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robert arnoux 1997 vosne-romanée 1er les reignots
1997 Robert Arnoux, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Reignots The nose starts broad and faintly of dark oak – slowly a pungent, dark, coconut cream begins to fill the glass, only very slowly are the granular, spicy notes one expects of Vosne to be found. In the glass this starts with a silky texture and a slightly bright though smooth acidity – which is the main component through the centre of the wine and into it’s finish. As the wine warms in the glass the finish first pads out with some of the dark flavours that match the nose. Over three hours this wine remains steady as a rock; acid led but not too much, with a freshness and stance that belies the vintage. I would say [....]
The Red Wines of Burgundy, Mark Savage (1988)
Published by Octopus Books Following on from Christopher Fielden’s White Burgundy, 1988 seems a good vintage for books. This is, of-course, the sister book to Jasper’s The White Wines of Burgundy also of that year. Yet again I seem to have picked up, quite unintentionally, a signed copy – at least this time I don’t need to change my name to Ian! Summary This is a hardback book of indeterminate size – almost, but not quite, A4 – with less than 80 pages of content. A couple of minimalist maps are provided to give you a basic idea of geography. The forward is by Simon Loftus – how I wish there were more books by him. The content of the book is split into three [....]
cancelled…
Here
alain michelot 2009 nuits 1er champs-perdrix
Another from Alain Michelot and frankly, just as good as the first! 2009 Alain Michelot, Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Champs Perdrix The nose is quite different to what I remember of the Chaignots – different vines so a good thing – certainly higher toned though perhaps a little more diffuse because of that. This is quite full, with plenty of tannin – yet the fruit comes through very well indeed – super-engaging personality. I think this excellent. Rebuy – Yes
attack of the ancient pyrazines (and some old pierre bourée)
Having bought a collection of old Bourées at auction, I have the following batting average: 1966 Nuits St. Georges – excellent 1983 Charmes-Chambertin – disappointing 1972 Gevrey-Chambertin – too balsamic 1978 Monthelie – a remarkable curate’s egg: 1978 Pierre Bourée, Monthelie The cork comes out in one piece – no mean feet in these older Bourées – the bottle glass has a blue shade to it; clearly a bit unscientific but I’ve never yet had an off wine from a blue-shade bottle! Very good, relatively young colour. The nose? Well it’s rather particular; in-fact blind this is a 2004 with at least a 6/10 ‘score’ for pyrazines. Underneath is a pretty depth of still croquant, sugared strawberry fruit with the faintest suggestion of stems – [....]
2007 guillot-broux macon-cruzille les genièvrières
2007 Guillot-Broux, Macon-Cruzille Les Genièvrières The nose has slightly more than ample brioche notes, eventually the notes go deeper and sweeter improving complexity though not at the expense of impact. Large-scaled flavours, where, to start with, the acidity plays a subtle supporting role – still there is tons of creamy complexity in the mid-palate and finish. This is a wine that transitions from impressive to VERY impressive once it is paired with food; the acidity now seems more supportive and the fruit has a clear sucrosity. Very very impressive despite somehow retaining a Maçon character. Rebuy – Yes
alain michelot 2009 nsg 1er les chaignots
2009 Alain Michelot, Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Chaignots Rather deep colour. Ooh – now that’s nice – beautiful fruit here, maybe even a hint of gooseberry. Full in the mouth, with a not too generous helping of tannin plus very pretty fruit that seems a mirror of that on the nose. Simply a very tasty wine indeed. Rebuy – Yes
do you want to own vines in the côte d’or?
Well do you? That’s a hard question to answer in the current market. I provide for you here a window to a relatively ‘cheap’ entry into the world of premier cru pinot noir (Chambolle-Musigny would cost you 5x the amount), but the financial transaction and subsequent model will make sense to relatively few of you I think. Anyway, our starting point is the current ‘offer‘ via the SAFER website. In effect you would pay €184,000 (plus an 8.5% ‘fee’ for SAFER) plus €3,500 for 0.43ha of Beaune 1er Cru ‘Champs Pimonts’ – nicely situated fifty year-old vines, though don’t ask me how good the plant material is – but even as the owner, you cannot do very much with the land, because with this purchase [....]
2009 marc roy gevrey clos prieur
2009 Marc Roy, Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Prieur Ooh – deep, ripe fruit, perhaps a hint of cola, actually more than a hint. In the mouth I find this has quite nice acidity, intensity comes in tandem – the flavour is long too for a villages. Clearly the fruit is very ripe and the tannin has a little rasp to the texture – unlike both the 2008 an 2010. Tasty, and certainly I prefer the flavours to the aromas, but overall I’d much rather drink the 2008 today – I expect also in 10 years but I’m happy to have the bottles to allow for that possibility Rebuy – Maybe
alain burguet 2009 vosne 1er les rouges du dessus
It had to happen; a 2009, from a good producer, which I can’t recommend… 2009 Alain Burguet, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Rouges du Dessus Very high-toned aromas, indeed close to volatile. In the mouth there’s some good tannin that has just a twist of astringency, yet, again, I have the impression that the fruit is rather medicinal and seems a match to the nose. I hope this is an off bottle because it is far from my taste, even before taking into account the price asked… Rebuy – No
bouchard père & fils 2008 beaune 1er du château
2008 Bouchard Père, Beaune 1er Beaune du Château Gradually there are some higher, floral tones and eventually a few flashes of tobacco too, but mainly this has a deeper register of dark fruit buttressed by equally dark oak. Round, plenty of sweet depth, just a little cushioning, balanced by close to perfect acidity. There’s plenty of flavour here, but I really can’t find the ‘Beaune’, and that’s because such a large part of the flavour profile is the sweetness of dark oak. Despite that oak, this has quite a measure of elegance – this is a lovely wine – but it needs to shed a lot of non-grape derived flavour before it becomes a lovely Beaune. Rebuy – Maybe
