Palate
The Burgundians have long understood the power of a reductive élevage, albeit en barrique typically, that is to say, the presence of a significant percentage of lees in the wine as the wine ages contributes both to a textural richness via yeast autolysis, and the slight reductive funkiness (presumably trace levels of mercaptan) contributing both to the distinctive toasty, hazelnut nose, as well as to a sort of energized zinginess, a kind of recharging of the wine’s battery, as it were.
Winemaking
It wasn’t until ’09 that it dooned on me that perhaps there were even more interesting things to discover with the white. To refresh everyone’s memory, this wine is more or less the same blend as our standard issue Cigare Blanc, apart from the fact that we’ve allowed it to undergo malolactic fermentation, and at that point, we gave it a light SO2 addition, racked it to glass demijohn (bonbonne), where it reposed for a year and a half, getting anaerobically stirred more or less fortnightly.
Food Pairing
This wine might be thought of as a “meditation wine,” i.e. most suitable with the simplest fare, especially cheese, but will also pair very nicely with rich dishes—lobster (and fennel) risotto, scallops, and of course, sea urchin (the uni-versal solvent). DEWN member Stephen Majoros suggests grilled swordfish with wasabi-lime sauce, and we agree!
