This is not what I had expected, or indeed hoped for

It has been a mixed day for wine. Oxidised Sorg and Weinbach (bloody Inedit 2000 of all things, I was vexed) started things off. This was followed by winemaker of the moment (Cedric Bouchard’s) Inflorescence fizz. It was brilliant, especially considering it is a hilarious bargain, but painfully acidic. Then the amazing Roulot, and his wines really are amazing; I’d sell my mother, to an understanding buyer, to keep my Roulot allocation. She is aware of the pursuit of pleasure and the delight of beauty so I’m sure she’d understand that entirely (possibly). So where could we go from there? Grand Cru, of course! However, as I have followed the development of this BBM, from what is a well-regarded producer, it just seems a bit weird, simple and painfully less good than the Roulot.

Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2002, Paul Pernot

The nose has shown some development as I have decanted and swirled, hoping it might get a bit less one-dimensional. It started off with pure but very simple lemon fruit. After a while in the decanter it had the most typical Pinot Gris nose, which was a bit odd. Now after about an hour the lemon fruit has come back and there are shades of matchbox wood. None of these things seem like really impressive aromas for flash Burgundy; quite mundane, indeed. When I first had a taste of this it had such a pronounced astringency it was perilously close to being tannic; again, this was more than a bit odd. After an hour it is a bit less austere, but it still seems like hard work. There is none of the explosive excitement and compelling complexity I want from Grand Cru white Burgundy, this is merely ordinary Chardonnay at best and totally fails to live up to the names on the label. I feel let down and disappointed. The Roulot Tessons, only a village wine, whips the arse of this; I’m so pleased to have a glass of it left to savour.

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