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merchants’ vintage 2008 en-primeur offers
AB Vintners Berry Bros & Rudd Bibendum Wine Goedhuis & Co Millésima Private Cellar For those with an interest, above are links to the merchants’ offers for the usual (UK) January EP-a-thon…My most recent thoughts on the vintage can be found here, and I’ve already bought wines in both colours. Jancis has also just added a little detail in her weekend FT column, which you can see here and additionally here.For clarity, the merchants have paid a token fee for listing & I make no comment as to the merits of each offer, or who I’m buying from!
2006 nicolas potel chambolle-musigny vieilles vignes
2006 Nicolas Potel, Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles Vignes Medium, medium-plus colour. A wide panorama of aromas; acid cherries, a deep, dark, slightly musky base and some violet aromas above – lots of interesting components if not quite a ‘together’ impression. The texture is okay, you’re drawn to the slight astringency more than anything, but there is an excellent intensity for a villages wine. Reasonably narrow on entry but the flavour becomes ever-wider and and quite long too. There’s plenty of slightly floral pot-pourri together with the fruit. Good acidity and an evident back-bone of structure. No simple ‘villages’ this, today it’s not perfectly ‘together’ either aromatically or in the mouth – it will need some cellar time – but the basics are here for a very good [....]
2007 cornu ladoix 1er le bois roussot
2007 Cornu, Ladoix 1er Le Bois Roussot Medium colour. The nose has a little oaky vanilla and a mineral infused but faint red fruit. Nice soft texture backed by an oak-spiced red fruit. There’s width and complexity in the mid-plate, but the density could be better considering that this is a 1er cru. Day two and the oak is much less prominent, though the acidity is less soft. Quite nice overall – for now, decant for an hour and drink on day one. Rebuy – Maybe
guide to the wines of burgundy, graham chidgey (1977)
What a little gold-mine this book turned out to be! A compact, if not quite pocket-sized, volume of around 120 pages. Published by Pitman in 1977 and reprinted (my copy) in 1978 – also signed by the author. But what of the author? – it’s the first time I’ve heard the name. According to the introduction, Graham has a background of 25 years in the business (ITB), and whilst he indicates some work together with Pierre Maufoux of Santenay, it’s not initially clear if that is in France or the UK. About 40 pages into the book we find that he works (worked) for Laytons Wine Merchants. The book is structured around the following sections: History How Burgundy is Made Bottles, Labels and Buying Burgundy [....]
volnay – finally on the map!
Within these pages, the ‘Map Resource‘ is one of most people’s favourite stopping-off points. It’s far from perfect of-course, but I cannot for a moment complain of the munificence of Kobrand for supplying me with their maps, and since way-back in 2004 too. Those maps clearly needed a little work to be of publication quality, but c’est la vie… Clearly there were a number of gaps too, Fixin, Premeaux-Prissey, Volnay etc., but – tada! – a kind reader who wishes to remain anonymous (probably so their employer remains oblivious ) has donated a map in the same style that covers Volnay. A big ‘thanks‘ to them – and from all of us I suspect!
breaking new ground not bones – a helmet’s tale…
Thursday last week and it’s the 09:28 train from Basel to Interlaken – and it was blue sky and sunshine – for 2010 (so far) that’s a novelty . Of-course through the long tunnel in the direction of Olten and we’re back into the more typical grey and mist of January. In-and-out of Bern station, you potentially have the most gorgeous of views; the sunlit, snow-covered alps as a backdrop – but not today – the grey is too grey. But what’s that? Hints of blue above as we stop in Thun and eventually sunshine in Interlaken. Ye-haaah! (sorry, my apologies; for a moment I forgot – I don’t whoop!) I was heading to Mürren for my annual ‘recapturing my youth weekend’ – the Inferno [....]
choose between vines or a glass of something vine-derived…
Back from a long weekend – more of that later – and two new things in my inbox that you may be interested in: Adopt a vine in Santenay? I don’t know the people, but it may be of interest to some… Salon des Vignerons de Nuits Saint Georges et Premeaux Prissey: if you can’t wait so long to get your hands on a glass and will be in the Côte d’Or at the end of March, maybe this will fit the bill…
lejeune 2007 pommard 1er les argillières
2007 Domaine Lejeune, Pommard 1er Les Argillières Medium colour. The nose is of soft raspberry and red cherry that’s slightly soft-focus and sweet rather than sharply defined and fresh, filled out with a background of faint caramel – it’s rather pretty and very comely! Plenty of fat, late arriving tannin with a hint of astringency and a good width of mid-palate flavours. Medium-weight but above medium-interest. Understated acidity yet just enough structural ‘bite’ to keep you on your toes. This good value wine is very nice to drink now and also to improve over the next 5-10 years. Rebuy – Yes
offer of the day – Jacques Prieur 2008…
Vins blancs PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Combettes 75cl 69.00 Swiss francs (78.00) MEURSAULT Perrières 75cl 98.00 (109.00) CORTON CHARLEMAGNE 75cl 109.50 (128.00) CHEVALIER-MONTRACHET 75cl 198.00 (219.00) MONTRACHET 75cl 388.00 (399.00) Vins rouges CLOS DE VOUGEOT 75cl 99.00 (109.00) CHAMBERTIN 75cl 149.00 (159.00) ECHEZEAUX 75cl 158.00 (169.00) MUSIGNY 75cl 199.00 (218.00) The values in brackets are the prices for the 2007 offer. Less thrilling ‘discounts’ than those seen for Henri Boillot and Domaine Leflaive, but reductions all the same. For those ‘in the market’, that’s about the lowest price for Musigny around, everything else looks like ‘optimistic’ pricing…
2005 dubreuil-fontaine volnay
2005 Dubreuil-Fontaine, Volnay This is a very good value wine, not only is it well priced for a villages wine, as we now know it also contains a significant amount of 1er cru grapes from Carelle Sous Chapelle, Les Brouillards and Les Lurets. Double decanted an hour before pouring. Aromatically this is a little mute but there are fresh, high-tones of dark red fruits and fainter, high-toned floral aromas – very fine fruit – and the empty glass smells of rose petals. The last vestiges of fat are melting as the acidity starts to come to the fore – very smooth before a hint of tannin in the back-end. Certainly there’s a really nice depth of fruit with a decent length and a residual hint [....]
snow and wine…
’twas the annual weekend pilgrimage to Klosters for my pre race ‘training’. Training consisted of a first night of 2001 Girardin, Puligny Combettes – a wine of gunflint and latent savoury oak, lean yet still balanced. The oak means that it’s not my favourite style but it pleased many around the table. It was, though, rather put in the shade by the 2006 Nicolas Potel, Criots-Bâtard Montrachet – this a replacement for the last bottle that was corked. Only in its last 20 minutes did it show any aromatic depth (it was decanted 2 hours before serving), but its supple, brooding approach and achingly long finish were enough to convince. We finished with David Clark’s 2006 Morey St.Denis Les Porroux – which was a wine [....]
2008 lejeune bourgogne
My first 2008 red at home: 2008 Domaine Lejeune, Bourgogne Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is a sweet, red/black, (mainly red) cherry over a base of herbs, even faint violets – it does remind me of Lejeune’s 2005 but this is more open. Some fat and some faintly astringent tannin before a lip-smacking tart cherry acidity. Okay length, and provided you like acid slap, this is a super, pinot fun-delivering bottle. The acidity might get a little too much in a couple of years, but this will be lovely over the summer – I really must check on the domaine’s ‘higher’ wines from 2008… Rebuy – Yes
