Burgundy A Barrel Tasting of Vintage 2016

Burgundy A Barrel Tasting of Vintage 2016
This was my second time to attend this tasting.
I was really looking forward to this event but on the day, I was feeling sick...
I almost gave up, but couldn't miss the rare opportunity to taste...

Domaine Armand Rousseau Pere & Fils!

Domaine Armand Rousseau Pere & Fils is a renown family-run Domaine in Burgundy.

Gevrey-Chambertin Clos du Chateau 2016
Cherry blossom, pink rose, cherry and pomegranate.
Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St-Jacques 2016
Dark cherry, herb, vanilla cream and freshness of green tea. Fine tannin.
Ruchotte-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes Grand Cru Monopole 2016
Cut flower, cardamon, juice which spreads when you bite fresh meaty cherry.
Chambertin Clos de Beze Grand Cru 2016
Rose, lavender, cherry and fresh tobacco. Texture is very smooth.

These wines were still young and tight, but aromas and flavors spread out in my mouth once I had a sip.

Beautiful wine. When I tasted them, I was so absorbed and totally forgot that I was sick.

Shea Vineyard in Oregon

Shea Wine Cellars make wine from grapes grown in their Shea vineyard and sell grapes to some of the finest wineries.
There was a tasting of wines made of grapes from Shae vineyard with the wine makers.

Shea vineyard is sustainably farmed vineyard in Yamhill Carlton AVA, Oregon and known for Pinot Noir with blue and black fruit rather than red.
This part of the land was thought to be too close to the ocean therefore too cool for vine growing, but this particular part of the land is protected from the cool ocean breezes and proved to be capable of producing beautiful fruit.

Mr. Shea, Mark Vlossak from St. Innocent, Ken Bernards from Ancien Wines
(right to left)

Mr. Dick Shea, an owner of Shea vineyard, is a former investment banker who fell in love with Pinot Noir and changed his career when he was in 40s.
After selling grapes for ten years, Shea Vineyard started to make their own wine.

Ken Wright Cellars
2016 Shea Vineyard Red and blue fruit. Silky texture.
2012 Shea Vineyard Red fruit with good structure.

Penner-Ash Wine Cellars
2015 Shea Vineyard Raspberry, cranberry, strawberry and nut. Fluid-like texture with powdery tannin.
2004 Shea Vineyard Rose, tea, tobacco and mushroom. Complex wine with firm, gentle structure.

Raptor Ridge Winery
2015 Shea Vineyard Tart cherry, vanilla, nut.
2005 Shea Vineyard Fresh cherry, smoke, incense.
I found alcohol a little too high, but JC loved them.

Winderlea Vineyard and Winery
2015 Shea Vineyard Rose, ripe pink cherry, fresh cedar. Aromatic fruits which were supported by tannin.
2010 Shea Vineyard Dried mushroom on the nose, and fresh flower and fruit on palate. Smooth texture.


Ancien Wines
2015 Shea Vineyard Cherry, herb and fresh grass. Iron-like minerality.
2010 Shea Vineyard Tart cherry and milk. Texture was like fluid.

St. Innocent Winery
2014 Shea Vineyard Dried rose petal and cherry. A little flinty and tannin is fine.
2002 Shea Vineyard Preserved cherry, cassis and mushroom. It's 2002 vintage but there was still freshness.

Shea Wine Cellars
2014 Shea Vineyard Block 23 Fresh cedar, ripe cherry. Soft tannin and good acidity.
2008 Shea Vineyard Estate Rose, violet, cherry, plum and creme of cassis. Soft, velvety tannin.

These wines are all made by grapes from the same vineyard, but show different characters depending on vintage and the parcel grapes are from.

Mr. Shea and wine makers from the wineries respect each other and play a joke on each other. There  obviously is a strong bond between them.

Wines based on this trust and respect can't go wrong.

Natural Cork Seminar

There was a promotional seminar about natural cork.

When there is something wrong with a bottle of wine, cork is usually the one to be blamed, but many of the fault are actually not caused by cork.
Besides, the quality of cork is much improved and there are lesser and lesser cases of TCA contamination on cork.

Nowadays, you can find a lot of alternative to cork such as synthetic closures, screw caps or even crown cap.
These have advantages such as lower cost, easy opening or durability.
But when it comes to consumers perception, none of them can match natural cork (at least, not yet). The recent research shows that people accept alternative closures for affordable range white wines, but for premium white and red wine, natural cork is the choice of consumers. Moreover, it's 100% natural and recyclable!
It happens to be that consumers are not the only people who prefer natural cork. After the brief seminar, there was tasting of wines with wine makers, who choose natural cork as the best closure for their wines.

Jordan Winery from Sonoma
Chardonnay 2015 Fresh green apple, pear and hazelnut.
Chardonnay 2011 was a challenging vintage. Spring rain destroy 40% of crops and summer was cool. However, wine turned out to be nice with dried, white flower bruised apple, nuts and grapefruit.

Shafer Vineyards from Napa
Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 Floral, cherry, bell pepper and milk chocolate.
Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 This wine with smooth texture was aged in low-toasted barrel. The notes of coffee come from bottle age.

Dry Creek Vineyard from Sonoma
Zinfandel 2015 Strawberry, black pepper, strong tannin.
Zinfandel 1993 Aromas are more decent than opulent: strawberry jam like Russian tea, red flower and mint. Beautiful wine with fine tannin.

They firmly believe that if the bottles were sealed with other closure beside natural cork, wine wouldn't have the same quality.

By the way, the conception that wine with natural cork breathes is not exactly right. Wine does breathe, but oxygen comes from cork itself, not through the cork. Oxygen contained inside cork is released into wine little by little. This process lasts about 3 years then bouquet would develop in the bottle in the reductive environment.
This I learned at natural cork seminar and was quite shocking revelation to me...

Bourgogne seminar Meursault

Bourgogne seminar - this time, it's Meursault!

Meursault is the appellation of the Cote de Beaune, Burgundy.
It has cool continental climate and many vineyards have easterly aspect.
Soils are compact limestone with thin layer of marl.
Limestone gives fresh minerality and clay adds richness and length to wine. Together, wine can be rich and complex with freshness at the end.

This AOC is known for its rich Chardonnay.
It's expressive with citrus, flower and nut when it's young, and develop complexity as it ages.
There are no Grand Crus in Meursault but to many, the word "Meursault" is as attractive as Grand Cru.

Meursault les Pierres 2015 Domaine Jean Chartron 
Honeysuckle, bruised apple, pear, caramel.
It was fresh and round.

Meursault les Tillets 2015 Domaine Patrick Javillier
Fresh apple, pear and marshmallow. Mild, round acidity.
This wine wasn't very impressive at first, but became really good with food.

Meursault les Charrons 2015 Maison Vincent Girardin
Grapefruit, herb, tarragon,
I enjoyed this wine by itself a lot.

Meursault Premier Cru Poruzots 2015 Domaine Philippe Bouzereau Chateau de Citeaux
White flower petal, grapefruit, ripe melon.
Complex and well balanced.
Unfortunately, this wine is not exported to U.S.

Meursault Premier Cru Blagnys 2015 Domaine Faiveley Pere et Fils
Ripe fruit, apple, peach.
Medium plus body.

Meursault Premier Cru Genevrieres 2014 Domaine Latour Giraud
Very aromatic with peach, orange and fresh cedar which are balanced with fresh acidity.
This wine is 2014 and others are 2015, and 2014 vintage had a lot more acid.

Recently winemaking in Meursault is moving toward more terroir with freshness and minerality than rich, big Chardonnay. This is personally very welcoming movement.