Undead and grateful

[Ned Hoey]

Domaine Ramonet 2004 Chassagne Montrachet Les Caillerets Premier Cru

These days I never know what to expect when I open a white Burgundy with a few years on it. Happily this was not a dead or dying bottle. I've had my share of those.

At first, 2D and monchromatic. White. White flowers, white fruits, and even white smoke. Simple straight lines and pleasant but muted aroma and flavor. Even though I know better, I began to wonder if there would be anything more. Halfway, it went 3D, bloomed into raised relief and became the haunting beguiling thing I seek from Cote D'or whites. Citrus peels, stone fruits nut oils, stone, smoke, damp earth. What was flat transitioned to depth and complexity surprisingly suddenly. Was it a little advanced or just marvelously transitional? Sometimes you hit them at that point where primary fruits are present but receding and secondary complexities are coming forward assertively. I love that point.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

Sigh... Hate it when a note is so expressive that you feel like a fly on the wall that can't dive in.

We visited Burgundy two years ago and ended up at the wrong Ramonet, something I whip myself for.

 

[Rahsaan]

Who is the 'wrong' Ramonet? Any relation? Did they realize you had made a mistake? (I.E. because they made crap and you clearly didn't enjoy it?)

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by Rahsaan:
Who is the 'wrong' Ramonet? Any relation? Did they realize you had made a mistake? (I.E. because they made crap and you clearly didn't enjoy it?)

There's also Bachelet-Ramonet in Chassagne, belonging to the Bonnefoy family, where we tasted some nice enough but not memorable wines. Later I looked them up in Burghound and found that he stopped following them in 2001, after they began to cold stabilize (not necessarily for that reason).

 

[Odd Rydland]

Ned; what do you mean by halfway; or rather; how much time would you with hindsight give it before the first sip?

 

[Ned Hoey]

By "halfway", I meant halfway through the bottle. I'd say that was about an hour after pulling the cork.
I don't think pulling the cork alone would be sufficient, the agitation of pouring and increasing the airspace in the bottle mattered too. So, I guess I would suggest a one hour decant in order to skip
the awkward flat phase and thus be able to get most or all of what the bottle has to offer. It can be nice to follow a bottle's development but when it transitions that dramatically you wish you'd planned better, been more patient and gotten to have more of it in the peak zone.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

So, back in January of 2008 M & I went on our first wine trip. Not two to start small, we went to Burgundy. We had our names, but we didn't have them straight. We also had no clout. The heaviest artillery turned us down, so we visited mid-level farmers and esteemed negotiators. We were delighted when Bachelet-Ramonet said yes, but only as the visit progressed did we realize that they were both but neither.

Not that the wines were bad. There was just no aura. It was all for the taking. Among the reds, we liked a 2004 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot, then somewhat boisterous. So we took one transatlantically home with us, a souvenir of uninformed hopes dashed.

Last night was its turn. Other than a sweet edge that smacked of sycophancy, it was flawless and unexceptional. But it all came back to us. Ah, memories.