Lovely lunch focusing on Batard-Montrachet and Echezeaux

Here are my full notes from the Batard lunch we did with Seung Hee Lee as the private chef. The wines showed really well and Seung’s food was tremendous.

Champagne flight:

1988 Krug Vintage Brut

Beautiful fresh showing with wonderful toasted brioche and lemon zest on the nose. The palate had additional beautiful fruits, lovely acidity, and incredible complexity and texture. The finish was supremely long. This is one of the best champagnes made when showing well.

1995 Krug Vintage Brut

Another outstanding showing; this is the third bottle we’ve had in the last couple years and it’s really shown well, holding its own against the more celebrated 96. Scottish shortbread and lemon curd on the nose transitioned to a palate with beautiful lemon tart, crisp acidity, and developed into a wonderful finish. This will continue to get better.

White Flight 1:

1992 Leflaive Batard Montrachet

This was a good example of a mature white Burg; it had pretty white flowers and some peach on the nose, along with a good amount of fruit on the palate with great texture and acidity. The finish was quite long, and this wine went from strength to strength with air.

2001 Leflaive Batard Montrachet

Just an absolute stunner. This was firing on all cylinders and just amazing. White peach and honeysuckle on the nose, with some stone fruit and citrus on the palate, along with a core of acidity and incredible palate presence and concentration. The finish was everlasting. Wonderful showing.

2002 Leflaive Batard Montrachet

This was actually a good wine, even a very good wine, but next to the 2001 was not showing so well. The nose had similar elements as the 01 but was a hint of an offputting acetone like aroma. There was some depth and nice fruit on the palate but the finish was a bit clipped.

2004 Leflaive Batard Montrachet

This had a bit of smoke and sweetness on the nose and the palate had additional sweet/sheeried elements, I think this was a bit oxidized (not premox necessarily, but just past prime, maybe a cork issue).

White Flight 2:

2011 Blain-Gagnard Batard Montrachet

I was a bit higher on this than some others were. There was a bit of struck match on the nose along with some apple and pomelo. The palate was a little lighter bodied with ample acidity and there was a bit less mid palate intensity and elegance. The finish was pleasant.

2014 Ramonet Batard Montrachet

This was a good wine but disappointing compared to what it could have been. There was nothing particularly wrong with it, it just didn’t have any fireworks. A bit of flint on the nose and some quince. The palate had crisp acidity but lacked that second gear of mid palate depth and it felt a bit ponderous. The finish was long but not overly complex.

2014 Leflaive Batard Montrachet

Classic leflaive nose with beautiful stone fruits and a bit of smoke. Much more mid palate strength with more beautiful white peach and pomelo fruit. Lovely filigreed texture and complex and ever changing finish.

2014 Marc Morey Batard Montrachet

Stunning wine which overperformed. Lacked the power and intensity of the Leflaive but was supremely balanced. Lovely nose with some yellow peach and a hint of passion fruit. The palate was lighter and less intense, but acid and fruit were very balanced, with more stone fruits. The finish was very precise.

White Flight 3:

2014 Bernard Moreau Batard Montrachet

I called this the 2012. This was lighter bodied and scaled, with beautiful white peach and honeysuckle on the nose, lovely lighter palate with more nice fruits, lacy texture, and crisp acidity. The finish was ever changing.

2012 Bernard Moreau Batard Montrachet

I called this the 2014. This was a bigger wine with some struck match on the nose and lemon zest. There were some apricots and nectarines on the palate with rounded acidity. The finish was extremely long and pleasant.

2011 Bernard Moreau Batard Montrachet

I called this the 2011. It was lighter bodied than even the 14, but elegant with pure, transparent fruits. The nose had fresh lemons and limes and palate had many flavors including some pomelo and hay. The finish wasn’t quite as long as the others.

2013 Bernard Moreau Batard Montrachet

Premox

White Flight 4:

1982 Leflaive Batard Montrachet (blind)

This was clearly a mature white burgundy, but was difficult to place. Given the theme of the lunch it was clearly a Batard, and I just guessed it was from the 80s which turned out to be correct. This was probably 10 years past its prime, but surprisingly drinking well still, with some stone fruits and sherry on the nose, with still some candied fruit on the palate with ample acidity and an extremely complex finish. Was amazing to drink such an old white burg which was still drinking pretty well.

White Flight 5:

2017 Vincent Girardin Batard Montrachet

Lighter bodied with a bit of hay and quince on the nose. Relatively anonymous palate with some acidity but uninspiring fruit. Indifferent finish.

2019 Pierre Vincent Girardin Batard Montrachet

Much richer than the 17, with beautiful plump white peach and lemon zest on the nose. Rounded palate with ripe stone fruits and crisp acidity. Nice finish, this may improve in time.

2020 Pierre Vincent Girardin Batard Montrachet

Beautiful Meyer lemon on the nose with some seashell. Crisp acidity and great focus and tension on the palate, with stone fruits and citrus. Beautiful finish. This was one of the better wines of the afternoon.

Intermezzo:

1999 Drouhin Musigny

This was another fantastic showing, with beautiful dark plums and black currants as well as soft forest floor on the nose, with more beautiful dark fruits, lovely lacy texture, and elegant structures on the palate, with crisp acidity. The finish was incredibly long. This is one of the best “values” in Musigny, especially in the 99 vintage.

2012 Raveneau Blanchots

This very well could have been the best white of the day despite the Batard vertical. This had a stunning nose with some slate, egg shell, and purest white peach, with some lemon zest on the palate along with zingy acidity, elegant texture and a beautiful ever changing finish.

White Flight 5:

2017 Drouhin Batard Montrachet

I had high hopes for this given the vintage and how good the Montrachet from Drouhin is, but this was underwhelming. Some hay and lemon on the nose, with round and sort of awkward palate which was flabby and lacked the tension I’d like to see in a 17. Indifferent finish.

2020 Morey-Coffinet Batard Montrachet

Some struck match and lemon on the nose, light bodied palate with some acidity and fruit, but it felt dilute. Finish wasn’t too long.

2017 Thomas Morey Batard Montrachet

This was much more serious with stone fruits and flint on the nose. Palate had ample acidity as well as some lemon curd. Finish was long and precise.

2020 Thomas Morey Batard Montrachet

Clearly the class of the flight with lovely lemon zest and hay on the nose, crisp acidity and more citrus on the palate and beautiful texture. Long and pleasant finish.

Red Flight (blind):

2021 Mugneret Gibourg Echézeaux

Quintessential Mugneret Gibourg with beautiful nose of red and black cherries and a bit of soft earth. The palate had more beautiful sensual pure red and dark fruits with a pretty, lacy texture and crisp acidity. The finish was very long and pleasurable. Although I was only single blind for this flight, this was obviously the MG. Would usually be WOTF but…

2021 Jean Pierre Guyon Echézeaux

This was an absolute showstopper that had dynamite aromatics with some lovely black currants, all spice smoked duck, and the scent of autumn. The palate had beautiful cranberry fruit and a streak of tart acidity, with an amazing combination of depth and weightlessness, transitioning into a superb finish. Just a stunning wine that I could easily place as the Guyon, but there were at least 3-4 guesses of DRC. Don’t sleep on Guyon, this may be the best wine made in Echezeaux.

2021 Dujac Echézeaux

This was a bit of an afterthought in this flight, unfortunately. There were clearly some stems and whole cluster influence without the joyful spice the guyon brought. There was some nice cherry fruit but this wine clearly needed more time. The finish was quite pleasant. I noted the whole cluster but didn’t quite get to Dujac before some others. This wine wasn’t showing much at this time.

Fin:

1931 Bodegas Toro Albala Don PX Convento Selección

This was very sweet and incredibly complex and went well with the cheese course.

Afterparty wines:

2014 Rousseau Clos de Ruchottes

This was remarkably friendly and open with a beautiful nose of ripe red cherries and soft loam. The palate had sappy red fruits and a beautiful lacy texture and lithe acidity that danced along the tongue, with great purity and precision. The finish was long and ever changing. Beautiful wine.

1989 Mugnier Bonnes Mares

Poured blind. This was very challenging to place, both in terms of bottle age and site. It was very fresh and most guesses were in the 90s, with 99 being thrown out quite a bit. I think most people got close on site, with a lot of chambolle and Morey being thrown out, and we weren’t even close on producer. This was really impressive, being from when Freddie was making the wines part time. The nose had beautiful soft fall leaves, mulch, and red currants. The palate had a beautiful integrated texture, tart acidity, and more beautiful red and dark fruits, with a superb finish. This was lovely.