WTN: Bourgogne and Nahe

Sunday dinner was a warm Asian chicken salad (with red cabbage & peanut sauce) accompanied by the 2006 Hexamer "Quarzit" Riesling QbA (Nahe). Rather broad texture, with good underlying acidity. Flavors of ripe summer peaches accented by a good squirt of lime, a bit of chalky minerality. Sweet but balanced. Develops a more floral character overnight. Not especially long. A good QbA, but as price crosses $15 not quite the great value of some past vintages. B+/B

Monday was Cincinnati style chili (5 way). This recipe (apparently concocted by Greek immigrants) doesn't have any heat, the spices are mostly cinnamon, allspice, and chili powder. Reasonably wine friendly, so I just went with what I felt like opening, the 2005 Robert Chevillion Bourgogne Rouge. Initially more red fruit oriented, bright red cherry base accented by red currant and earth. With time this filled out and got darker, black cherries with some cocoa. This is a good inexpensive poster child for the vintage- quite structured for a Bourgogne, yet with some outstanding fruit. You feel there's a little hiding in reserve, a Bourgogne that could use a few years. The tannins are ripe and fine enough to make this easy to drink now, but I think 3-5 years would make even better. B++

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

[David M. Bueker]

So the Quartzit is not the QPR it used to be, but the Chevillon is inexpensive? Why does the Chevillon (which has gone up a good bit in 2005) get a Euro pass while the Hexamer does not? Is this a red versus white thing? Playing the grape card?

So the Quartzit is not the QPR it used to be, but the Chevillon is inexpensive? Why does the Chevillon (which has gone up a good bit in 2005) get a Euro pass while the Hexamer does not? Is this a red versus white thing? Playing the grape card?

Well, yeah. Chevillon is maybe the best under $25 Burg I've tasted (thanks for picking up for me!) in last couple years. The Quartzit is very good, but I liked a little less than some other QbAs and Kabs at same or less price (various '04-06 Leitz, Zilliken, etc).
This is maybe best Chevillon Bourgogne I've tasted ('99 might challenge, give '05 edge over '02) while I don't think Quartzit is quite up to some previous vintages.

I'll add that even with price increases, German Riesling might still be bang for buck QPR champion of the world (well, outside Loire) for my tastes. So within that category, the Quartzit is good, but not a QPR champ.

Meanwhile, Burgs are going way up. Even at Bourgogne level, my other usual faves were most expensive than the Chevillon- I paid about $28 for Lafarge, and gave up on Mugneret-Gibourg when I couldn't get for less than $35.

Unfortunately I don't think I can substitute Riesling for Red Burgundy, so that makes Chevillon a good value.

[David M. Bueker]

My last 3 bottles of Chevillon ran me $28. I won't go over $30 for Bourgogne.

I can see what you're saying, but I will admit that I don't really put Quartzit in the category of normal QbA.