2008 Alexandre Jouveaux "Le Mont"

(The flower was my daughters idea ;-))

You should think that white Burgundy was a natural passion, when you already (like me) are a Champagne geek. This is however not the case for me. Before I jumped into the Champagne bowl, I was into Riesling and never white Burgundy or maybe it would be more appropriate to say it was Riesling vs Chardonnay.

As I didn’t have the purchasing power to really dig into the terroir of white Burgundy I only encounters these wines sporadic in blind tasting events. Often the wines were tested against California Chardonnay and they seldom impressed me. Even today, when I taste Chardonnay – Burgundy or not – I am often disappointed. IMHO (I am rudely generalizing here) there is too much use of oak and this often result in the exact same buttery sensation with toast, vanilla and this ripe melon note. Even worse is when the wines get’s too oily/polished, even meaty – as they are on a mission to impress (could be the result of too much bâttonage) - I back off. Often the taste is long and mouth coating and for sure some wines offers tremendously mineral sensation – but still Riesling and Champagne hold far more interesting acidity profiles, elegance and freshness. I can see why white Burgundy have so many fans – but still, they seldom touch me, as they are almost too technical perfect. The Red wines from Burgundy is however a different story.

“Le Mont” is a Vin de Table. Apparently because Alexandre Jouveaux doesn’t want to have all the paper works with AOC. It’s not your typical white Burgundy and maybe that’s why I like it so much. It’s almost like the wine is political incorrect; as some of the notes are not exactly friendly; smooth, velvet or mouth coating. No! – Here you have a very direct and challenging wine. You even have the lees floating around in the bottom of the bottle. First impressions on the nose is an absolutely adorable zippy freshness – almost like drinking vins clairs from Champagne. It’s also impossible to ignore the yeasty notes and you get the feeling that the wine is not completely ready yet. The wine is also very soil driven – particles of chalk and crushed stones are all over the wine and it’s the main driver behind this splendid freshness. The fruity notes are green apples and lots of citrus fruits. Taste is demanding, with frightful high acidity and the finale consist of grape, lime and citrus.

It might not be a wine I would serve to my mother and I missed some complex layers here and there – but still; such freshness, soil and acidity and a price tag of 20€ is enough for me.

I have bought a mixed package of the wines from Alexandre Jouveaux – I will hopefully get time to write on them – but “Le Mont” is the one I like best so far.

Glass: Zalto Burgundy