Visitors at home on Sunday, and given that I already had some bottles ready for opening and two were from an ‘easier’ vintage to taste – 1997 – I went that route.

First, Pavolet’s Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Les Dominodes . Warm, inviting, now starting to develop some chocolate flavours and aromas, no awkward edges. This wine has really entered its early plateau of maturity – it will clearly hold for another 10+ years. Super.

To follow, Cathiard’s Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Malconsorts . This was altogether a different kettle of fish. I’ve had some lovely open and friendly bottles from this case, but this wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t unfriendly, rather it was uncommunicative. Clearly cut from the same vintage cloth as the Pavelot, but tighter in all aspects – no plateau of maturity here. A little more intense in the mid-palate, but as a pure object of pleasure, bettered by the Pavelot today.

Both eminently drinkable, but it makes me laugh when so many people by-pass Savigny – more for me I suppose…

2007 Long-Depaquit, Chablis 1er Les Vaillons
Pale greeny-yellow. The nose is a faint biscuit with a wider white blossom impression above, and is edged with a just enough citrus bite – just over the hour mark, the traditional salty impression of the sea-shore begins to poke through. Smooth, mineral acidity, slightly savoury impressions and this is really very long for a 1er cru. Genuine (not fruit-driven), great value Chablis, of the wiry and intense variety.
Rebuy – Yes

This wine was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous on release. I would go as far as to say, that until the 2005 vintage it was easily one of the tastiest villages wines I’ve ever had the good fortune to buy. It wasn’t, however, all plain-sailing for my selection of 2001 Fourriers; my first Petits Vougeots was reductive and sullen – not great – though my recent bottle was a more-than pleasant surprise. Three years ago there was a disappointing Gruenchers that was volatile and not so pleasant – an aberration I thought.

Earlier this year an American winemaker and burgundy enthusiast started to publish notes suggesting that his 2001 Fourriers were all turning volatile and needed to be drunk-up. I did of-course have the Gruenchers episode, but despite being sceptical, opened a second Petits Vougeot – and it was okay, much better than may opening bottle. Further poor notes prompted me to open this wine:

2001 Fourrier, Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles-Vignes
Medium colour. High-toned, slight pickle aroma over a meatier base. The acidity is to the fore and like the nose, it’s not the finest type, it has a balsamic aspect. Whilst the acidity dominates, there are hints of what this wine was, and what it could have been – a long, long old-vine creaminess. It retains some drinkability, but that drinking window is almost closed. Day two it’s certainly better. the volatile element mainly gone – but that’s the nature of volatility 😉
Rebuy – No

Claude Kolm reports the following:

Domaine Fourrier 2001s.Some people have reported random bad results with Jean-Marie Fourrier’s 2001s. I asked him about it and he requested that I post the following: He is aware that people have reported problems and believes that because of the random nature, it must be due to one of his cork suppliers. That cork supplier is Spanish and the name FS appear on the corks. Assuming that is reason, Jean-Marie thinks some bottles will still be good and some others in the same case not. Jean-Marie lost his business in the south of France because one cork supplier he’d been buying from since 1999. 2001 in the south of France was his first vintage and very quickly it appeared that there was some variation among bottles, resulting in an unsalable vintage. He thought he was okay in Burgundy until now. He based his confidence on the fact that the corks in Burgundy were barely treated with peroxide, but he now thinks some bottles may have received more treatment than others, resulting in VA in those bottles. Since the 2002 vintage he has changed his supplier and hasn’t stopped since in his search the best cork possible. He currently is using untreated corks from an artisanal producer in Corsica. For the reasons above, he recommends that people drink the wines soon and to accept his deepest apology.

The Chambolle above did indeed bear the FS mark. Checking my NoteFinder, I see 11 notes for 2001s from Fourrier, 2 negative ones, but only one of those was volatile. There are two more notes to add, the good Petits Vougeots and this flawed Chambolle. 10 good bottles from 13 is one way to look at it. I only need to decide whether I should open my two remaining bottles – both Griotte.

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

My first Clos du Chapitre, bought from the shop of the co-op Cave des Hautes Côtes just south of the Beaune periphique for €26.99. Seigneurs de Bligny is a brand/label of the ‘Caves’. This wine, in theory, is a monopole but there’s no such designation on the label – I asked someone at the ‘Caves’ and they said ‘we used to have monopole on the label, but now we’re not allowed!’ I suppose I’ll have to ask around to find out why. The coop is also one of the biggest owners of the next-door 1er cru of Craipillots which they sell for the same price – I thought I’d first try some of the ‘Chapitre’ first before returning…

2006 Seigneurs de Bligny, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos du Chapitre
Medium cherry-red colour. The nose starts very unimpressively – burnt-rubber oak is the dominant aroma. 20 minutes in the glass and things are beginning to improve; a little smokiness a little nutmeg spice and high-toned fruit that becomes redder and redder and overlays the toasty oak. The first taste was as disappointing as the nose – muddy, oaky, dirty dishwater flavours. In tandem with the mist lifting from the nose, 20-30 minutes wait delivers a wine of transparency, elegant acidity, definite length, if far from stunning concentration or intensity – the tannin is on a low level with velvet-style texture and no astringency. Time in the glass adds lots of interest and dilutes the dirty dishwater flavour that comes from the oak – eventually I couldn’t taste it at all. For my taste this is far from a great 1er cru, and really doesn’t seem to offer much Gevrey character – I don’t know if it shows Clos du Chapitre character! – but it’s balanced and eventually very tasty with a nice sweetness to the fruit. Given the price, it shows reasonable value, but do decant!
Rebuy – Maybe

2004 Jadot, Volnay 1er Clos des Chênes
Medium, medium-pale colour. The nose was largely absent for the first few minutes, only a slightly dense impression. Slowly it opens, eventually delivering wide, high-toned perfume that is clearly edged with the 2004 character – but here it’s character, rather than the oppression it delivers in many other wines. In the mouth this is very Jadot in its fine but narrow impression, born on super acidity – like so many ‘neither young nor mature’ wines from this producer. Fine, without power or intensity, yet there is subtlety and lovely delivery. For my own taste, this wine is as close as I can get to recommending, despite its obvious vintage character.
Rebuy – Maybe

PS A virtual prize for anyone who guesses the book (the author is excluded!)