruity flop. There are one or two exceptions (via Will & Jamie), of course, but the fruitless search for Burgundy is well documented elsewhere.
The New Zealander was a Villa Maria and at least had some “expression”, even though I’ve had better for less. In this case, it could be that Villa Maria are leveraging the good name they’ve made from their excellent Sauvignon Blanc (just like Cloudy Bay are doing, albeit at twice the price).
Where can you get the wines?
Our tutor bought the wines in O’Briens. Links to each:
- Chanson Chablis, €28
- Chanson Puligny-Montrachet, €38
- Chanson Bourgogne Pinot Noir, €15
- Villa Maria Pinot Noir, Marlborough NZ, €19
Lar,
Sounds like a fun and educational evening. I was looking forward to hearing how you got on with these wines. I feel that your tutor could have done better in his selection of interesting Burgundy around those price points (even in O’Briens) as I don’t feel any of those wines are particularily good examples of their appelations.
Don’t give up on the search for good affordable Burgundy though, there are many great examples that can be found in the various shops around Dublin but you’ll have to work hard to find them and be very selective in what you pick. 2005 is a fantastic vintage and there are an awful lot of lower end Burgundy from this vintage around Dublin at the moment. 2 basic Bourgogne Rouge that are available for under €25 (I know still not cheap) are these; https://www.burgundy-report.com/wp/?p=912 & https://www.burgundy-report.com/wp/?p=1002. I haven’t tried either yet but both sound delicious if you believe Bills tasting notes (which I do). These are just a sample but there are plenty more.
Beyond bourgogne rouge don’t be afraid to try some of the less popular appelations in Burgundy from 2005 either. I’ve had a St Aubin Rge, an Auxey Duresse and a Fixin in the past few weeks that have all been delicious.
The key is, find out what’s available and then research to see if it’s any good, then try the wine….. Some times it works and sometimes it doesn’t but, from my experiece, at least it inspires hope that there is good cheap Pinot out there.
There are loads and loads of nice NZ Pinots available also, but beware there are also plenty of clunkers!
Cheers,
Will
Hi Will,
thanks for the tips. Tried a great Fixin about a year ago, the fact I can still remember it reminds me of a Hilaire Belloc quote
“I forget the name of the place; I forget the name of the girl, but the wine was a Chambertain”.
Lar