I’m looking forward to this Sunday’s Lamont’s Sunday tapas. We will be tasting:

1. Salomon ‘Wachtberg’ Grüner Veltliner 2012
2. Bouchard Père & Fils Beaune 1er Cru Beaune du Château blanc 2010
3. Cherubino Pemberton Chardonnay 2012
4. Emilie Geantet Fixin Village Appellation Burgundy 2010
5. Domaine Baron Thénard Corton Clos Du Roi Grand Cru Burgundy 2009
6. The Yard Riversdale Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
7. Cherubino Wilyabrup Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River 2010
8. Lamont’s Tawny Port

Salomon ‘Wachtberg’ GrünerVeltliner 2012 (at $32.50 on the day) with Prawn cocktail. It’s not often you come across a Grüner Veltliner from Austria in WA at a reasonable price. I thought this time, before the tapas, I would do some research about the wines and found more about this wine on the Lea&Sandeman website. The house was established in 1792 and to still be in business today making such great wines is a credit to their passion and winemaking. It’s incredible to think that all the grapes are hand picked! I’ve heard lots of wonderful tasting notes to this wine so look forward to trying it later!

Then Bouchard Père & Fils Beaune 1er Cru Beaune du Château blanc 2010 (at $63.50  on the day) with Cherubino Pemberton Chardonnay 2012 (at $38.00 on the day) with chicken and pistachio terrine, salsa verde.

I found a very good explanation of Bouchard Père & Fils Beaune 1er Cru Beaune du Château blanc here on Le Figaro site where it states that this wine has been made since 1907 and there is a red wine also grown (but it wouldn’t be called ‘ blanc’). The grapes that go into this wine comprise of 10 hectares but each one is vinified separately to ensure they keen the expression of the terroir from where they are grown.

The one common theme is that the wines (from the different areas of Beaune) are aged in barrels for 8 to 12 months, with about 15% of the barrels being new. Being a new barrel imparts some spice and characters from the wood you wouldn’t find in an older barrel.
The tasting note on this is citrus, dried fruit, lots of freshness and how they say it ‘l’élégance et l’esprit des terroirs Premiers Crus de Beaune.’ Sometimes you can’t say it better in English! It expresses the area from which it is grown. They recommend to keep for a few years.

We had the Cherubino Pemberton Chardonnay 2012 at the Lamont’s tapas in April which was delicious. Wonderful layers of fruit, hint of spice from the oak and a certain level of complexity that I enjoyed. I couldn’t find the tasting note for the Pemberton, just the Margaret River here.

On the reds then! We were to have Emilie Geantet Fixin Village Appellation Burgundy 2010 (at $78.20 on the day) alongside Domaine Baron Thénard Corton Clos Du Roi Grand Cru Burgundy 2009 (at $114.50 on the day) with duck confit salad, soft fetta, crisped orange and leek. The village of Fixin isn’t as well known as Beaune or Pommard so you tend to find that you taste some fantastic value for money reds from here.

I found a lot of information about Domaine Baron Thénard on this site; www.burgschnauzer.com/domaine-baron-thenard.html. I’m looking forward to trying the Grand Cru from Clos Du Roi especially as this site mentions ‘ The top section of Clos du Roi,….produces one of the more underrated grand crus in Burgundy.’

Onto the Cabernets next with the Yard Riversdale Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 (at $29.50 on the day) alongside Cherubino Wilyabrup Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River 2010 (at $48.00 on the day) with cashel Blue melt, witlof and walnuts. Apparently the 2011  Yard Riversdale Cabernet Sauvignon so if the 2012 is as good as the 2011, I’ll need to buy some sharpish! More information about this wine made from Larry Cherubino is here on his site; buywine.larrycherubino.com.au with the tasting note here. The tasting note for the Cherubino Wilyabrup Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River is here. When I taste them later, I will compare my tasting notes to these. I love doing this and seeing if I find additional flavours to what is written and if there are flavours I haven’t picked up. There’s so much to explore in a glass of wine, I find it hard to only spend a few moments!

To finish, we had Lamont’s Tawny Port (at $21.25) with soaked fig and mascarpone tarts. The tasting note is here from the Lamont’s site. I can’t wait!

And below is what we tasted, a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Instead of the Emilie Geantet Fixin Village Appellation Burgundy 2010 we had the Jean Monnier Clos de Citeaux 1er Cru 2006 at $49.50 from Pommard which was delicious, wonderful flavour of secondary characteristics, truffles, earth and yet still some fresh fruit.