From the same 1929 vineyard as the Passetoutgrain, but of-course just the pinot this time! Very, very pretty aromas that offer both depth and a precocious intensity. Likewise intensity of flavour and a hint of tannin grab too. I’d relish this young!
This sells ex-domaine for €7.50 – the higher cost versus the aligoté is only the cost of the oak. Very good colour. The aromas are more understated than those of the aligoté, but deliver a nice cassis note. Tannic, but velvet tannin. Plenty of acidity pushes the flavours nicely long. A considerable bargain.
Cuvée Secret de Famille. Made for the first time in 2007, not made in 2008. Nine hectares this year, producing about 40 thousand bottles. It’s a premium bourgogne, selected from the Gevrey, Chambolle, Beaune and Pommard areas picked at 39-44 hl/ha, but in this case the premium is less than 2 euros. Bright, medium-plus purple colour. Punchy fruit that’s slightly Beaujolais-esque – though there’s no carbonic maceration, eventually a little pepper too. Lots of intensity, this is very well balanced and the fruit provides plenty of sweetness. Very impressive – 09 could really be another bumper year for buying bourgognes…
Pale bright cherry red, with a broad paler rim showing pinkish still. Bright but slight, spicy cherry, nose. Fresh youthful and rustic, it makes me think of rolling in hay. Mouth entry is pure and sweet, but very small. Nice flavours – very fresh red fruit and spicy, bubblegummy, earth. The mid-palate shows good acidity and grip but no real size, and then it ends. Not quite clipped, but certainly short, though in a way that leaves you wanting more, rather than dissatisfied. Not a serious wine, but just the ticket for a picnic or a roll in the hay.
A little deeper, medium ruby-red versus the Leroy, with a nose that is denser but at the same time less pretty – darker fruit that today is less successfully delineated. In the mouth there is also a little more density and certainly an extra dimension of flavour in the mid-palate. There is more ‘material’ in the glass and more secondary development than the Leroy, this wine had a significant advantage in purchase price too – it’s a really good regional wine – yet I would certainly go for the Leroy in preference today.
Limpid, medium, medium pale ruby red – looks lovely in the glass. The nose is restrained yet finely transparent with clean strawberry, raspberry and cherry impressions. In the mouth it’s a delightful combination of lightness yet intensity, transparency and freshness. Frankly this wine excels, drinking very well now despite still being far from mature. Filigree burgundy that’s more about impression than weight.
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