2001 Truffière (Vincent Girardin), Puligny-Montrachet 1er Les Caillerets
Medium gold. The nose majors on a residue of toasty oak and fainter gun-flint aromas. The bottle lasted under an hour, but was actually becoming less interesting with time. After the younger wines of the previous day, this is significantly more mineral and wiry framed. Good acidity and density, yet the flavours do reflect the aromas. Complex for sure but I never really warmed to it – that’s a pure style judgement, so whilst I wouldn’t buy it again for me, I certainly wouldn’t tell you not to.
Rebuy – Maybe
2006 Nicolas Potel, Criots Bâtard-Montrachet
The best young white I tasted last year, indeed in the last couple of years – expecations were positioned! Pale yellow. The aromas are very tight – the wine was too ambitiously cooled given the 30° temperatures. Some fat, but balanced and with a width on the mid-palate and finishing length that was on another level to the Caillerets – yet disappointing. Okay, if it’s too cold, I’ll encourage it to warm and open by decanting. As it warmed it put on weight, but no sign of the palate staining flavours of last year. Eventually a faint but unmistakable note appeared on the nose – cork. We actually drank it all, as it was still a better wine than the Caillerets, but what should have been a resounding bottle was merely a sombre one – bugger!
2000 Mont du Toit, Le Sommet
Coastal (Wellington) region of South Africa – from a wax-topped magnum – a blend of cabernets, merlot and shiraz. A winery we visited in 2002. Heavy dark colour, equally deep but far from heavy fruit – liqueur-esque. Smooth but still with a lick of tannin. Drained to the last drop by the crew…
Rebuy – Yes

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