Monday Night Wine: Happy Bastille Day!

To honor France we opened a good bottle of wine from Burgundy. If you have not gotten the Burgundy bug yet, keep drinking. It is an expensive habit but really worth it! Since I got home late, I only opened one bottle.

Winery: Marc Colin et Fils
Grape: Chardonnay
Region: Saint - Aubin, "La Chaneniere" 1er Cru, Burgundy, France
Vintage: 2005
Approximate Retail: $39.99
Website: N/A
Fun Fact: Do not serve this wine directly from the fridge. Let its temperature rise a few degrees. If it is too cold you will lose out on the aromatics.
Tasting Notes: If you have never had a wine blow you down or knock your socks off, you are not drinking enough good wine. Marc Colin and his sons are producing wines of such beauty, structure and finesse that if you are not blow away by these wines you need to check your pulse. La Chateniere is one of the 29 premiers crus in Saint - Aubin and many consider it among the top vineyards in the village. This vineyard produces a wine that is fragrant, rich, structured, and mind blowing all in one small sip.

I want to make sure that when you read "blown away" that you do not infer "power" in the forceful or high alcohol sense. The power that I am describing is like he power one feels when seeing the Grand Canyon or a pristine ocean. This wine is beauty, a moment in time trapped in a bottle, the essence of where it is from...this is why I am in this business.

The 2005 "La Chateniere" is pale gold in color and the nose caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end. It is enveloping with its aromas of freshly baked apples, fresh cream, cinnamon, roasted orange peel and a touch of brown butter. In addition to these lush and up front aromas are nuanced hints of wet chalk, a mixed bouquet of flowers, and roasted hazelnuts. The palate has all of the above flavors but it is focused on the palate. The wine is wrapped up by crisp acidity that wipes the palate clean for the next glass. Each time I tasted the wine it would evolve into a more beautiful wine that would toy with my palate, sometimes hiding what I had tasted previously and highlighting something new that I did not sense before. The finish is like the beginning: rich, full, and exotic. It lasts for a long time (45 plus seconds) and will make your mouth, body and soul cry out for more. This wine is worth hunting down and finding any other wine made by this family.