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monday 29th update
Domaine de la Vougeraie have their harvest log now online. Moving on, let’s start with today’s update from Mark in Morey: Bonjour, Petit dejeuner day 3 a Domaine Arlaud vendange 08. Thought we had done a fair chunk of Bourgogne Rouge on day 1 mais non !! We started there again at 7.30 yesterday for another hard morning’s graft. My back was feeling day 1 quite badly and by lunch I was an object of some amusement for my fellow vendangeurs. Am starting to get to know them better now. 2 brothers, Georges et Fernand are in their 70’s but incrdiedibly fit – and so quick along the rows. The peer pressure to keep up is quite something. Tremendous roast pork lunch after rice salad [....]
harvest day 2 – notes and pics
As a post-script to the last 2 days, I think I do note drinking a glass or two. Here a modest selection drunk over the last two days: 2000 Camille Giroud, St.Aubin 1er Les Charmois Medium golden. High tones over slightly creamy base – quite vibrant if not an integrated whole. Ripe fruit offset by slightly bright acidity. Quite long, and certainly very tasty. Rebuy – Maybe 1987 Camille Giroud, Meursault 1er Les Perrières Medium golden. An understated nose that shows a little creamy wool. The palate is linear – perhaps (old) boney – but very smooth and rushes you into a reasonable – creamy again – finish just a little faster than you might wish for the appellation, but it’s probably the appellation that [....]
sunday 28th update
Picked up for a song in a recent auction. The thought should see us through the cold but sunny morning – talk about a carrot and stick… 11:45am: Just finished triaging the first consignment of Savigny 1er Les Peuillets. Hail damaged so needing much more triage versus yesterday – it’s a much slower process. I would characterise the work as slightly easier than 2004 – but it’s a close call, and I didn’t see how much ‘fruit’ was left at the vines. On the positive side the grapes are ripe, on the negative my fingers started to go numb – the grapes were picked at only 6 or 7°C! Yesterday’s cuvées are characterised by their acidity, 2.98, 3.05, 3.18. The BIVB Bulletin confirms that there [....]
saturday 27th update
Cool photo reportage from the harvest. Before Lunch: So far this morning we triaged grapes from Ladoix that are destined for a Côtes de Beaune. Far, far better than my expectation; almost no rot – I may have worked only 5 vintages, but I’ve not seen cleaner grapes from such a ‘lowly’ appellation – the rub is that we still have to work hard to remove the unripe, and it’s a significant amount. The grapes are far from consitent in size, and despite returning to the table de trie and finding it sticky (like in 2005) there’s not quite the same number of drier/dried grapes as that year so I have the impression they are not quite so concentrated. 3:30pm:The Volnay villages this afternoon, followed [....]
2004 vincent et denis berthaut gevrey clos des chézeaux
2004 Vincent et Denis Berthaut, Gevrey-Chambertin Clos des Chézeaux Medium cherry-red. The nose starts with a dark oaky element intertwined with plenty of the 04 cedary green thing – after five minutes you have lost the dark part, it’s even eventually asparagus! In the mouth The fruit is sweet, but it’s really pushed into the background by the slightly mouth-puckering effect of the tannin/acidity. There’s plenty of that cedar thing in the mouth too. It may have a future, but it’s hard to see it. Rebuy – No
update friday 26th sept
ALAIN BURGUET Currently planning to start on 4th October! ALEX GAMBAL “In the middle of grapes. Non stop. Yields VERY low to nothing. Bizarre. Wind and cool has dried everything out and has concentrated the juice. Quality is hopeful but not very economic.” – Sounds mainly like Côte de Beaune(?) Plus a few online things to read: Gumball Rally, Burgundy Style Seeing is believing Long Lunches
2006 chézeaux / ponsot griotte-chambertin
In most respects, initial impressions of this wine were of the Chambolle Charmes ‘plus’ – shame there was some dodgy cork-taint… 2006 Chézeaux/Ponsot, Griotte-Chambertin The colour is just a little darker. Aromatically I started with some concerns; the cork had a bad, rancid, almost volatile smell to it, some of that showed up as ‘inner mouth perfume’ as Burghound would say – far from perfume though – but fortunately it was only very faint on the nose. Mouth-filling, plenty of very fine tannin and a width of fine red fruit that’s both sweet and lingering. It’s quite a long way from the stunning depth of the 05, but then there is enough of that strange taint that I won’t rate it and would certainly send [....]
update thursday 25th sept
The weather is holding, so now it’s time to get serious. Here are a few early reports: DOMAINE LOUIS CHENU ET FILLES We started this morning with (Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er) Les Talmettes. We did a grapes selection, we have very few rotten grapes, but we have to check maturity. I will let you know…It is very sunny and a bit cold, perfect weather for the harvest… DOMAINE JOSEPH DROUHIN Today under this brilliant sunshine we pick a small parcel of (Beaune 1er) Clos des Mouches white and Chablis premier cru Secher, both have delicious, ripe grapes to eat… More to follow as harvest progresses! REMOISSENET PÈRE ET FILS “Ici la Bourgogne Libre. Le retour du grand beau temps depuis le 14 septembre a d’ores et déja [....]
2006 chézeaux / ponsot chambolle 1er charmes
2006 Chézeaux/Ponsot, Chambolle 1er Les Charmes A relatively pale young wine – medium cherry-red colour. The nose is quite tight – some depth but little width, only slowly does a little definition and a pure red note start to build, eventually there’s also a floral aspect. Super texture, the tannin slowly builds in the mouth to give a little ripple of grain, astringency and also a little bitterness. Acidity is finely balanced and there is very good intensity to the fruit, fruit that seems to become sweeter with time. Not completely full of ‘charm’ at this stage, but everything is in place – wait at least 5 years before returning. Rebuy – Yes
new articles…
People it seems, trust bottles not banks A Road Map to the ‘Best’ of Burgundy French Wineries Hire U.S. Whiz to Reverse Their Slipping Sales
mischief and mayhem 05 corton bressandes
This was open at the same time as the 05 Bourée St.Jacques, it’s not as dense or as concentrated but it is a polished grand cru all the same. 2005 Mischief and Mayhem, Corton Bressandes A deep cherry-red core. Fine, high-toned red fruits and some dried cranberry – very nice indeed. There’s plenty of background tannin but it has fine grain. Good acidity that pushes a creamy depth of fruit very long. This is a very executive Corton and dare I say it, elegant! Not the concentration of many 2005 grand crus, but so what? Lovely wine and a very nice length. Rebuy – Yes
on with harvesting
Even ‘nameplate’ domaines are starting to gird their loins and plan their first pickings – some are already picking. ‘My’ domaine starts on Thursday with Bourgogne Rouge – despite me not arriving until Saturday – they didn’t wait! The weather is in a dry and bright window that is exactly what’s required to ripen the grapes, the fact that it’s a ‘late’ Autumnal cold outside means that rot is less rampant than previous years – of-course there’s time yet for anything to happen, but that northerly wind is exactly what the doctor ordered to help concentrate the grapes – much like 2002. Many grapes are anyway in need of picking – it’s already 105 days + since flowering. If the forecast turns bad, you will [....]
