Lifshitz Up To Some Surprises (Oct. 9, 2013)


What if I told you of a Georgian dinner, paired with Bourgognes, served by an Israeli/Swede goalie? Daniel Lifshitz and his wife Ani put together a very fun event at Tel Aviv's Bin 281 (which Daniel calls his second home). The guy's a class act and a walking fountain of Burgundy lore and passion.

Bagrationi, Finest nv

A Georgian bubblie quaffer, offering adequate pleasure and a mineral cut.

Does the price point matter here?

Domaine d'Arlaud, Bourgogne Aligote, 2008

Light bodied, grapefruit, clay - proving once again that Aligote at the hands of a good producer can be quite fun.

Wine Route, probably around 50 NIS.

Domaine Matrot, Saint Romain, 2007

Wonderful, funky aromatics, direct yet complex. At six years post- harvest, this has plenty of jism for a relatively lowly, backwoods appellation and offers the experience of a mature white B without, so far, any signs of premoxed bottles.

Bourgogne Crown, 160 NIS.

Dugat-Py, Bourgogne, 2009

Ripe, veering towards black fruit, spicy. I prefer the 2008, which had a much more idiosyncratic personality.

Burgundy Wine Collection, 170 NIS.

Jean Grivot, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru, Les Beaux Monts, 2008

Perfumed red fruit with some black - spicy, long, structured and tasty, even if there is something unyielding about it. Daniel claims Grivot's Nuits bottlings are better than his Vosnes and I have to agree, especially if I compare this to the village Aux Lavieres that we had recently and that clearly outmatches this Premier Cru.

Burgundy Wine Collection, 520 NIS.

Rene Engel, Clos De Vogeout, 2002

Complex earthy/spicy funk. Deep with subtle sweetness. With Engel gone, I just don't know how many more bottles I'll get to drink in the future, which is such a shame, this stuff being so great.

You can't buy these any more, obviously. Burgundy Wine Collections sells recent vintages from Eugenie, who bought up the estate after Rene's death, for 1200+ NIS, but I think this cost about 800 NIS back in the days.

Etienne  Sauzet, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, 2009

Starts out closed, with a hint of tropical fruit, and a vein of spicy minerals. With air, the minerals become more prominent. But it still lacks the focused power I expect from a Grand Cru. To paraphrase Daniel, this is a good wine but not a very good Chevalier.

Burgundy Wine Colelction, about 1700 NIS.

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