2004 Bourgognes at Bertie (June 7, 2012)

We really had a good thing going!
Bertie is a small bistro-bar that opened in Tel Aviv last summer. It was my first time on the premises and I will surely be back (even though they don't have an Burgundy glasses and we actually had a set delivered to us from a competitor establishment by cab).

Etienne Sauzet, Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru, Champ-Canet, 2004

The initial impression is mostly lime and minerals, then sauteed mushrooms, honey and a hint of river water. Balanced, focused and saline with lovely acidity and keeps improving in glass.

Burgundy Wine Collection, about 400 NIS.

Etienne Sauzet, Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru, Les Perrieres, 2004

Wonderful acidity with a very interesting palate presence and more refined on the palate than the Champ-Canet. A few hours later:  the nose continues the direction delineated by the Champ-Canet with a touch of cake-y sweetness. The sweetness is echoed on the palate while the refined balance is somehow maintained. There's a note of minerals that is less obvious than it was on the Champ-Canet, and yet, there's a forceful mineral persistence on the finish.

Burgundy Wine Collection, about 400 NIS.

Domaine Arlaud, Clos De La Roche Grand Cru, 2004

Sous bois, hide, earth, violets. Deep nose. Gains intensity and presence: the violets especially grow more intense and meld with sweaty funk. Sweetness of mature fruit with a tannic bite on the finish. Here, too, time endows the wine with greater definition over a freewheeling wildness. Grand indeed.

WineRoute, as I recall it was a super deal at 350-400 NIS.

Meo-Camuzet, Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru, 2004

A sweeter rendition of Grand Cru. But there's that touch of Cote de Nuits spices and light funk. Seamless. Better on the nose. A pungent finish that grows more tannic. An espresso note lends the spices an extra kick in time.

Burgundy Wine Collection, 800-900 NIS.

Chateau Rayne-Vigneau, Bommes Premier Cru, 2001

Not all Sauternes are created equal. And this from a guy who doesn't go ga-ga over Sauternes in the first place. The is is weird -Weird with a capital "W". The botrytis asserts itself too overtly as mustard. Low acidity. Not very memorable.

Price unknown.

Roundup: the Rayne-Vigneau is mediocre and I'm a little indifferent to the Meo, but the other three are heartwarming, and I'm especially glad that the Sauzets showed so well after a run of malfunctioning white Burgundies.

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