Domaine Jean-Noël Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeots Premier Cru 2005

Some oak influence.

I don’t know precisely how big the bottle was because every addition to my glass during “The Fine Dining with Peter Tempelhoff” module of this year’s Big Bottle Festival 2012 as organised by  Jörg Pfützner of Fine Wine Events this past Friday night came via a discrete little decanter.

The Jean-Noël Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeots Premier Cru 2005 was served next to Chevalier Blanc 2005 and as the online programme  suggested “an interesting comparison between a great white Bordeaux and Burgundy”. The two wines were matched with “Mosaic of Cape seafood, citrus & radish salad, shaved octopus, buffalo yoghurt ice-cream, crispy seaweed and ink aioli”.

I sat next to Thomas Webb of Thelema who expressed in passing a mild concern about how much oak was in evidence on the Gagnard, which I dismissed on the basis that some oak is part and parcel of serious Chardonnay. “You’re quite right,” said Webb. “People come up to me at wine shows and say ‘Ooh, I get oak on our Chardonnay’ and I want to say ‘Well done. Part of the recipe. It’s like spotting the tomato in a good Arabiatta pasta sauce”.