Shit, I really need to clean my decanter...
And finally, saving the best till last. This popped up in a recent auction and I was thrilled to get it and four other mature white Chassagnes for not ridiculous money. Getting stuff at auction is always a risky business as you don't know the provenance and it's possible that its previous owner could have been storing it next to the radiator but I was relieved to see that the levels and colours look good, although I daresay at least one of the five will be ferked, as G would say.
We decanted it for about an hour and observed that it was an absolutely beautiful and coherent golden colour. It was dazzling. I couldn't take my eyes off it. I have taken a bad photo to try to explain what I mean.
On the nose, G found truffles and mushrooms, and I found that it did have a kind of earthiness to it, but not in a bad way. On the palate, it was astonishing. Vibrant, yet utterly refined. Very serious and magnificent and it had what I would call a good bone structure. It was not a wine to be gulped or hurried. G described it as "an intellectual's wine" which I think was spot on. It was a real privilege to drink this. There was no doubt that it was a 10 and we had a lengthy debate as to whether it was in fact the best white wine we've ever had. For me, it was in the top 3 but I don't think it beat the Verget Meursault Charmes.
Ramonet gets three stars from Coates, indicating that this is top-notch booze. The only wine that I've had from them before was a red premier cru Chassagne, La Boudriotte, which G and I had at the restaurant at the Tate and which we gave a 9. (I'm pretty sure I wanted to give it a 10 but I abided by the rules, which are lowest common denominator.)
Consulting the trusty premier cru spreadsheet also reveals that this time last year we had some 2007 Morgeot, but it was a red from Bernard Moreau. We gave that a 10 too.
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