François Gaunoux Meursault Les Clos de Tavaux

François Gaunoux

Meursault
Le Clos de Tavaux Monopole
Chardonnay
Côte-d'Or, Burgundy, France
2003
13.5%
$44.99 -- Twin Liquors, Austin, TX

Color: Medium golden, beautiful color
Nose: Salty butter, bacon, cod, thyme

Body: Medium

Front: Salty roasted pear

Middle: Buttered apple, hazelnut

Back: Oatmeal cookie

Burns clean?: Yes

Cap: Cork

The first four times I put my nose in this one, I smelled different things. I put three of them in the description above, before I gave up. Suffice it to say, it's a fascinating experience before you taste it--beautiful in color and intriguing on the nostril.

There's plenty of oak in this, but it's elegantly balanced. As the wine opens and warms up, the butteryness moves earlier in the palate. I would drink this wine anytime--assuming I can ever find it again. I'm not entirely sure where I got it, to tell the whole truth.

I'm drinking it tonight while watching a beautiful Texas sunset, to the lulling sounds of commuters arriving home from work, which they shouldn't have had, as it is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, an important holiday if ever there was one.