Photo: Bert Celce of wineterroirs.com.
I’ve had a few promising wines from Domaine de Suremain – like this one – so it’s nice to learn a little more, courtesy of a very tidy report in Bert Celce’s Wine Terroirs
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Entries from 2009
alex gambal 2001 les murgers des dents de chien
Alex Gambal ProfileMy cold seems to have abated and I only have to put up with a stupid cough. Unfortunately though, it meant I had to cancel 2 days of visits in the Côtes last week – still I shall be there this Friday as consolation…
I have a few of these still in the cellar, so concerns about the stability (or not) of white burgundy pushed me into taking a peek. It seems that I shouldn’t worry…
2001 Alex Gambal St.Aubin 1er, Les Murgers des Dents de Chien
The colour raises suspicious eyebrows – medium golden – but despite slightly heavy fruit aromas at first, the nose is rather clean and there’s not a trace of oxidation. A little swirling reveals rather young, mainly pineapple, fruit – a good start then. Nice texture, acidity that unobtrusively shepherds you through to the finish and a little extra mid-palate dimension. In its current adolescence the amplitude of the peaks and troughs of this wine have been squeezed a little since it was bought, but that’s what you get when talking to adolescents! Drunk over 4 consecutive nights without a hint of oxidation, and confidence renewed, I’ll wait another 5 or 6 years before taking another look.
Rebuy – Yes
06 domaine du pavillon volnay santenots
Albert Bichot Profile
This bottle tasted lovely on day one, on day 2 I’d already lost most of my taste…
2006 Domaine du Pavillon, Volnay 1er Santenots
Hmmm – interesting wine. On the first sniff there was a hint of unwelcome aldehyde, on the second it was already transformed to flower petals. Slowly the aromas took on density if not so much depth. The flavour reminded me very-much of recently drunk Santenots – but on checking I was surprised to see that my last two were both from 2005, not 2006. There is width, a smattering of faintly astringent tannin and then a lovely extra dimension of creamy red fruit in the mid-palate. Just ripe enough and nicely plump yet almost good enough acidity. This is a very lovely glass and though perhaps missing a comparative hint of intensity, can stand next a decent bottle from 2005. Based on the price I paid, and by recent standards this is a super value bottle.
Rebuy – Yes
still one piece…
Back from a ski-race weekend, and no bones broken – it wasn’t for the want of trying though! – however, spandex induced, higher-speed than anticipated, schuss errors are just part of a weekend’s fun! I would have easily achieved my target if I hadn’t had to go back 20 metres up the hill for an errant ski then trudge up the hill I should have aced – still there’s always next year…
The picture below is of some silly boys dressed in 1920’s gear who made the 9.6km downhill course (curtailed due to avalanche concerns higher up the hill) with the old wooden skis and bindings – they probably still beat me. The green man is after the day before’s ‘training’ in the mist and rain (yuk!).
Fortunately I appear to have miss-placed the pics of me in lycra…..
1920’s skiers about to race the murren 2009 inferno
very wet (the day before) murren inferno 2009
tasmanian champers and hunter valley white bordeaux
It’s a purely Australian view, but this article did more than enough to make me smile:
When I asked him why he’d changed the name of his Richmond Grove blend of chardonnay and semillon from Richmond Grove Pinot Riesling to Richmond Grove Semillon Chardonnay, he clarified the issue thus: “Pinot riesling doesn’t mean very much at all. Chardonnay’s not pinot chardonnay and I don’t think riesling in the context of pinot riesling means very much. I mean riesling is semillon and pinot is chardonnay, and we have more semillon in the wine than chardonnay, so it should be semillon chardonnay.”
notefinder updated…
Just to let you know that I’ve updated the NoteFinder database, so there’s nearly another 200 notes in there. There are now well over 300 notes each on 2005 and 2006 wines in bottle. Hope it’s useful!
I’ll be away the next couple of days, so no updates and probably not many bottles either – I shall be trying to be ‘sportif’!
2 from giroud
When typing up the notes from some domaine visits I made at the end of last year, I spied a couple of notes that slipped through the cracks of my (apparently not watertight) system. This was a ‘by chance’ tasting when I popped into Camille Giroud to say ‘hello’, only to find a group of winemakers and US ‘movers and shakers’ reaching the end of a spirited tour through the barrels. At first I declined a glass, but my resolve soon crumbled…
2004 Camille Giroud, Chambertin
Deep, initially dominated by oaky notes though they quickly fade leaving a very tight aromatic profile – needs time in the glass. In the mouth it is dense, silky and with plenty of well covered structure. Sneakily long with an edge of barrel flavour. A wine that begs a few years in bottle, but seems to have good potential. The funny thing is that the majority of Giroud 04’s that I’ve tasted don’t have much 04 taint – the ladybirds were there, I photo’d them, maybe it’s not them – but who’s complaining this wine’s lovely.
Rebuy – Yes
1976 Camille Giroud, Clos St.Denis
The nose starts like many old Girouds with that Italian ‘botti’ aroma, however, not much swirling is required to consign that to history as a frankly beautiful floral aroma fills the glass – spectacular. The taste is quite okay but cannot come close to the beauty of the nose; fat, mouth-filling, still some fine-grained tannin. No fireworks here – merely fine.
Rebuy – No Chance!
resveratol again
It seems mandatory that the word resveratol must be accompanied by hype and pseudo science in any article – particularly when seen in any of the ‘wine press’. From Chemistry and Industry Magazine is yet another optimistic vignette, but at least there is some ‘real’ science content:
“Resveratol in wine has been hailed as the elixir of youth and cure for many ailments. It occurs in the seeds and skins of grapes and has reputed anti-tumor, antioxidant and antimicrobial action. It has even allowed for a longer life.
Resveratol prolongs the lifespan of flies, mice and yeast, similar to the effects of a starvation diet, and is believed to work by promoting sirtuin, a protein that helps to repair chromosomes. This wonder polyphenol is more prominent in red wines and especially Pinot Noir.
Many effects were reported from lab studies where the chemical was applied in unnaturally high doses, and you would have to consume buckets of red Burgundy to get the same dose. But not to worry, since Sirtis, a company founded by Harvard University scientist David Sinclair, has begun testing mimics of resveratol. One of these mimics is called SRT1720 and was reported last month to protect mice on fatty diets from getting obese and to enhance their endurance on treadmills. It was lauded as the cure for ‚couch potatoes’. But such mimics are potentially suitable as drugs since they activate sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) at lower doses than resveratol.
SRT1720 tricks the body into thinking food is scarce and has to burn fat to survive. Sirtris believes resveratol mimics could potentially treat diseases such as diabetes, inflammation, cancer and heart disease. According to ceo Christoph Wesphal: ‚The body of clinical data supporting the role of SIRT1 activation as a viable mechanism for treating a broad range of diseases of metabolism and aging is growing’. The company has obviously attracted the right attention; Sirtris was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline during the summer.
Blueberries and pomegranates are good natural sources of resveratol, and it is sold in supplements derived from Japanese knotweed, though some doubt whether this source contains much active ingredient. But functional foods and drinks are another possibility. A Texan university plans to genetically modify yeast to produce the wonder compound so that beer drinkers can similarly imbibe this tonic in their favourite tipple”.
06 chablis moutonne long-depaquit + girardin 03 charlemagne
More of a tasting recollection as I’ve slept since drinking it! Medium-pale gold. The nose is classic seashore with a hint of savoury that could be an accent from a little barrel ferment. In the mouth there’s none of that blousy thing going on that some 2006’s show: it’s linear, mineral and rather savoury and also a beautiful wine with or without food – it was followed by a Girardin 2003 Corton-Charlemagne that was clearly more gregarious; richer and showing an extra dimesion in the mid-plate (good wine) yet was less successful during dinner – perhaps and hint more of acidity could have helped the Corton. I can currently buy the Moutonne at 60% the cost of the Fevre Le Clos, and about the price of a good maker’s village Puligny – a very nice and good value bottle.
Rebuy – Yes
So, for the record:
2003 Vincent Girardin, Corton-Charlemagne
Deeper yellow. The nose is dense and more obviously displays ripe fruit. In the mouth it’s well textured, even slightly oily, and suddenly widens to great effect in the mid-palate. A perfect wine for sipping alone – it just needs a little extra acidity to lift it to the next level – but finishes well.
Rebuy – Maybe