Two old-fashioned French wines for the holidays

In which the Wine Curmudgeon enjoyed two reasonably priced wines from Burgundy, a red and a white, that didn’t taste like they were made with the wrong grapes or came from California. In this case, old-fashioned does not mean outdated or not worth drinking. More, after the jump:

Regular visitors here know I have despaired of finding a red Burgundy – pinot noir from the French region of Burgundy -- for $20 or less that tastes like it is supposed to taste. I keep trying, and almost always fail – the recent exception being the Léonce Bocquet Rully 2009 ($20, purchased). It’s less expensive because it comes from a part of Burgundy better known for white wine, and no doubt the $100 pinot snobs would dismiss it with a sneer and a wave.

True, it’s not complex, but one makes allowances. Otherwise, I’d drink Mark West. The Bocquet has some earthiness, so welcome and so rare in pinot noir at this price, plus red fruit and that general feeling after a sip or two that this is not a New World pinot noir. The bad news? This may be difficult to find outside of Texas.

Less expensive – even cheap Chablis – is not as difficult to find, but those wines don’t have quite the character of the 2011 Domaine Fourrey ($18, purchased). Most modern Chablis -- unoaked chardonnay from the Chablis region of Burgundy – has lots of lemon to go with the traditional freshness and minerality. The Fourrey has almost no fruit (lemon peel, perhaps?), but lots of minerality as both a flavor and on the finish, as well as that clean, fresh chardonnay feel.

The inestimable Lynne Kleinpeter, who tasted the Fourrey with me, took one sip and started quoting Hemingway’s Moveable Feast: “As I ate the oysters … and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.” What better recommendation can a wine have?

Comments

[James Gunter]

What the heck if "old fashion" about wines from
France, Germany, or Europe?

I'll go with Old World, but heck a good bottle of Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux is on equal or better level than Cava, Pinot Noir, or Napa Cabernet.

[Jeff Siegel]

Be careful, James. Someone is going to accuse you of being curmudgeonly.