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books that jancis likes…
Jancis has some books for next year’s Christmas stocking!
roger belland 2006 bourgogne pinot noir
2006 Roger Belland, Bourgogne Pinot Noir Medium colour. The nose has wide, slightly alcoholic top-notes that mix with a little spearmint and narrows to a base of dark red fruit. In the mouth the fruit has a nice sweet dimension, but the acidity is just slightly in the ascendant providing a sour, perhaps for some people too sour reflection. The tannin is far from evident. I’d say this is in the last days of pinot-noir youth, an adolescence of acidity like a breaking voice just compromising the performance. I’ve enjoyed a number of these over that couple of years, but this is the last – a job done because I’m not looking to keep this 20 years, but done well! Rebuy – No (not anymore [....]
benoit germain
I was shocked. I heard yesterday via a bulletin-board, but having made a few calls I can confirm that we have lost Benoit and the funeral is this morning. I tasted with him at the end of July; he was quite young (late 30s, early 40s was my guess) and was full of energy and enthusiasm he was welcoming very friendly too. He took time off for me from moving his fermentation tanks around the yard – precariously with a fork-lift truck – because he was having a new floor laid in the cuverie (the cuverie away from the Château). Because of this we had to run the gauntlet of smelly of molten adhesive and down the cellar steps and close the door as fast [....]
antonin guyon 1998 corton-charlemagne
Guyon make a powerful Charlemagne that has often brought me great joy, but my last bottles of both 2000 and 2002 brought instead oxidised wines. Frankly this has been hanging around in the refrigerator for almost six months as I couldn’t face opening another oxidised grand cru – but like an early Christmas present… 1998 Antonin Guyon, Corton-Charlemagne Deep colour. One sniff of the nose and I’m smiling; there are the lanolin aromas of an even older wine, and perhaps the merest suggestion of something oxidative but it’s an interesting complexity on a lower level than many champagnes(!) – no complaints. For the first 20 minutes or-so, this seems a little alcoholic and disjointed, but thereafter it becomes a decently integrated wine. Good acidity and [....]
Nationale 74, Divine-Comédie (2010)
Divine Comédie If you can get by in French, let me introduce you to a great guidebook to the Côte d’Or. Published in the summer and described as a ‘roadbook’, it seems quite up-to-date, and is filled with the (obligatory) Pitiot-Poupon-derived vineyard maps and some lovely photos from the same people that do the Panogeo images. Unlike a traditional book about the region this offers additional schematics (maps) of the villages – as opposed to the vines – showing where the hotels, bars and restaurants of note are – i.e. the ones they’ve each profiled in a couple of sentences. There is a little introduction to each village, a profile of a couple of producers and/or wines of note too. Finally a little place for [....]
muzard 2008 santenay 1er beauregard
2008 Lucien Muzard, Santenay 1er Beauregard Medium colour. Medium width too, and some reduction for the first hour; eventually a nice red dominated-berry fruit and the last drops have a lovely acid-cherry impression. In the mouth there is a freshness that dovetails nicely with the width – again emphasising an acid-cherry note. There was again plenty of CO2 making this almost shiraz-like for thirty minutes or so, but sixty minutes in there was no mistaking the provenance of this wine. More elegant and finer than the Maladières but equal fun. Enjoyed! Rebuy – Yes
jean chauvenet 2008 nuits 1er les perrières
The tasting I had at the domaine last week was a resounding success – a very fine selection from 2008, but it’s often interesting to compare your notes with a bottle at home. I loved the Perrières best, despite the Vaucrains being the ‘top wine’ (most expensive) in the cellar, so bought half a dozen. 2008 Jean Chauvenet, Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Perrières Bigger glass, more aeration; yet the fruit holds onto a creamy-vanilla coating which I don’t remember being so obvious back in Nuits in the (11°!) cellar. The fruit, however, is a summer pudding of black and to a lesser extent red berries and is quite captivating. Plenty of acidity which turns into real intensity in the mid-palate and towards the finish – [....]
2007 château de puligny-montrachet 1er folatières
It might be from my all-time favourite vintage, but anyone who can make Folatières taste like liquid rock must be working very hard – bravo! 2007 Château de Puligny-Montrachet, Puligny 1er Les Folatières Medium-pale yellow. The nose has a ripe but sweet yellow lemon about it, but with a minerality that makes me reminisce about some almost finished Chablis Le Clos 2001! There is an undertow of sweetness but the real current (energy) of this wine is the citrus acidity that runs right through the core and into the finish, and it brings with it an intense mineral-led flavour that is actually very, very long. Good as the tension is in the 2008, this absolutely crackles with energy – hopefully a wine you can drink [....]
2008 château de puligny-montrachet 1er folatières
2008 Château de Puligny-Montrachet, Puligny 1er Les Folatières Starts deep and very faintly of baked bread, but swirl and the nose has a nice freshness and the fruit behind is high-toned and citrussy . This is a mouthful of energy and joy – blind I might have guessed it to be the 2007 (I must compare!) as the obvious richness of 2008 is hardly visible. Roll the wine around your tongue and the acidity helps develop a fine and mineral flavour – there’s no fat or excess here, just a good mineral end-note. Quite linear, mineral and with a good intensity – it’s my kind of wine, but if this is the performance of a 2008, can I handle the 2007? Rebuy – Yes
alex gambal buys 5 hectares – or does he…
Edit/Note: I discussed this with Alex and apparently this does not reflect his actual position, but he also doesn’t want to comment further until everything is ironed out. Will let you know when it is. Thumbs up for Clive – still first with the news: Philippe Brenot of Santenay has sold his 5 hectare estate to American négociant Alex Gambal. Pride of place in the Brenot holding is 37 ares of Bâtard-Montrachet. The line-up also includes Chassagne-Montrachet premier cru En Remilly, Santenay premier cru Les Passetemps, and village Puligny, Chassagne and Santenay. The white wines have a high reputation here, though Brenot used to sell over half his production off in bulk. In addition to his life as a vigneron Brenot is also a professor [....]
more on 2009 whites + a 2008 red from muzard
Last week, as you will have gathered from the snowy images, was a little chilly in the Côtes, but it was a good time to get a better understanding of the whites – even though many will not be bottled until February-April 2011. I think I tasted almost 200 wines with their producers, a significant majority were white; occasionally tasting with John Gilman and Anthony Hanson along the way – it’s a busy time in the Côtes! 2009 whites. I really find (as my vintage viewpoint suggested) a wide range of data-points. Some wines are a little like 2005, full and missing a little energy, perhaps from a rather late picking(?). Vignerons in that class tell me the wines will gain energy after their ‘collage’ [....]
