A non-oxidized White Burgundy and a damn good one at that!

I love when clients come into the store, all pissy and angry that they have an "off" bottle and demand a refund or a credit or the such, when in fact the wine is perfectly fine, or in this case pretty friggin' profound. The wine in question is the 2002 Jean-Marc Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru "Les Baudines." This is one of the better white burgs I have had in a while, granted I don't drink much white burgundy anymore because of the whole idea that 1 in 5 bottles could be brown, over the hill crapola. Well this wasn't, and was shimmering with pure fruit and crisp acidity, and reminded me why I cut my teeth on killer white Burgundy.

The nose had lovely aromas of grilled nuts, white flowers, a touch of oak and tons of earth. The palate had lovely, crisp acidity, with a velvety mouthfeel and great concentration plus a wonderful bitter lemon quality. But sweet, like a meyer lemon. Long finish that has mineral nuance along with that lovely meyer lemon that keeps resonating and resonating. This had elegance, power and finesse all at the same time. The balance was stunning. All in all a classic Chassagne with dazzling purity and length. Just goes to show you that one mans trash is another mans treasure.

This has happened so many times in my 10+ years in retail I cannot count anymore. A 1997 Talenti Brunello Riserva comes to mind that barely a glass was poured out that was returned and was beautiful. And of course I have drank more free Radikon, Puffeny and Valentini than you can shake a stick at. So keep on returning those "bad" bottles and I will keep drinking them. I would be happy to teach my clients about wine but certainly not on my dime. I cannot as a retailer give you money back because you do not like the wine. Of course I'll credit you towards your next purchase but do not expect us to take the bottle back, eat the cost and drink it. Not how it works. One more sip on this fabulous Chassagne before it becomes a dead soldier.