2006 Michel Picard Corton Clos des Fietres Beltramo's 8 of 9

This wine was a mystery. The nose was subdued. It really did not give off much of anything. The wine itself started with a burst of tannin and acid, carried along with some big berry fruit. It certainly stuck with you as it literally finished all of the way down my throat. I have some experience with good Burgundy, but not really that much with older wines. Some that I have had have been very good, others just weak and dead. This wine must be built to last. It has the pieces to be very good, but I would have a very difficult time playing the odds on that actually happening. I just really do not see the fruit coming forward, or perhaps the tannins resolving away sufficiently that this will end up a great bottle. And at $90, it would need to be very good to justify its price.

6th place out of 9.

WR

2006 La Pousse d'Or Corton Clos du Roi Beltramo's 9 of 9

Okay, this was the best wine of the group by quite a margin. It was also the most expensive at $115 per bottle.

What made this special? First the nose was a beautiful fragrant blend of sweet strawberry and blackberry. The nose was special. Then it was followed by a wonderful fresh burst of fruit on the tongue, followed by a great slightly tart slightly sweet finish. The finish was lovely. Everything one looks for in a fine pinot from France. The fruit the fine wine making, structure, taste the works.

Definitely and easily 1st of the 9 wines.


North Berkeley Imports has the scoop on the La Pousse the winery.

And that concludes the Beltramo's tasting notes.

WR

2005 Joseph Voillot Pommard "Clos Micault" Beltramo's 7 of 9

This wine starts with a dark color and right away on the nose backs it up with a heavy berry nose, mixed with a slightly burnt hint. This wine was the most alcohol rich of the group from tasting and it had a slightly glycerin silky flavor which I almost never associate with pinot noir grapes. It was quite pleasant to taste, my guess is that it benefited as against the other wines due to the extra year of aging, but I think it will be a much more complete wine in three or four more years. Right now it is a bit disjointed, but when it settles down it should be quite good.

2nd place out of 9.

WR

2006 La Pousse d'Or Volnay "Clos des 60 Ouvrees" Beltramo's 6 of 9

Nose of berries and a lovely ruby color. Fresh fruit starts off the mouth and opens up with strawberry hints. It is very light, but with excellent structure and balance, making it a very solid wine. Would be great with veal or game hen.

3rd place out of 9.

WR

2005 Bruno Clair Savigny-les Beaune "La Dominode" Beltramo's 5 of 9

This was a bit of an odd one. It was closed in the same way that the Mongeard-Mugneret, and on the first sip I thought it was going to be a very similar experience, but then out of no where a nice delicate fruit found its way to the front. The acid bite up front was not really that strong, but it had nothing to balance with at first. In the end it did not open up much either, so hard to feel good about it as a wine, but it seems like it would have more potential.

7th out of the 9.

WR

2006 Mongeard-Mugneret Savigny-les Beaune "Les Narbantons" Beltramo's 4 of 9

This was a very closed wine. Essentially no nose in the glass. Follow that up with the taste of chalky dirt and gravel. Not a revelation. Clearly this wine is not ready for this type of tasting. Even 15 minutes later when you could start to sniff some strawberry hints on the nose, the flavor in the glass was not there. Not really fair to judge a bottle like this, it clearly needs much more time to show its true nature.

8th place out of 9. Just can't rate it well, if it cannot show well.

WR

2006 Simon Bize et Fils Savigny-les Beaune "Les Fournaux" Beltramo's 3 of 9

Berry/cherry nose, lovely color in the glass. Starts with a tight acid bite, but loosens up and has a nice dark fruit, blackberry(?), flavor and a long pleasant softening finish. Nice wine, drinkable now, drinkable in a couple of years I am sure.

4th place out of 9.

WR

2005 Chateau de la Maltroye Chassagne Montrachet Rouge "La Boudriotte" Beltramo's 2 of 9

This wine started flat on all accounts, opened up on the nose a bit, with Cinnamon and ginger(?). The taste was bitter, strong tannin and acid with no balancing fruit that I could discern. Gave up hoping it would come back.

9th place out of 9.

WR

2005 Tollot-Beaut Chorey-Cote de Beaune, Beltramo's 1 of 9

Simple, open strawberry nose, moderate structure. Quite drinkable today, but this is not going to last for years.

5th place out of the 9 wines.

WR

Beltramo's January 31 Red Burgundy Tasting

The next sequence will be a very brief set of notes on 9 French Burgundies. Prices range from $30 to $115. Beltramo's has a very functional tasting area, they Vinturi the wines as the decant, and the pour is a controlled 1 oz pour with a pour device. The have good tasting glasses and have a new tasting every weekend. I am on a roll right now and later today will hit the Parker 95+ wines tasting they are having.

Sorry no pictures or website, except for my favorite for the group. I will list the wines place for the flight, 2nd of 9 or whatever. I primarily use the wine quality as the measure, but when I break a tie, I typically give the break to the wine that is a better price. When I do this type of tasting, I realize the wines are not really in competition, but it is a natural way of thinking about the tasting. It tends to be the case for me that one or two wines stand out positive, one or two wines stand out negative and the others jumble together without much to differentiate them, so take that into consideration if you are looking at the rankings.

WR

2006 F Magnien Criots-Batard-Montrachet 6 of 9

Could not really figure this one out. It was a nice sip of wine, but even blind without the price, it was not what I look for in a Burgundy. It started with the nose. Refreshing blend of fruit, but with a flavor of orange. Not what I am used to at all. The taste was very tight. The finish turned floral in nature and was long and satisfying.

Bottle $235.00, taste $20. At that price, I just can't see the attraction.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Antonin Guyton Corton-Charlemagne 1 of 9

Nose was a fruit blend with what was a very faint nose of port. Others were said to have thought Cognac. But while an odd flavor smell when you read it, on the nose it very much enhanced the wine. The taste was steel, dry gravel, dusty mineral, but in the good way that fine Burgundies deliver in that way, which explains its ranking at number 1 of the flight. This would be good anywhere at any time.

Bottle $119.99, taste $12.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Bernard Morey Chassagne Motrachet "Vide Bourse" 9 of 9

I think this was me. I heard another couple of guys talking and they liked this. To me the nose was closed and the wine was over dry, almost parching on the tongue. The fruit got lost somewhere, but I can't figure out where. One of those things. I did re-taste again at the end to see if it had changed at all, but could not detect anything. By then my taste buds were getting shot. I am not a professional so I start to lose my taste after 7 or 8 wines. The nose holds nicely, but the mouth just shuts down.

Bottle $69.99, taste 7.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin "En Remilly" 3 of 9

This in many respects was the wine of the tasting for me. The price is 1/3 or less the two wines that finished ahead of it, but it was their equal.

Lovely strong pear-lemon nose, full flavor through the entire sip and classic Burgundy mineral flavors. Rich in flavor, with a bit more oak than the first three, but still bone dry and not at all prevalent oak flavor. Very nice wine. Would be great with a nice white fish.

Bottle $39.99, taste $4.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Oliver Leflaie Saint-Aubin "En Remilly" 7 of 9

Started with a nose of fruit, again predominantly apple. The first taste was flat. Cleared my palate again, and waited awhile to try it. The second sip was much more open. Also the nose had added some floral elements, which were nice. I would be interested in what this wine would do over an hour or two.

Bottle $39.99, taste $4.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Chateau Fuisse - Pouilly Fuisse "Les Brules" 5 of 9

Again a fresh apple nose, sweeter than the Xavier. The wine started slow but ended with a very polished finish of pear flavor and a bit of lemon.

Bottle $49.95, taste $5.


Back in awhile.

leh

2005 Xavier Monnot - Monthelie "Les Duresses" 8 of 9

Nice nose of fresh apple, tasted more of sour apple. Very tight and dry, not very minerally.

Bottle $39.99, taste $4.

Back in awhile.

leh