2008 Château de Puligny-Montrachet, Puligny 1er Les Folatières
Starts deep and very faintly of baked bread, but swirl and the nose has a nice freshness and the fruit behind is high-toned and citrussy . This is a mouthful of energy and joy – blind I might have guessed it to be the 2007 (I must compare!) as the obvious richness of 2008 is hardly visible. Roll the wine around your tongue and the acidity helps develop a fine and mineral flavour – there’s no fat or excess here, just a good mineral end-note. Quite linear, mineral and with a good intensity – it’s my kind of wine, but if this is the performance of a 2008, can I handle the 2007?
Rebuy – Yes

Last week, as you will have gathered from the snowy images, was a little chilly in the Côtes, but it was a good time to get a better understanding of the whites – even though many will not be bottled until February-April 2011. I think I tasted almost 200 wines with their producers, a significant majority were white; occasionally tasting with John Gilman and Anthony Hanson along the way – it’s a busy time in the Côtes!

2009 whites. I really find (as my vintage viewpoint suggested) a wide range of data-points. Some wines are a little like 2005, full and missing a little energy, perhaps from a rather late picking(?). Vignerons in that class tell me the wines will gain energy after their ‘collage’ or fining – hmm, let’s see. Yet there are stupendous wines which can be put in a context entirely of their own; Leflaive, Lafon, Fichet and Roulot – such a shame it’s always the expensive ones!!! There are also many excellent wines that you will savour without quite reaching the nirvana of those others I just mentioned. I would say read the tasting notes – whoever you get them from.

One that I opened on my return:

2008 Lucien Muzard, Santenay 1er La Maladière
A really interesting wine. First of all, too much CO₂; I had to re-stopper the wine and give it a good shake to liberate a few litres of gas – fortunately the wine managed to stay in the bottle despite sounding like champagne as I removed the cork (the second time)! ‘Cold’ from the cellar this is focused and just a little mineral, let it warm and it gets rounder and rounder and eventually a little flabby – I chose to keep it cool with the following result: Deep aromas of fruit, some hints of reduction that quickly fade, the nose opening in tandem to offer nice dark red fruits. This is nicely supple, has good concentration and plenty of fruit padding to balance the acidity. Nice length too. This is a large but well-focused wine – just don’t let it get too warm. Very good value too.
Rebuy – Yes

One large tranche of work behind me, it’s time to play with oxidation fire – but the dice roll and this is a good, or rather, very good one. Hooray! Fair to say, however, that my happiness is tinged with the sadness of even contemplating failure with such a bottle…

2000 Bonneau du Martray, Corton-Charlemagne
The first whiff is of an oak-based toasty bread, below is a very faint baked citrus note. Very mineral, very lovely width, and even a hint of plush-ness. There is a good mid-palate intensity that intersperses lots of complexity – a faint creamy brûlée lingers in the mouth, and for quite some time. Very good length and complexity, yet, an understated, underdeveloped wine. It is possible to get more enjoyment from a bourgogne today, but with much less to contemplate. The potential for excellent if it avoids too many radicals…
Rebuy – Yes

I was a bit concerned before I even poured the wine – the cork was a nightmare to remove; welded into the neck, the second half (!) needing both ah-so and screwpull-worm in the manner of a 1970s wine – except I was having to tug more.

2001 Louis Jadot, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos St.Jacques
The nose had a slightly burning, alcoholic top-note, below is a diffuse but deep layer of red fruit, augmented by occasional leafy aromas. The palate, whilst silky smooth, only serves to move you along the conveyor to the mid-palate, there waiting for you is a shrill mid-palate that whilst intense is not all that nice. Long but bitter finishing. I remember this being much, much better last time, though admittedly that was 4 years ago. I can only assume that cork must have have been the culprit!
Rebuy – No