several years ago i stumbled upon a wine in the local shop which seemed entirely out of place. the price did not seem to fit, there only were a few bottles, i knew it was a small volume producer; what was the deal with this? i bought a bottle and tried it to confirm it had not been "cooked" during transport. it was great. at that point in life i thought about wines in cases and visited several stores to put together a case. for a couple of years it slept and the bottles were good but not great. although it hit the price range for this blog, i knew it was purchased at a bargin price. the last two bottles i have opened for special occasions and they have been great.
monday night i had the good fortune to listen to a webinar on burgundy. after that, what else could i open? jill made a vegetable and chorizo risotto. this had the potential to be a fascinating food and wine pairing. i went to the cellar and pulled out one of the remaining bottles of the wine i had gotten for such a great price.
it was dark purple with red berries and a touch of smoke in the nose. the taste was wild black cherries, smoked meat, and herbs. the tannins were soft and the wine was fully matured. the wine was supple, round, and rich. tasted the next day it did not stand up, so i think we need to drink the remaining bottles over the next year. tasted today it is old and tired. but, on the first night this was a spectacular wine and showed what happens with a little careful shopping and aging; i found a wine we have enjoyed over several years which has matured into something far better than what was first expected. that said, it has a really great pedigree.
the wine is domaine henri perrot-minot 2000 gevrey chambertin. the name now has changed to domaine perrot-minot. i cannot locate any vintages older than 2006 on line. this is their village wine; they make grand cru, premier cru, and village wines from a number of sites but the production is small.
the purpose of this post is not to advocate an unobtainable wine, it is to recommend attentive strolling through the wine shop. i easily could have missed this. there always are values available. if something looks interesting get a bottle and try it, do a little research. in these tough economic times producers will have to move their wines and there is the potential to find great wines at reasonable prices. look for these smaller producers and do not be reluctant to try something different.
remember that there are thousands of small producers in burgundy. villages are smaller than bordeaux estates or new world properties. the wines may be by negociants, by growers who also purchase grapes, or by small individual farmers; those factors are part of the mystery and pricing of red burgundy. the cote d'or wines are pinot noir based and further south they are based upon gamay grapes. the whites are chardonnay with a small production of aligote. the sparkling wines are labeled cremant de bourgogne (these are personal favorites).
speaking of small production, the vin de pissenlit is moving along nicely. it currently is actively fermenting with an alcohol of about 11%. the aromas are predominantly of tea and apples. tasting it shows a zing of carbon dioxide, sweet tea, and a finish of tart apple. the base recipe for this wine is white grapes and a pissenlit "tea," with the volume of tea offset by sugar to achieve an acceptable alcohol level so it will not spoil. the grapes are a an unknown variety labeled "product of chile."
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