There were others too, but repeats of ones I’ve already posted on in the last 6 weeks or-so – then there was a night of Italian white and Australian red at friends…

2005 Domaine François Labet, Beaune 1er Coucherias
Simply a crazy-good wine – à point! The nose has a little sous-bous but mostly faintly roast, transparent red fruit of gorgeous depth and clarity. The depth and clarity are reflected in the flavours too. Fine acidity, a wine that begs you to drink it – and then drink it some more – I really don’t need to wait any longer for this, it’s great already – Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

It’s been hot – so whites it was! They could all have been better – as my old school report used to say – must try harder!

2013 Dublère, Meursault 1er Charmes
Hmm, there’s a nice aromatic volume here – classically Meursault too. In the mouth I find the wine a little tighter – there are layers and layers of flavour but it seems to me that the expression is on quite a low order. Tasty, clean, does what it says on the label, but I was waiting for a little more – I’ve had other 2013s showing similarly, so won’t be blaming the producer.
Rebuy – Maybe

2012 Alex Gambal, St.Aubin 1er Murgers des Dents du Chien
Hmm – much more reductive than the last bottle, exacerbating the oak component. Don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather have reduction than oxidation, but I love to enjoy smelling my wine and this was a little too overtly toasty-reductive. I preferred the last bottle much more.
Rebuy – Maybe

2015 Clotilde Davenne, Chablis 1er Vaucoupins
Just a deliciously fine and pure citrus nose – so inviting. Hmm, that’s a shame then, because the palate is a little hard and un-yielding – the finish is as good as the nose – both bravo – but the first flavours are hard. Give it mor time I suppose!
Rebuy – Maybe

As I sat tasting a few excellent Beaujolais last week, my tasting partner asked – fancy a P-M interlude? It wasn’t really my subject du jour but I can be a game old boy, so why not? Of-course I was expecting a gulf of difference, of elegance, of effortless excellence – but it didn’t work out like that.

Now, a number of people have accused me (to my face, so that’s fair) of being a Perrot-Minot hater – simply because I didn’t include him in my book – but there was a much simpler reason for not including the domaine: For someone writing in 2010, was I supposed to choose pre-2007 P-M or post-2007 P-M to write about? If the latter, were 2 vintages sufficient to provide a well-rounded judgement? – Of-course, no. Any followers of the domaine will know that there is a world of difference, post 2007 wines having left behind the lure of heavy extraction in the search of elegance. I think the wines are even better today than 5 or 6 years ago, admittedly they are expensive, but in the same pricing echelon as Grivot, Méo and a host of others.

So the Nuits was subdued, beautifully textured but lacking sparkle or energy. The Chambolle – despite its price – fared worse, only the finish left a great impression. We went back to our Beaujolais (in the May report) and order was restored. A funny world…