Last week I had the opportunity to nip down to Bali for two nights.  I seized the day and jumped on a southbound jet.  The lunch menu on my flight screamed ‘white wine’ for starters and a red for the main course.  I managed to take notes on my phone and the purser was kind enough to hold the bottle still so I could snap a pick.  This Burgundy white is 100% Chardonnay and aged in stainless vats.

The wine had a pale yellow complexion and started off with a fruity aroma, apples and pears being quite dominant.  Not overly acidic, it was fresh and zesty with pear and green apples opening the show with a touch of nectarine on the mid palate.  The stone fruits really came through on the back end and the wine showed good minerality.  Many times I find some of these wines to be over-oaked, not so in this case.  This wine should be drunk young and went really well with my seafood appetizer and salad.  I gave it 87 points and a quick search on the internet says you can find it for about $12, a bargain.  4 stars for the price!  Salut….

White Burgundy is a minefield for me.  I know almost nothing about the region, the terroir or the names.  I just know that I like most of the Louis Latour offerings and am confident when I see the telltale badge on their bottles.  I recently picked up two of these, one for mum’s birthday and the other for my cellar.  Saturday night was going to be a treat in our house.  Moxie had previously bought a box of frozen Lobsters from Costco.  We are in the process of emptying our freezers so it seemed like the right combination.  Decadence meet opulence.  We all know the price of the crustacean, the wine was equally eye watering at over $80 per bottle…. You only live once.

For a wine that has only 6 years of bottle age, it has the most beautiful golden color.  The hues were riveting in the glass, I have never seen such a young wine look so elegant and demure.  The consistency was very graceful and almost syrupy.  I was starting to wonder.  It all came out with the first sniff and taste.  Pears, apples, apricots, stones, butterscotch, you name it.  A veritable fruit basket on the olfactory senses that transferred the same powers to the palate.  Great balance of acidity make this a very easy wine to drink, and a perfect companion to the garlic infused butter that I draped all over my Lobster.

I realize that this wine is very pricey, I also remind myself that I am on a mission in my wine tasting life and it is too short to get hung up on dollars.  I need to experience Chardonnay from Burgundy just like I need to sample Barolo from Italy, Cabernet from Napa and Tokaji from Hungary.  The entry is steep, the rewards- amazing.  Having said that, this wine is a bargain for high end Burgundy.

WS gave this one 94 points.  As a relative newb to whites, I scan only muster 92 points and give it 3 stars for its price point.  I feel that you need to try some good Burgundy to appreciate them for what they are and do it with loved ones over a great meal so you can cherish the moment and remember it.  Salut….

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