I tasted three white premier cru Chassagne-Montrachets from Girardin. The finest, as well as least expensive, of the trio is the 1994 Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot Vieilles Vignes. It possesses a powerful, sweet, ripe nose with well-integrated smoky wood, an unctuous texture, and deep, lush, creamy flavors suggestive of honey, lemon cream puffs, and popcorn. Rich, and low in acidity, this is a mouthfilling, lusty white Burgundy to drink over the next 2-3 years. Burgundy is frightfully expensive, and often disappointing, not only on a qualitative level, but in terms of the price/quality relationship. How rare it is to taste a group of Burgundies and find them to be delicious, satisfying, and, for Burgundy, reasonably priced. Vincent Girardin appears to be making the finest wines of his career, turning out full blown, smoky, oaky whites, and gorgeously seductive, round, generous red wines that are modestly priced, especially when one considers the prices now fetched by the top single vineyard/reserve Pinot Noirs from California and Oregon. I was very impressed with not only Girardin's 1994 whites, but also his 1994 reds, the first vintage he has bottled without any fining or filtration - an important factor as the style of the 1994 vintage (elegance and lightness) strongly suggests such wines cannot endure much SO2, or aroma and flavor eviscerating fining and filtration.
Vineyard Brands, Inc., Chester, VT; tel. (802) 875-2139; fax (802) 875-3566
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