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2009 Summer Burgundy Report
The Summer 2009 Burgundy Report is now available. Enjoy and have a nice weekend…
ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
The occasional thing may seem a bit ‘flakey’ around here and maybe for the next few days as I (piece-by-piece) update the site’s structure. A slightly different design which currently looks okay in internet explorer (7) but is less than perfect in Firefox, I expect it will be about 2 weeks before everything is bedded in. Unlike me, this is much cleverer under the surface! Hopefully it doesn’t break too often! PS – did I mention the Summer Burgundy Report will go live sometime this evening…(?)
2006 christian clerget chambolle-musigny
I’ve always considered Christian Clerget an up and down performer. I’ve had great bottles of his Chambolle 1er Charmes and his villages Chambolle too, but equally I’ve had dreary bottles of both. Lert’s see how this stacks up: 2006 Christian Clerget, Chambolle-Musigny Medium, medium-plus colour, yet relatively deep for a villages Chambolle. Soft, but well-defined red fruit over a denser base – there’s a faint caramel edge that disappears as the wine warms in glass, some focus is also lost. Interesting; there’s a dense, concentrated, rather extracted core to the wine which has the merest trace of bitterness that makes the acidity seem a little bright – yet is mineral too. There is good texture from very faintly astringent but finely grained tannin. Relatively long [....]
2006 alain jeanniard gevrey-chambertin
2006 Alain Jeanniard, Gevrey-Chambertin Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose and indeed the flavours show some reduction so I made a quick double-decant, within 10 minutes all was fixed. Not so obviously Gevrey, but there’s nice red cherry with some darker fruit and savoury hints – eventually a lovely redcurrant impression. Balanced acidity and decent depth of flavour. There is some tannin that’s accented with a faint astringency and a decent length. It’s tasty, so if you get a good price it’s worth buying, but their 06 Morey VV is on a higher level. Rebuy – Yes
lvmh: -41% profit for wine and spirits
Comparing the first half of 2008 with the same period this year, we can at least deduce that people are not drowning their economic worries in Hennessy, Krug, Moët or Yquem. Apparently LVMH say that their profits increased “tangibly” in the markets where they control their own distribution, such as ‘owned’ shops like Louis Vuitton: “The brands distributed by third parties, on the other hand, suffered a massive destocking impact by these (external) distributors. This is notably the case for the Wines & Spirits and Watches & Jewelry business groups.” Interesting; so that means that non LVMH companies are tightening their belts in what some would describe as prudent management but LVMH companies are not. Does that mean that in the opinion of LVMH, punters [....]
a heavy weekend… (2)
2001 Truffière (Vincent Girardin), Puligny-Montrachet 1er Les Caillerets Medium gold. The nose majors on a residue of toasty oak and fainter gun-flint aromas. The bottle lasted under an hour, but was actually becoming less interesting with time. After the younger wines of the previous day, this is significantly more mineral and wiry framed. Good acidity and density, yet the flavours do reflect the aromas. Complex for sure but I never really warmed to it – that’s a pure style judgement, so whilst I wouldn’t buy it again for me, I certainly wouldn’t tell you not to. Rebuy – Maybe 2006 Nicolas Potel, Criots Bâtard-Montrachet The best young white I tasted last year, indeed in the last couple of years – expecations were positioned! Pale yellow. [....]
“sour grapes”
Remember this? That was June 2008. Well now we have the following: Wine buff sues after being accused of a vintage rip-off Among wine connoisseurs, Michael Broadbent reigns supreme. The 6ft tall, pinstriped oenophile, who launched the peerless Christie’s wine department in 1966, has spent a lifetime travelling the world tasting fine vintages, keeping notes of every one he has sipped, and writing the definitive wine handbook. But at the age of 82, his famously sensitive nose is wrinkling not at an unwelcome bouquet – but at assertions in a new book that accuse him of being involved in a notorious wine fraud. UK Daily Mail Well the pinstriped 82 year-old has taken more than a year to decide this course of action – I’d [....]
a heavy weekend…
I shouldn’t really call a weekend with dear friends ‘heavy’ I suppose, that said, I (the four of us actually) managed to empty the equivalent of 9 bottles in 2 evenings. I think there was some beer too, but I expect that that doesn’t count! Generally the wines were pretty good, but one fell to the curse of the cork and as elaborated by Murphy, it was the most anticipated bottle. 1997 Raymond Boulard, Champagne Millesime Hand-carried from the domaine from (sadly) my only visit in early 2002, also the last of these 97s. Full but balanced with a very nice (to me) baked apple flavour. Rebuy – Yes 2006 Mischief and Mayhem, Puligny-Montrachet Seems a little fatter and less crisp than last time out [....]
alain jeanniard 2006 morey st.denis vieilles vignes
I’ve not had many from this domaine which is sited just towards the top of the village on the (vineyard) road into Clos St.Denis, finally I picked up a couple of bottles. 2006 Alain Jeanniard, Morey St.Denis Vieilles Vignes Medium, medium-plus colour. Lovely depth and Morey character to the nose – nice red fruit with a real density to back it up – very nice indeed. On the tongue it seems not the ultimate in concentration, but there’s excellent darker fruit with that creamy old-vine impression. The acidity and tannin are slightly forward, but they only serve to cement the long mineral-infused finish – again with an impression of cream – excellent stuff, I’m looking forward to trying one of the domaine’s 1er crus. Rebuy [....]
TONG – a wine magazine
TONG – note, that this was a promotional copy, so I’m honour-bound to say nice things – right? Yeah-right, just like here It’s worth pointing out, that I’m drawn to things that have been ‘designed’, or perhaps I should say that I’m drawn to things that have not just been made to look good but where people have clearly spent their time on attention to detail. Right from the point I open my letter-box this publication is hitting my design ‘g-spot’ (actually in the sunshine it was blinding me!): Robust, space-material envelope – cool! My benchmark wine publication is the ‘World of Fine Wine’ magazine which invariably was 30%+ parting with it’s cheap envelope by the time it reached my letter-box – in this respect [....]
2007 chézeaux/ponsot griotte-chambertin
I’m rather hooked-in-to this wine just now – maybe I’ll write something eventually… 2007 Chézeaux/Ponsot, Griotte-Chambertin Medium cherry-red. The nose starts with a burst of enthusiasm, tightens for a couple of minutes, then relaxes; although it’s not so wide there is a wonderful depth of dark, close to raisined, fruit – eventually the aromas fill-out, proffering baked raspberry edged with violets! In your mouth, it cocks it’s hat to the domaine’s Clos St.Denis with an intensity that is acid-encrusted – fresh redcurrant style – with this wine there’s a little more tannin, but the most surprising aspect is the finish – it’s not so much the length, rather the very mineral, slatey flavour – it seems more like grand cru Chablis than comely Griotte, and [....]
2006 albert bichot latricières-chambertin
When tasting through Bichot’s 2007s, of the grand crus one stood out as different; lighter red, less obviously intense than the others – that was the Latricières-Chambertin. Well there’s a thing, the 2006 is like a pea from a pod. This is a cheaper bottle than the recent Parent Pommard 1er Rugiens, but is it a better wine? 2006 Albert Bichot, Latrcières-Chambertin Medium cherry-red colour. High-toned, slightly volatile red fruits over a faintly gunflint and vanilla base. Red fruit that is not so concentrated, but pretty striking. Plenty of oaky flavour and really impressive length, though that’s also a little heavy on the vanilla. Softly textured, this has the intensity of a 1er cru, but it really does have the complexity of a grand cru. [....]
