nice wine – now i feel so bad…

27.11.2009billn

lejeune_bourgogne

Yesterday evening I opened the first from a 12-pack of this wine, it had two specific attributes that contributed to my purchase of a full case; first it was a decently priced bourgogne from the 05 vintage which I could use as a bellwether to judge maturation of the vintage, but second, and a much sexier reason, it was in pretty 50cl bottles!

For years I’ve kept a half-bottle limit to daily wine exploits – of-course gatherings are allowed to surmount that total – but if drinking alone, 50cl seems a still tolerable stretch, and, when drinking in tandem there’s still enough for a decent glass each! I suppose though, I should carefully consider the ramifications of this increased uptake; am I now inevitably on the road to purgatory, to be found rolling, groaning in the gutter, to be cast out by neighbours and friends as I become abusive and violent to all? – clearly there is quite enough Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes in the world to facilitate that course…

Apart from the occasional navel-gazing, in reality I leave discussion of the relative merits of alcohol consumption to the knee-jerk self-publicists (politicians) and those ‘in the business’ who cannot help but to instinctively react with their own knees. Decanter currently have two stories on this; first the plan to introduce a minimum price for alcohol in Scotland – despite this politicians’ photo opportunity, this is probably, on reflection, a good thing. Very cheap ‘alcopops’ that taste only like cola i.e. attempting to hide their ethanol-based roots, should have some reasonable barrier to entry, simply because they are targeted to a customer segment that doesn’t like the taste of alcohol, i.e. kids. Whereas, the Wine and Spirit Trade Association would have you believe that the Scottish government is ‘penalising Scottish businesses and consumers with its new Alcohol Bill – while doing little to challenge the main causes of alcohol abuse’. Hmm, probably complete nonsense!

Life is no easier across the water in the cradle of European fine wine where ‘a new pro-wine lobby with a budget of some €2m has been created to counter the effects of the French government’s ‘vilifying’ of wine”, as a ‘move against the ‘prohibitionist agenda ravaging France’. Really? Well what does that actually mean? Pierre-Henry Gagey tells us that ‘We are sick and tired of government vilifying wine’ in this respect he has a point. The current French administration appears to grab at every new medical report that shows a negative result when referenced to wine intake, without a balanced acceptance of those studies that run counter to the negatives. BIVB director André Segala told decanter.com ‘Our global objective is to stop a strong reduction in consumption [of wine] which follows in part by the “prohibitionist” agenda which has been ravaging France in the last few years and give wine its proper place in French society, of course with a message to drink in moderation.’ Ah moderation, of-course 😉 But is that global or France?

Anyway, my guilt in finishing the whole of this (50cl!) is only compounded by that fact that I enjoyed it… 😉

2005 Domaine Lejeune, Bourgogne
Medium-plus colour. Open, dark-red fruit aromas, faint iron. A palate that seems somehow a little attenuated (filtered?) and lacking a little gloss/brightness, yet there is good density, balance and flavour and there are no hard edges or angles – it is far from a chore to take the next sip. Reasonably open and still primary. A wine that is close to villages Pommard quality from many other vintages.
Rebuy – Yes

Leave a Reply to Ole MartinCancel reply

There are 3 responses to “nice wine – now i feel so bad…”

  1. Phil Eaves27th November 2009 at 4:21 pmPermalinkReply

    50 cl bottles whatever next ? your on the road to ruin young man !

  2. David Dudley-Jones30th November 2009 at 8:20 pmPermalinkReply

    These guys also have two very stylish self-catering bedsits (one above the other) right in the heart of Beaune if anyone’s interested. Pretty reasonable too from memory. No 50cls but there was a half-bottle of Lejeune Pommard 1er on arrival which was a nice touch…

  3. Ole Martin3rd December 2009 at 8:18 pmPermalinkReply

    One should cultivate a palate so fine that one will not be able to afford alcoholism. With Burgundy a favourite, and in public employment, I think I’m safe!

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