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2000 des Chézeaux, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Lavaux St.Jacques Medium colour. The nose is a symphony; there’s still a pure red fruit note towards the top of the range, but there’s a musky undergrowth that cushions it, lovely depth too – you could just sit and sniff this – which is just fine! Actually the palate’s not that bad either, but the nose gives you the impression that there should be more. It’s still pretty good with a (more) linear (than you expect) but still slightly cushioned impression, decent acidity and still just a hint of astringency on the back of your tongue. The fruit has a little sweetness to it, but not in the rather warm, typical 2000 vernacular. Understated, slighly mineral flavours linger in the [....]

A good contact tells me that this was only the second vintage for Cyprien Arlaud – well he didn’t do badly then did he(?) 1999 Arlaud, Chambolle-Musigny Rather deeply coloured, and it still looks quite young. The nose is deep and a little meaty, yet is classically (some might say clichéd) Chambolle-Musigny with its very pretty floral top notes – the bass notes are perhaps meatier than your average Chambolle but that’s probably the slow march to maturity. Round, clearly with plenty of extract and a lovely diminuendo into the mouth-watering finish. The tannins give a little astringency if you keep the wine in your mouth, but if you ‘just drink’, the word that comes into my mind is ‘luxurious’. Young but very drinkable. I [....]

The last Bourgogne for a few days, and very tasty it was too! 2008 Sylvain Pataille, Bourgogne Le Chapitre Medium-plus colour. The nose initially reminds me of the 2009 with a hint of cola, but this is relatively transient as a beautifully smooth and dark fruit comes to the fore. Quite round in the mouth but it’s understatedly concentrated whilst displaying an equally understated acidity. Long and mineral this is a wine that does everything without fuss but with great aplomb. Cut from the same cloth as the 2009, and certainly another wine to wait for… Rebuy – Yes

Almost worked my way through the few 09 Bourgognes at home… This wine is a clear standout from the perspective of everything in the glass, though surprisingly it is still ‘pipped’ by the Bellene for absolute drinkability today – like the wine of Sylvain Pataille, this begs cellar time. Actually this really should be the clear standout; Cuvée ‘L’ is the code for the combination of the lees (at bottling time) of all C-G’s reds; villages, premiers and grands crus which is left in tank for a good few months more to settle out the fine lees. You would be forgiven for thinking (blind) that this could be a (slightly anonymous?) premier cru… 2009 Camille-Giroud, Bourgogne Cuvée L Medium-plus colour. Ooh, depth, silky fruit and [....]