IF ONLY WALLS COULD SPEAK - Blancpain

ART DE VIVRE
© THIERRY GAUDILLÈRE-ECRIVIN
that produce sediment are filtered out—
unfortunately, these same elements are the
ones that allow the wine to grow and gain
depth during aging. No sediment—sterile
wine. Mounir’s wines, all unfiltered, do have
sediment so that the bottle shape serves a
dual purpose, grip and sediment trap.
Mounir and Rotem recently came to the San
Francisco Bay Area for a tasting of their wines
at Jardiniere Restaurant. Sommeliers from
several restaurants gathered to taste through
a range of reds and whites from the 2003 vintage.
Experienced tasters single-mindedly
focus on the “top of the ladder”, the wines
highest in the pecking order. Trade practice
takes account of this so that every tasting is
organized from bottom to top. If the most
prestigious wines are tasted too soon, then
lesser wines will be overshadowed. In burgundy,
this means that lesser generic appellations
come first, followed by “villages” wines (that
is an appellation of the village region, but not
of a rated vineyard), then premier crus, then,
finally, the stars of the show, the grand crus.
After hundreds of tastings, it is easy to skate
through the preliminary rounds, so to speak,
waiting for real heavy weights to show themselves.
This tasting did not depart from pattern
as the grand crus were in fact stunning riveting
wines. But where the pattern was broken
was in the tasting of lesser wines. These were
not wines to be overlooked, not merely stepping
stones waiting for the big boys to arrive.
In their own right, the lesser appellations were
distinguished wines of character.
The lowest white appellation was the
2003 Bourgogne Blanc. Generally an appellation
this low will be an utterly forgettable
wine, suitable perhaps for stuffing into a
knapsack for consumption on a picnic. Not
this one. It had a full-blown chardonnay
character in the nose melding notes of
melon and butter, followed by a rich body
yielding up butter and nuts. While this wine
would never be mistaken for a grand cru, it
has the potential to shame many wines of
higher appellations.
While the Bourgogne Blanc gave a hint of
the across the board quality of Mounir’s
wines, the Pernand Vergelesse added an
emphatic exclamation point. Pernand is an
often overlooked appellation which sits adjacent
to the very famous Grand Cru vineyard
of Corton Charlemagne. Despite its proximity,
Pernand is not noted for producing wines
of distinction. Mounir’s Pernand from the
Sous Frétila vineyard was outstanding. Displaying
the citrus mineral character of its
neighbor Corton Charlemagne, this Pernand
had admirable richness and length.