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1985 michel voarick pernand-vergelesses
1985 Michel Voarick, Pernand-Vergelesses What a nose; this jumps out of the glass, deep, musky, sweet, probably still plenty of dark oak – if you’d been told it was a Richebourg you wouldn’t be disappointed – not until you put it in your mouth anyway! The nose writes a cheque which the palate will never pay; there is a little fat and a nicely sweet lingering acidity that flows into the medium-plus finish. There is just a hint of tannin still and also some dimension to the mid-palate flavours. Overall this isn’t too bad but I’m left with the impression that I’m mainly sampling quercus, rather than Pernand. Fun and very much alive, if not quite my pre-eminent style-choice, yet it would be churlish of [....]
daniel rion 1995 vosne 1er beaux-monts
Plenty of new reading on my desk… Here’s a wine that I bought for a song at auction – hopefully it’s drinkable as there are 11 more in the cellar! I have a number of younger vintages (05, 07 and 09 – I must like ‘odd’ vintages!) all of which seem to me a bit more stylish than this, though I don’t know if that is down to the winemaking, the vintage or subsequent storage of the ’95. 1995 Daniel Rion, Vosne-Romanée 1er Beaux-Monts Medium-plus colour. The nose here is of just faintly roasted, spice-edged deep red fruit – not roasted enough to be off-putting but enough to be slightly sub-optimal for me – but it’s wide and involving and rather forward too. In the [....]
dubreuil-fontaine 1995 pernand 1er ile des vergelesses
1995 Dubreuil-Fontaine, Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Ile des Vergelesses Medium, medium-plus colour. Just like the 2008 of this wine there’s a hint of musky vanilla to go with a lovely red fruit. Initially there is fat and a lovely balancing acidity – nothing of the harshness of many from the vintage – quite some intensity of red, slightly sweet raspberry fruit too. I’m very impressed by how sophisticated this is. Day two and it’s still a little musky, but the vanilla is gone, it’s also starting to show something more common with other 95s; whilst there’s no rustic or harsh tannin, the intensity of the mid-palate flavour is just hinting at the stridency of others from this vintage. All I can say id drink-up and be impressed; [....]
1985 gevrey-chambertin clos saint jacques…
I’ve seen some very ordinary notes (12/20) about ‘Cave des Dauphin’ wines – that was an old Savigny – in fact that’s all I’ve seen, I’ve no info about the name. I’ve seen wines under that name from the 1950s and as late as 1989 but know nothing more. A négoce? or perhaps somebody in Switzerland or Germany who bought barrels and bottled locally? I don’t know, but a lot of 1985 Clos St.Jacques and Beaune Grèves plus 1989 Bonnes-Mares was too tempting at an auction – how bad could they be (joke!)? Well cosmetically how bad do you need? – the labels were virtually remnants. Anyway if you’ve any info, feel free to drop me a line or comment… 1985 Cave des Dauphin, Gevrey-Chambertin [....]
oldtimers…
Drank over two nights with new friends from the 2011 vendanges. The first two bottles, and particularly the second, underline the loss to the world of the concept of aged white burgundy… 1978 Bouchard Père et Fils, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Les Pucelles Golden. No hint of oxidation on the nose; there is some impact but it’s a little foursquare, hints of lanolin escaping from the glass. In the mouth – now we’re talking – good acidity and a lithe impression of restrained power. Decent length too. Belying its 33 years – this is lovely old white burgundy. 1984 Yves Boyer-Martenot, Meursault 1er Les Charmes Golden. Hmm now this also shows no oxidation and has a little spicy honey on the nose. There is less direct impact [....]
lakes and mountains…
The last days of our indian summer are forecast so what better than to show some of our 2011 vendanges team a bit of Switzerland(?) Lake Thun and the Berner Oberland. There were also two nights of quality control checks on a number of bottles – more about those tomorrow Ciao!
aoc beaujolais – still a bit of a mess…
Although Beaujolais producers have had the right label their wines Burgundy since 1937, it has long been a source of dispute between the two regions. Burgundy wine makers have been campaigning for tighter restrictions, particularly with the production of white wine. Decanter News BUrgundy and Beajolais continue their legal separation: Beaujolais (the former ‘Rhone’ part) has not counted as a ‘part’ of Burgundy for a couple of years now; yet the confusion continues. If they wanted a halfway-house, then why not (only) Bourgogne-Gamay(?) Of-course it works for the reds, but then there is still the problem of the whites… Essentially, the solution is simple; Beaujolais is part of Burgundy so can use the label Bourgogne X, or it is not part of Burgundy so will [....]
a few site updates…
I must admit that after nearly nine years, this site is getting hard to keep up with – there are many pages, begun with the best of intentions, that need maintaining. Three I finally got around to are the following: Discovering Burgundy: 10. Harvest vol. by appellation 13. A technical glossary 19. Producer links Actually that last one was more like copying, pasting and slightly tidying the list that I put together about 2004-2005 – a few things have moved on since then! If you see some new producer websites, feel free to let me know – or comment on that specific page. Thanks!
2005 potinet-ampeau volnay 1er carelles sous la chapelle
Doesn’t this wine have just the prettiest name? 2005 Potinet-Ampeau, Volnay 1er Les Carelles sous la Chapelle Deep color. The nose starts with very little, but bit-by-bit opens with fruit that’s very 05; intense, certainly ripe but still pure, uncooked fruit – it’s very nice. Mouth-filling but without obvious puffery, just intense, clean and lithe muscle. Good finish – open and captivating. Yum. Rebuy – Yes
