One sparkling and several white wines started a phantastic evening: a 100% Pinot Meunier Champagne, Burgundies from Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet and a great white from Piedmont of the Timorasso grape.
The Pinot Meunier gives power and structure, Krug is a good example. But there are only very few Champagne with 100% Pinot Meunier, one is Dom Caudron NV Epicurienne Brut. The vineyard was planted 1929. This Champagne is very fruity with blossoms and a sweetness and a little bit of toasted notes. Medium- to full-body, fresh, fruity and with medium long finish, it is a very good aperitif. 17.5/20 points.
Unfortunately we had a lot of disappointments from Burgundy in the past, but the wines of Jean-Claude Bachelet reconciled us:
The Jean-Claude Bachelet 2018 Puligny-Montrachet Les Aubes is a pure, precise, clean and elegant winewith medium-body and medium long finish. 17/20 points.
Similar in its style is the Jean-Claude Bachelet 2018 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Sous Le Puits but more dense and mineralic. This is your wine if you want to have a nearly qualitiy as the Bienvenues but don't want to spent the money. 18.5/20 points.
There are a number of white wines in Burgundy from the 1990s which suffer of UTA (untypical aging off-flavor). So, we are always very critical when degustating white Burgundies of this decade. So, we were very happy that the Jacques Prieur 1996 Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrieres did not have this problem and on the contrary is a great wine. Although its amber colour the wine aged very well with blossoms, crushed rocks, a bit of honey and floor wax. It is complex and dense with medium- to full-body and a medium to long finish. That's how Burgundy should be. 18.5/20 points.
If you like autochthonous white wines then wines from Piedmont from the Timorasso grape are the right ones. Most of them are excellent but the Claudio Mariotto 2018 Derthona is great: With white chocolate, blossoms, apricot, peach and lime it reminds a little bit of Riesling. Full-bodied, dense, mineral and with a fresh acidity it has some similiarities. 18.3/20 points.
