Stephen Brook re-tastes the dry whites at the Union des Grands Crus tasting...
The great surprise of the tasting, writes Stephen Brook, was the quality of the dry white wines. When tasted en-primeur it was already clear it was a good year for whites, but the wines lacked some
complexity. They were fresh and citric and lively, but there was little depth of flavour.
When tasted again in February 2009, the wines had changed: they had taken on more weight and minerality, and had become interesting as well as good. Now, that evolution has gone further, and the minerality and extract are striking, and the Semillon component in many of these wines is emerging and giving them a nutty dimension.
The disappointing wines in the group do not lack fruit, but just seem heavy-handed.
