25/11/2014
Lamont’s Le Montrachet Dinner
The first of Lamont’s ‘The Le Montrachet Tastings 2014’ sold out immediately.
Tyson Stelzer and John Jens are hosting the second for just 12 guests
So this will be our second of what are believed to be Australia’s two most significant tastings in recent years of the world’s greatest dry white wine, Le Montrachet – and these are certainly WA’s most comprehensive since 1995 when we hosted 9 vintages of the Domaine de la Romanee Conti Montrachet, courtesy of Aubert de Villaine and Negociants Australia.
The World’s Greatest Dry White Wine Vineyard, the 7.99 Ha. and Rare …
Le Montrachet
Taste the Krug 2000, 11 Grand Cru Montrachets from 5 producers and 8 vintages –
dating back to the 1991 and finish with the stunning 1990 D’Yquem.
6.45 for 7.00pm. Saturday 29th November. Just 12 guests. $1175.
The Producers:
Etienne Sauzet, Baron Thenard, Blaine-Gagnard, Comte Lafon and Bouchard Pere & Fils.
The Vintages –
2 X 2010 Vintage, 2 X 2008, 2 X 2007, 2 X 2006 and one each of 2001, 1997 and 1991
*The Le Montrachet Dinner Host:
Tyson Stelzer is probably the hardest working wine writer in Australia. Already author of 12 books on a range of subjects from Australian
wine guides, French Champagne and Burgundy to the joys of screwcap closures, Tyson has also managed, with his partner in crime, UK
wine scribe Matthew Jukes, to create The Great New Zealand Pinot Noir Classification and The Great Australian Red competition. Books include Taste Food & Wine with Matthew Jukes, which was the winner of The Award for the Best Food and Wine Writing in The Australian Food Media Awards in 2008, as well as a contribution to the highly influential Oxford Companion to Wine Third Edition. Tyson also contributes to 13 magazines including Wine Spectator, Decanter, Gourmet Traveller Wine, Style Magazine and Australian Wine Business Magazine.Tyson was the winner of the International Champagne Writer in the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards 2011. In his spare time, Tyson judges at a range of wine shows including The National Wine Show of Australia, The Royal Melbourne Wine Show and The Sydney Royal Wine Show. Check out his new free weekly tasting update, Wine Taste Weekly, at www.tysonstelzer.com, the most up-to-date roundup of new releases online. Cracka Wines
(+ Best Wine Book of the Year 2014 Finalist (19 November announcement)
International Wine Book of the Year 2014 Finalist
Australian Wine Communicator of the Year 2013
Wine Communicators of Australia Best Trade or Technical Writer of the Year 2013
International Champagne Writer of the Year 2011
Australian Food Media Awards Best Food and Wine Writer 2008!!!, JJ)
On arrival: Canapes
KRUG VINTAGE 2000
Second Course:
THE 2007 LE MONTRACHETS
2007 Domaine Baron Thenard Le Montrachet
RRP $875 but Not Available – Australia’s last bottle.
Flinty struck match tones with yellow peach, citrus peel and figs. Hints of oak and cashews.
Surprisingly restrained and delicate compared to the richness expected from the nose. Wonderful lively texture imbued with nectarine and apricot tones. A bit of quince, toasty oak and cashews appear towards the back palate with a minerally touch to the finish. Long elegant structure defines a wine of elegance yet it has power and persistence. Classy. Foong/White/Greenacre 2014 notes.
Remoissenet’s Montrachet du Domaine Thénard is produced from Thénard’s two Montrachet parcels from the Chassagne side of the vineyard next to the vines of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. The parcels total 1.83 hectares and were replanted in four stages between 1936 and 1976. The Thénards are actually the second largest landowners in Le Montrachet after the Marquis de Laguiche family (bottled by Drouhin) who’s vines these parcels face.Burgschnauzer.com
2007 Etienne Sauzet Montrachet
RRP $1335 but Not Available – Australia’s last bottle.
This is ever-so-slightly riper and less restrained aromatically than the Chevalier with a densely fruited nose offering lightly spiced pear, white peach, lemon-lime and a hint of honeysuckle plus a touch of clove and anise that merge seamlessly into concentrated, powerful and weighty flavors that are not massive but they are focused, well-muscled and impressively scaled all the same and culminate in a superbly complex and deep finish that reminds me a lot of the 2002 version as it seems to come in wave after palate drenching wave. This is not as elegant and pure as the Chevalier but it somehow manages to deliver yet another dimension. In sum, an absolute knockout. Amazingly, this rivals the ’93 as the best Montrachet Sauzet has ever made, and anyone who has tasted a well-stored bottle knows that is high praise. Drink 2015.
+97 Points. Burghound.
Boudot’s 2007 Montrachet represents juice of 50 year old vines that he buys and raises, and I wonder whether to consider the sensational results more a tribute to the inherent quality of this site or to the degree of control he is able to exercise. Musk, daffodil, honeysuckle, lily, nut oils, and brown spices make for a head-turning aromatic display and ally themselves to succulent peach and Persian melon on a silken, palpably thick and dense, yet elegantly-expressive, energy-charged palate. For sheer length, too, this perfectly-proportional wine edges out even the Chevalier-Montrachet. I’m so used to it being the other way around in instances where these two sites can be directly compared that this demonstration of quality amazes me, even allowing for a centuries-long tradition of hype. This ought to be worth following for more than a decade. Drink 2009-2019. 97 points. Wine Advocate
Pale lemon-yellow. Reticent nose hints at lemon, clove and iodine. Large-scaled, fat and rich, but plush more than complex today in spite of its steely underpinning. This builds slowly and inexorably, filling the mouth and continuing to expand on the back end. A seriously concentrated Montrachet with the structure of a red wine. At 41 hectoliters per hectare, this wine featured the lowest crop level among the Sauzet 2007s. Really floods the palate with flavor. 95+ points. Stephen Tanzer
THE 2006 LE MONTRACHETS
2006 Blain-Gagnard Montrachet
Producer note: Jean-Marc Blain, who has directed this 8 ha domaine since 1980, told me that 2006 is “all about elegance and finesse with a lacy quality to the flavors..” The quality of this group of ’06s is, with only the exception of the Montrachet which is actually better, almost exactly the same as is was in 2005. -
Tasting note: In contrast to the expressiveness of the Bâtard, this is reserved to the point of reluctance though aggressive swirling coaxes shy aromas of white flower, subtle oak, green apple and spiced peach to emerge before dissolving into big, rich and ultra intense big-bodied flavors that remain a study in refinement, all wrapped in a huge, palate staining and explosive finish. This is a Monty that is almost impossibly fine given the sheer power in evidence. I have noticed that while the Blain Monty is almost always the best wine in the cellar, it rarely dwarfs the Criots and Bâtard. However in 2006, it’s no contest and this is potentially a truly great Montrachet as everything is in place to allow this to age for a long time. 95 points Drink 2013+Burghound.
2006: Bouchard Pere & Fils Montrachet
(Only 25 doz went to the US)
RRP $1720 – 19 bottles available
While it’s almost hard to believe, here the highly perfumed nose is more complex still with a superb range of floral, orchard fruit, spice, toast, roasted nut and acacia blossom aromas that complement to perfection the big, rich, concentrated and seriously intense big-bodied flavors brimming with dry extract that confers an almost chewy texture on the magnificently long finish. This is a Montrachet with both style and power yet it remains elegant, pure and is still very much of a baby. Great but note that patience is required.
97 Points. Burghound
The Bouchard 2006 Montrachet offers scents of ripe peach and apricot; saline, savory pan drippings; patisserie-like marzipan and buttered, fruit paste-filled pastry; and exotic, sweet, lily-like floral essences. Deep, savory, meaty and mysteriously mineral undertones compliment the implosively-concentrated fruit essence of this palpably unctuous, powerful yet persistently invigorating wine. It combines head-turning beauty with eyebrow-lifting intrigue and should remain so for at least two decades. 95-96 Points. Wine Advocate
Dried fruits and nuts on the nose. Ripe, broad and dry; less citric and more exotic than the Cabotte, but extremely unevolved today, with its sweet and dry components not yet in harmony. Stone fruit and white to***co flavors are complicated by a repeating note of dried fruits. Powerful but closed wine, in need of several years of patience. 94+ points. Stephen Tanzer
Third Course:
THE 1997 LE MONTRACHET
1997 Domaine Baron Thenard Le Montrachet
RRP $985 but Not Available – Australia’s last bottle.
THE 1991 LE MONTRACHET
1991 Domaine Baron Thenard Le Montrachet
RRP $985 but Not Available – Australia’s last bottle.
There was a sense of dried stone fruit, honey, cashew nuts citrus and char. Fragrance was mature.
Lovely taste stone fruits tones, limey acid, oak tang and lemon peel. Nice acid texture and minerals giving length and strength. Much cleaner and more balanced than first bottle. Though a leaner style it is showing classic montrachet power and long mineral finish. But at its peak. Big bouquet of stone fruits, figs and butter brioche lees, oak toast, nutmeg and citrus peel. Foong/White/Greenacre 2014 notes.
THE 2001 LE MONTRACHET
2001 Domaine Baron Thenard Le Montrachet
RRP $935 but Not Available – Australia’s last bottle.
Fourth Course:
THE 2008 LE MONTRACHETS
Domaine Comte Lafon 2008
RRP $1447.50 but Not Available – Australia’s last bottle.
Substance, tension and persistence. This has superb structure and polished, muscular brilliance. Drink from 2015. (19.5 points) Decanter Magazine.
2008 Domaine Baron Thenard Le Montrachet
RRP $890 but Not Available – Australia’s last bottle
Tasted barrel sample in NYC on 6/4/2010 with owner/winemaker Baron Jean-Baptiste Bordeaux-Montrieux and from bottle in Thenar’s cellar 7/4/2011. Big nose of white flowers. Rich and powerful on the palate with peach fruit. Nice mineral finish. Powerful wine with outstanding potential.Burgschnauzer.com
Aromas of lemon flower, white peach, apricot, nutmeg, light oak toast and gunflint. Elegant and attractive bouquet
From start to finish there is a lively acid. Lovely ripe fruits abound but not rich. Mainly white peach and poached pear. Plenty of lees character, oak and minerals, and with the acid, provides more angular structure and an elegance. Again a long finish. A more restrained version that is balanced and starting to develop but no less powerful. Easy to drink but still 7 years to reach peak. Foong/White/Greenacre 2014 notes.
THE 2010 LE MONTRACHETS
2010 Domaine Baron Thenard Le Montrachet
RRP $847 – 3 bottles available
Tasted from bottle in Thenard’s cellar 7/4/2011: Closed on the nose. Lush and powerful in the mouth. Riper fruit, but not as intensely mineral as 2010.Burgschnauzer.com
Big bouquet of stone fruits, figs and butter brioche lees, oak toast, nutmeg and citrus peel.
The taste of ripe nectarines and pear are primary couched in a fine texture of lees, acid and oak. Great mouthfeel, yet quite steely and very tight. Complex with hints of apricots, fig, lemon peel, toast and cashews in the long minerally finish. Lovely structure and balance, richness and power. A great wine. Will take 20 years to peak. Foong/White/Greenacre 2014 notes.
2010 Bouchard Pere et Fils Montrachet
RRP $1414 – 17 bottles available.
As with the La Cabotte, there is a lot of unabsorbed sulfur present that renders reading the nose tricky but the aromas are clearly ripe, broad and dense. By contrast, the massive and superbly well-concentrated flavors are a genuinely marvelous combination of size, weight, tension and again, almost painful intensity. Despite all of the muscle and concentration, there is absolutely no heaviness, indeed the acid support is such that this comes across as impeccably well-balanced on the palate staining finish. This is a magnificent wine, in fact this is one of the best wines of the entire vintage and that is obviously saying something as 2010 is very special. A “wow” wine par excellence. Note that like the Chevalier, should you elect to try one of these gems young, which I would strongly advise against, do be sure to decant it. 98 points. Burghound
Bright, pale yellow. Knockout perfume of white peach, rose petal, sugar-coated almond and brioche. Highly concentrated, silky and fine-grained, with the strong rose note repeating. Really wonderful ripeness without any excesses here. Best today on the splendid rising, palate-saturating finish. 93-96 Points. Stephen Tanzer.
Dessert:
CHATEAU D’YQUEM 1990
RRP $1690 (for 2 X 375ml)
An extraordinary effort …An awesome Yquem! Anticipated maturity: 2003-2050+, 99 pts, Robert Parker
…doesn’t get much better than this. Beautiful now, but wait… The Wine spectator
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