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Please don’t stop reading this if I spill the beans that practically all white Burgundy is made from 100% Chardonnay. I explained right at the beginning of the tasting that this was the case and Nikki still said at the end “This is so much nicer than Chardonnay.” Forget oily, oaky New World Chardonnay, this is fresh, crisp and very moreish, without being at all acidic or tart. Alcohol is between 12.5% and 13.5%, so there’s good balance and it doesn’t burn on the way down. Mâcon is a good little wine, and perfect for a dinner party with traditional, smart-looking labels and nothing anyone could object to – just don’t say the C word and they’ll love it!
There was no surprise when we uncovered the wines and Louis Jadot was our favourite. It’s a cracking brand with excellent wines right from silly money, down to this Mâcon Azé 2006, which is a more than reasonable £7.99 at Waitrose. It’s quite perfumed, with something milky on the nose and Nikki picked up fresh figs. In the mouth it does exactly what it should. It’s dry white wine with good balance, fresh acidity and a feeling of rightness. It just works. That makes it difficult to describe because nothing jumps out at you, except the quality.
Oddbins sent Pierre Vessigaud’s Mâcon Fuissé 2006, which is a less affordable £9.99, with discount for multibuys. Tanya, our new girl, thought it smelt of summer pudding and we all nodded. There was also a less flattering suggestion of pink shrimp sweets. Neither are obvious white Burgundy smells but they were pleasant enough. Again, it was a well-balanced, dry white wine, but with a little more body and savoury texture, which we assumed came from oak. The alcohol seemed on the warm side of average but in another tasting wouldn’t have been noticed.
Mâcon Lugny, Les Charmes 2006, which is a reasonable buy at Waitrose for £6.99, also smelt of sweeties. It was a stronger wine, with more structure and needed food. By itself, I found it a little hot at 13.5%, but the panel loved it.
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Mâcon Villages 2006, which is made by Georges Duboeuf, is £5.99 and a good little wine. We tasted it first and kept referring back to it because the flavour lasted very well, so that we’d be talking about something else, but still enjoying the taste of the TTD wine.
Tesco’s own label 2006, which is made by the Vignerons des Terres Secrètes is only £4.99 and wasn’t in the same league as the others. Alex thought it smelt of dolly mixtures and the taste was unlovely and rather bitter. Our least favourite was the Cave de Lugny Mâcon Villages 2006, which is also £4.99, from Waitrose and Sainsbury. It had sulphur on the nose which lost it points and Dennis found the fairly pleasant, broader taste quite artificial. The sulphur stuck in people’s minds and they marked accordingly.
The other two white grapes used in Burgundy are a tiny amount of Sauvignon in St Bris to the west of Chablis, and Aligoté, which rarely makes it to the UK and is generally thought only suitable for mixing with Crème de Cassis to make kir.