This weekend. friends, food and three 2001s:

2001 Leflaive, Bourgogne   Medium-plus yellow colour. The nose had plenty of struck match and savoury elements – even intruding on the (quite) big flavours. Initially seemed a little too fat. I decanted and returned after 3 hours. Smooth interesting and fruit driven aromas, the struck match is gone and the balance is better – or maybe my palate is better! It’s a concentrated and ripe impression – high quality.
2001 Fevre Le Clos   Chalk and cheese versus the Leflaive – actually (way back when) this wine was only about 10% more expensive than the Leflaive. Sharper, finer, still quite ripe but a wine of focus and precision. If anything the Leflaive had more overt concentration, but not the intensity.
2001 Mugneret-Gibourg, Vosne-Romanée   Has a decent, dark colour. The nose is dark-fruit shaded and shows the village spicyness. In the mouth it has lost the fat and impact of it’s youth – it’s narrower and more taught. There is certainly some development of mid-palate complexity and a decent length. To drink today it’s quite okay, but reward is at least 7 or 8 years away.
For all: Rebuy – Yes

Actualy, there was also a bottle of 1995 Wolf-Blass ‘Black Label’ – not sure how that got there 😉

Always a favourite cuvée of mine, but that’s not quite enough to overcome the vintage imperfection – not yet anyway.

2004 Tollot-Beaut, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Champ-Chevery
Medium colour. A clear, if not stomach churning, vintage character, below is a deep, dark and slightly sweet fruit base. The combination of acidity and faintly astringent tannin have a not too mouth-puckering affect, and the texture is quite interesting. The fruit has just enough sweetness to deliver a level of balance.
Rebuy – No

The first from this 6-pack, bought on release.

2002 Bouchard Père et Fils, Beaune 1er Grèves l’Enfant Jesus
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is very fine; there’s latent oak that brings a little espresso macchiato into the equation but essentially it’s about a fresh, dark red fruit and occasional faint whiffs of bacon. Smooth, fresh and intense, it’s a classic middle-years wine – forward acidity and a narrow, lean complexion, but long too. This will be excellent – eventually! I won’t open another for 5 years, but I expect I’ll need to wait another five for real dividends. Super.
Rebuy – Yes

2007 Alex Gambal, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Charmes
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose shows a little savoury smokiness over a deeper, but tighter fruit core. In the mouth, your first impression is of something not entirely substantial, yet there is an extension into the the finish and width in the mid-palate that suggests much more. The acidity is very well judged and with extended aeration (say 2 hours) the palate fills out a little, demonstrating intensity and some minerality. The last third of the bottle is altogether more satisfying – but on day 2. Beautiful notes of violets round out the nose, and whilst the flavours remain quite mineral, the palate shows a hint more cushioning. Enough of an improvement to warrant buying again instead of ‘maybe’.
Rebuy – Yes