I bet no-one’s ever said that before!
Info on the wires: Grace & Foggy
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Entries from 2010
offer of the day – Henri Boillot 2009s
In brackets are the 2008 price and even the 2007 price from the same offer where available.
DOMAINE HENRI BOILLOT – millésime 2009 (Subscription)
VILLAGES BLANCS 2009
BOURGOGNE Chardonnay 75cl 22.00 (22.00) Swiss Francs
CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET 75cl 39.50 (40.00)
MEURSAULT 75cl 42.00 (42.00 2008) (54.00 2007)
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET 75cl 44.00 (45.00 2008) (56.00 2007)
PREMIERS CRUS BLANCS 2009
CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET Les Embrazées 75cl 59.50 (59.00)
MEURSAULT Les Charmes 75cl 69.50 (68.00 2008) (85.00 2007)
MEURSAULT Les Perrières 75cl 85.00 (78.00 2008) (95.00 2007)
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Clos de La Mouchère 75cl 72.00 (72.00 2008) (89.50 2009)
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Caillerets 75cl 79.00 (78.00 2008) (89.50 2009)
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Pucelles 75cl 79.00 (78.00 2008) (99.00 2007)
GRANDS CRUS BLANCS 2009
CORTON CHARLEMAGNE 75cl 109.00 (109.50 2008) (149.00 2007)
CRIOTS BATARD MONTRACHET 75cl 178.00 (175.00 2008) (215.00 2007)
BIENVENUES BATARD MONTRACHET 75cl 199.00 (209.50 2008) (249.00 2007)
BATARD MONTRACHET 75cl 259.00 (269.50 2008) (295.00 2007)
MONTRACHET 75cl 429.00 (449.00 2008) (499.00 2007)
PREMIERS CRUS ROUGES 2009
SAVIGNY-LES-BEAUNE Les Lavières 75cl 39.50 (42.00)
BEAUNE Clos du Roi 75cl 48.00 (49.00 2008) (59.50 2007)
VOLNAY Les Fremiets 75cl 59.00 (60.00 2008) (75.00 2007)
VOLNAY Les Caillerets 75cl 69.00 (69.80 2008) (79.00 2007)
GRANDS CRUS ROUGES 2009
CLOS DE VOUGEOT 75cl 109.00 (99.80)
CHAMBERTIN 75cl 159.00 (159.00)
BONNES MARES 75cl 168.00 (165.00)
Mixed messages. Whites – certainly at the top-end – are down on 2008 prices. At the high-end it is the reverse case for the reds. This is probably in-line with the respective qualities of vintages i.e. an average red being better in 09 whereas and average white being better in 2008….
Lastly, I will leave you with a story about concrete eggs 😉
nada…
It’s all tumble-weed around here at the moment – the shock and surprise at finally finishing typing the Summer report meant that my body decided it was a good time to catch a cold! Probably just as well, as aided by neighbours and friends I only seem to have left one bottle each of the Gambal 06 | 07 | 08 bourgognes – now how did that happen? – I’m not planning to go back until harvest too. Quel cauchemar!!
Clearly no drinking around here for a a few days, so first, maybe a little Beaujolais 2009, then maybe you can learn something about Burgundy from Jamie Goode and his barking dog!
2007 chambolle les bussières – l&a lignier
I typed the last few sentences of the summer report while sipping on this. There’s no slacking here!
2007 L&A Lignier, Chambolle-Musigny Les Bussières
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose doesn’t have much width, but from top to bottom there’s plenty of depth with high floral tones and deeper dark red/black cherry in the basement, slowly a creamy width starts to fill out the nose. Silky texture, the flesh of the fruit is successfully hiding much of the acidity, then comes a really nice cream-edged fruit – this is very good. I’d drink it sooner or very much later, in-between I suspect the acidity might dominate for a few years. Enjoyed a lot today…
Rebuy – Yes
fourrier 2004 chambolle-musigny
2004 Fourrier, Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles-Vignes
Medium-plus colour. The nose shows herbal hints of mint and a faint cedar, but it’s hard to say if it’s part of the the 04 character, whatever, it’s on a very low level, overall a liitle floral and not too dense, eventually it delivers a nice acid cherry aroma. Fresh, with just a little astringency to the tannin. There is just enough sweetness to carry what would otherwise be mouth-puckering acidity. Not quite as clunky as the Clos St.Jacques currently shows and the good fruit flavour comes through well in the finish. Almost good.
Rebuy – Maybe
1976 tortochot gevrey-chambertin clos des corvées
I’m a little slow mentioning this – it’s about 2 weeks ago that I opened it in Beaune with friends. The 1990 and 1985 had so thoroughly impressed this year that I though I wouldn’t be too unhappy if this was a failure….
1976 Tortochot, Gevrey-Chambertin Clos des Corvées
It was twilight and we were outside, but the colour seemed medium – maybe a little more. On the nose, just like the 1990 and 1985 this was very nice indeed; just a little more baked fruit but fresh, clean and very moreish. In the mouth I initially thought the acidity was too spiky, but 15 minutes later it and I were more in harmony – still the acidity was slightly in advance but nothing to complain about, particularly given that it is a village wine approaching it’s 35th birthday. There was sweetness and no undue tannin. Almost certainly passed its best (unlike the 1985) but it certainly isn’t falling off a cliff either.
Rebuy – Maybe
I also opened a second bottle of the 1986 Confuron-Cotetidot Clos de Vougeot – but sadly it was corked…
ardea sealed: 2008 chézeaux/ponsot chambolle-musigny les charmes
Only one issue with this wine; the ‘cork’ really did need the strength of Samson to remove, at least with the chosen tool – the generally reliable L’Atelier du Vin lever corkscrew (pictured). 80 year-olds probably need not apply…
2008 des Chézeaux (Ponsot), Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Charmes
Ardea sealed. Shiny, bright medium-plus colour. The nose starts a little disjointed, then 5 minutes later – wow! Faintly vanilla-cream tinged very dark red fruit, maybe a little blue-skinned and certainly a little fresh peach with cream – the nose has an almost satin shimmer. In the mouth this has a smooth, slightly narrow entry before spreading wide and panoramic across the tongue. Beautiful balance with a depth of fruit that creeps up on you. Incredibly long and with completely buried tannin. Even as a big fan of Charmes I would have to call this ‘benchmark’ as the flavour stains your tongue. Charmes delivered with the focus and clarity that (maybe, only) 2008 can bring – wonderful.
Rebuy – Yes
New Zealand’s Rippon Pinot Noir Has Burgundy Pedigree
Nick Mills, who had picked up French in travels to France as a child with his winegrower father, Rolfe Mills, returned to Burgundy after a short-lived, injury-ending career as a world-class snow skier. He started as a cellar rat at Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron, and stayed in Burgundy from 1998 to 2002, studying enology and viticulture in Beaune and working at some of Burgundy’s most celebrated domaines including Nicolas Potel, de la Vougeraie, and de la Romanee-Conti. Upon urgings from his mother in 2002, he returned to Rippon on the shores of Lake Wanaka in Central Otago, where some of the oldest Pinot Noir vines (some dating to 1985) in New Zealand are located.
80% of the Rippon vineyard is planted on its own roots and is not irrigated. The clones are Pommard, Lincoln, 10/2 and 10/5. The vines at Rippon have always been farmed organically, but upon Nick’s return, the entire property was converted to biodynamie, a philosophy that Nick passionately adheres to.
For the first time in the winery’s history, four separate Pinot Noirs were crafted from the 2008 vintage to better reflect the voice of the property. The Rippon Jeunesse Young Vine Pinot Noir is from grapes that are not considered mature enough to communicate fully all the complexities of the site. It is a pure expression of Pinot Noir, a spirited voice of Pinot Noir grown at Rippon, rather than the voice of the land from which it came. The second bottling is the Rippon Mature Vine Pinot Noir made from fully developed vines. Rippon Emma’s Block Mature Vine Pinot Noir is from a unique parcel located on the lake front. The fourth wine, Rippon Tinkers Field Pinot Noir, is from another unique block with ancient coarse schist gravelly soil and is home to the oldest vines on the property.
All the 2008 Rippon Pinot Noirs are stunning wines. How has Rippon achieved winemaking success? Take the latitude, the metamorphic schist-based soils rich in foliated mica and quartzite, the proximity of the Main Divide of mountains, Lake Wanake’s thermal mass, 50 years of empirical observation and understanding, established vines that accurately reflect their site, biodynamic farming, and a highly skilled Burgundy-trained winemaker in Nick Mills.
2008 Rippon Tinker’s Field Mature Vine Lake Wanaka Central Otago Pinot Noir
13.0% alc., pH 3.60, $92 (US). 40% whole cluster. Aged 10 months in 35% new to 4-year-old French oak barrels. Racked after MLF and allowed a second winter in neutral barrels (a total of 17 months in barrel). Unfined and unfiltered. The wine smells of the outdoors with scents of wooded forest and wet leaves, as well as darkly colored berry jam, with a hint of oak. Very tasty attack of dark cherry and berry fruit and cherry skin flavors with a subtle earthiness. Moderately rich, with fine grain polished tannins, a welcoming tug of acidity, and impressive persistence on the bold finish. The wine glides across the palate with a dreamy silkiness. Hard to put this wine into words: suffice it to say you know it when you experience it. Great later in the day after opening predicting age ability. A New Zealand old vine Pinot Noir epiphany.
Read more: http://www.princeofpinot.com/article/918/
laurent ponsot’s new ‘plastic corks’…
So here we have (potentially) progress in Côte de Nuits Grand Cru seals – Olivier Leflaive has already used them for a year or two in the Côte de Beaune. I retain that hint of caveat as regards ‘progress’ because there are no 20, 30, 40+ year-old bottles to deliver proof-positive. That said, what we definitely have is no corked or oxidised bottles or otherwise ‘off’ aromas that are derived from the seal, we should also have absolute consistency between bottles – at least ones from the same cellar!
Life is not plain sailing, however, use a standard style (right) corkscrew and the worm finds its way in more easily than with cork – though an extra push (or maybe that should be ‘pull’) of pressure is required to get the seal moving. With the lever corkscrew you probably won’t pierce through the base of the seal either, so you can effectively re-seal the bottle with a minimum of effort – though I found that you need the corkscrew a second time. That was the good part. The bad part is if you mainly use a ‘Screwpull’ – it pierces through the base so won’t get a ‘real’ seal if you re-seal – and that of-course presupposes that you got the seal from the worm of your screwpull – not that easy! The cork ‘spins’ a little when you try to extract too.
I didn’t try an ah-so…!
Anyway, well done Laurent Ponsot for doing everything in his power to deliver his wines in their best condition. Here’s what he thinks of his ‘Ardea’.