Joseph Drouhin’s Puligny-Montrachet Folatieres 1er Cru 2007 was pretty unimpressive when we first opened it. Nothing wrong mind you, just So What? A decent Bourgogne Blanc, perhaps, or a pleasant Saint-Veran, yes, but certainly not a wine to get excited about. Or worth its $88 price tag. Retail price tag.But 30 minutes later, when Crave FishBar’s pièce de résistance, or at least my favorite dish, the Grilled Faroe Island Salmon (with local wax beans, horseradish dill crema, and Vidalia onion rings) arrived, the wine blossomed revealing a previously well-concealed brilliance. Ah, we mused with big smiles, this is what Burgundy’s all about. This justifies the multitude of expensive disappointment the region has an all too frequent habit of dishing up.What bought about this Damascene transformation was tasting it with the fish - it simply sung.A mélange of harmonious citrus fruits, previously lurking undetected, emerged and danced intricate madrigals with the ribbons of polished minerality and the mellowing touches of oak-tinged vanilla. With each sip the interplay between the Chardonnay's lemon/lime/tangerine acidity and the fatty richness of the fish became more beguiling, the fish, in turn, providing a bold counter-point to the wine’s infinitely supple delicacy. It was an ascending spiral of viniferous delight, each participant enhancing the other. The pas a deux made us glow with satisfied pleasure, though so well matched were these two beauties, like teenager lovers, we felt mere spectators, Prologues to Romeo and Juliet.
