By billn on January 25, 2007
I had a very nice lunch in Beaune last week, and it provides me with an opportunity to give you a nice new restaurant tip and also to mention an uncommon, but tasty wine. The restaurant was called Clé de Voûte. If you enter the ring-road around Beaune from the direction of the (Lyon) auto-route, almost immediately on your right is a large antiques shop with its own small courtyard. If you have the chance, park in one of the spaces directly in front of the antiques shop – if you subsequently buy something from them, I’m sure they won’t mind – and just another door or two further-on is the restaurant. You head down the steps into a nicely converted cellar and more importantly [....]
Posted in Degustation, Rebuy - Maybe (2007), Rebuy - Yes (2007) |
By billn on January 22, 2007
Frankly I drink almost no Beaujolais – two months ago there was that glass of ‘nouveau’, okay, half a glass – well, almost half a glass… Putting aside the quality of the ‘nouveau’, it’s not for a lack of available quality that I don’t buy ‘Cru Beaujolais’, rather (for whatever reason) it’s just not in my mind while I’m handing over my credit-card details. Perhaps the merchants need to be more proactive and start listing Beaujolais with all their Burgundy offers – both ‘online’ and in print. Even the most expensive of the wines below will only retail for ~12 Euros – there is far more value here than most regional burgundies. I had the chance to taste some of the Potel-Aviron wines again this [....]
Posted in Degustation, Rebuy - Maybe (2007), Rebuy - Yes (2007) |
By billn on January 17, 2007
I bought a six-pack of this wine ‘en-primeur’ – without tasting – you can do that with a relative degree of confidence with some producers. From the first sniff I’m thinking: ‘maybe I didn’t buy enough…’ 2004 Bouchard Père et Fils, Volnay 1er Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot Medium, medium-plus cherry-red colour. From cellar temp (15°C) the nose shows several layers; high-toned jellied black fruit at the top, earthier, leathery notes in the middle and lower-down. Leave the glass for a while and it fills with cream and a faint smoke edge – mmm. The palate is quite a departure from the norm in 2004 – lots of faintly grained tannin – but there’s quite enough intensity of black-shaded fruit to match. The acidity takes a [....]
Posted in Degustation, Rebuy - Yes (2007) |
By billn on January 15, 2007
2004 Denis Bachelet, Côte de Nuits Villages Deeper coloured and a little more purple than the Ecard Savigny that preceded it. The floral nose is wide and fresh with traces of cedar and a warm and sweet, slightly creamy and smoky depth. The palate is well concentrated for the appellation, flavour-packed and just a little sweet. Fresh acidity and grainy tannin combine to make this just a little more rustic than the Savigny, but the acidity pins you down for a reasonably long finish. That 2004 cedar note is also there on the palate, but in a modest fashion. It’s not the best example of this wine from the last years, but it’s a good example and as always, it shows lots of value. Rebuy [....]
Posted in Degustation, Rebuy - Yes (2007) |
By billn on January 14, 2007
I haven’t yet looked into the minutiae of the distinction, but one man’s Jarrons seems to be another man’s Dominode – as best as I can work out (without checking) Dominode seems to be an area within Jarrons – or could it be the other way around despite Dominode being so-much the larger… This wine started quite oaky and a little flat – it wasn’t looking good, but patience paid dividends. 2004 Maurice Ecard, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Les Jarrons Medium cherry-red colour. The nose starts soft, sweet and quite oaky – though not very toasty – over one hour from opening and you have high-toned estery notes over what is frankly a super, griotte-like red fruit nose. As with the nose, some time is required before [....]
Posted in Degustation, Rebuy - Yes (2007) |
By billn on January 13, 2007
2002 Bouchard Père, Beaune 1er Beaune du Château Medium-plus cherry-red colour, no evolution of the colour yet. The nose started powdery and a little mildewy, it took over an hour in the glass to clean up and show high toned red fruits at the top and just a little blacker material below. Sweet, quite well textured and with lovely mid-palate intensity. The tannins are less grainy than many 2002′s and still reasonably well-covered. There’s plenty of good acidity to ride you through into an equally good finish – though there’s just a little finishing bitterness – this will resolve over the next 2 years. Still a relative bargain for the quality, I expect this wine will have a good long life. Rebuy – Yes
Posted in Degustation, Rebuy - Yes (2007) |
By billn on January 8, 2007
I think this might just be the first 2005 that I’ve opened at home… 2005 Joseph Drouhin, Laforet Bourgogne Chardonnay Medium yellow. The nose is sweet and high-toned with green-skinned fruit and pear. Wow – this has very good texture for the appellation and super acidity to match. The flavours are a little ‘stoney’ and mineral. There is good mid-palate intensity and a reasonable finish too. This subtly oaked wine – it’s about texture rather than flavour – this is very impressive for its label and just a little Chablis in style. Bravo. Rebuy – Yes
Posted in Degustation, Rebuy - Yes (2007) |
By billn on January 7, 2007
The last wine from this domaine for a while: Domaine Georges Mugneret, Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Chaignots Darker than the Gevrey that preceded it, and a shade lighter than the Vosne that preceded that. The nose is deep and dark, initially just a little monolithic, slowly it gives a peek of black cherry, cream, and faint coffee mixed with smoke. Seems to fill the mouth and has a super intensity to the mid-palate. Powerful and mouthwatering this shows a higher level of tannin than the Gevrey and it’s perceptibly grainier too – though certainly not misbehaved – it’s very well covered. The finish is longer with an edge of cream to the fine burst fruit. A super NSG. Rebuy – Yes Altogether more about it [....]
Posted in Degustation, Rebuy - Yes (2007) |
By billn on January 4, 2007
2004 Mugneret-Gibourg, Vosne-Romanée Quite a deep cherry-red colour. Right from opening this has a deep, forward nose that begs further sniffing; concentrated red and black cherry with just a powdery edge and an undercurrent of spice in a cinnamon/clove type of way. The palate is well-textured, concentrated and (for a village) very concentrated. The acidity is fresh but not racy and there are fine, well-covered tannins. Understated length finishes a complete village wine. Not even a hint of green – Excellent. Even on day two this has held together perfectly. A great way to start the year. Rebuy – Yes As soon as I finish this bottle (tomorrow) I will have to open up the ‘village’ Gevrey for comparison…
Posted in Degustation, Rebuy - Yes (2007) |
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