Monday, September 26, 2011

Wine of The Week - Domaine Dublere Bourgogne Blanc Les Millerands 2009

Domaine Dublere Bourgogne Blanc Les Millerands 2009 ($24.99)

This past Sunday, I sat down to taste a bottle of white Bourgogne Les Millerands from producer Domaine Dublere. The winery was started by Blair Pethel, a former political journalist from Washington, DC. After multiple trips to the region, he was so enchanted by Burgundy that he decided to quit his job, move to France, and begin producing wine. I was especially looking forward to trying this particular Chardonnay, hoping that a fellow Washingtonian could effectively capture the essence of Burgundy.

After pouring a glass, I first examined the color of the wine. It was about the color of straw, not too light and not too dark with a slight golden hue. Upon smelling my glass, I immediately noticed that this is not an overpoweringly fragrant wine, but it does have very pleasant hints of both oak and vanilla.

On taking my first sip, I observed that the wine was medium bodied, which I initially interpreted as a light cream taste. As with the aroma, the wine’s flavors are delicately present but not overpowering. The wine exhibited a nice acidity in the beginning which gave way to a restrained yet definitive mineral and oak taste. After the mineral and oak subsided on my palate, I was left with a clean, crisp finish which lasted well over thirty seconds. As the wine warmed up a bit in my glass, a faint nutty taste also materialized. It was enjoyable to sit and sip this wine on a Sunday afternoon while imagining the vineyard at this time of year.

Overall, I was very pleased Domaine Dublere’s entry level Chardonnay. offering good quality at such a reasonable price, given Burgundy’s high land and labor costs. The balance of the various flavors in the wine was excellent and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to venture into white Burgundy. I have no doubt that I will be trying more of Blair Pethel’s wines in the near future.

Kevin Ross

No comments: