Arnaud Baillot, Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes-de-Beaune, Chardonnay, 2021, 12% abv.
Nose: initially lemons, chalk, light green grapes, egg whites, very 90s cheap California Chardonnay, the two-buck chuck type. Then after some air time, the aromas have increased sweetness, light vanilla, feint toasted hazelnuts. Five hours later, smells like sweet brioche.
Palate: full body although a bit closer to medium, entry is light lemon juice without the tartness, old cream, mid palate develops more body and oiliness (which is why I adjusted to "full body"), shows some simple syrup sweetness, still lemons but more lemon pith, lemon zest, orange pith, light green grapes, grapefruit, and sour pears. With more air time, the palate maintains the same flavor profile but is generally sweeter, cream becomes honey, more salty, and more savory in general. Back palate focuses on candied lemon and orange pith, chalk, copper. With air time, the back palate shows more alcohol, chlorine, sour cream, and citrus pith. Interestingly, I get feint vanilla, feint toasted hazelnuts on the retroactive olfaction from the back palate only. To be honest, portions of the tasting remind me of lemonade from Hot Dog on a-Stick, but with cleaning alcohol. Supposedly 10% new oak.
Finish: medium, initially lemon pith and zest, a weird chemical-ly sour and bitter aftertaste, but ends up showing bathroom cleaning products like chlorine, significant alcohol, a little dry on the mouthfeel.
Vernacular: nose shows primary yellow and green fruit with medium minerality. Medium to full bodied palate, good acidity, good minerality, notable presence of alcohol. Finish is a lighter version of the palate with significantly more alcohol.
Shame on me for falling for the floor saleslady recommendations again. I don't think they need to make commission or quota, but man… I continue to validate my gulliblity. To be fair, these kinds of whites are prevalent in South Korea, relatively cheap and the tasting reflects it. Got this for about KRW₩55K, about USD$40, in South Korea.
Grade: C
by starvinggigolo