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2007 Long-Depaquit, Chablis 1er Les Vaillons Pale greeny-yellow. The nose is a faint biscuit with a wider white blossom impression above, and is edged with a just enough citrus bite – just over the hour mark, the traditional salty impression of the sea-shore begins to poke through. Smooth, mineral acidity, slightly savoury impressions and this is really very long for a 1er cru. Genuine (not fruit-driven), great value Chablis, of the wiry and intense variety. Rebuy – Yes

Yesterday evening I opened the first from a 12-pack of this wine, it had two specific attributes that contributed to my purchase of a full case; first it was a decently priced bourgogne from the 05 vintage which I could use as a bellwether to judge maturation of the vintage, but second, and a much sexier reason, it was in pretty 50cl bottles! For years I’ve kept a half-bottle limit to daily wine exploits – of-course gatherings are allowed to surmount that total – but if drinking alone, 50cl seems a still tolerable stretch, and, when drinking in tandem there’s still enough for a decent glass each! I suppose though, I should carefully consider the ramifications of this increased uptake; am I now inevitably on [....]

2003 Chateau de Chorey, Chorey-lès-Beaune Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose has a ripe, macerating acid-red cherry centre. The fruit flavour is a mix of darker cherry – shaded much more to black. Good acidity and with a rasp to the tannin. A very nice dimension of good fruit in the mid-palate and quite okay length. Many of the most successful 03s come from the less vaunted appellations – here’s a perfect example that shows better than Chorey from most other vintages. Rebuy – Yes