2007 Cornu, Ladoix 1er Le Bois Roussot
Medium colour. The nose has a little oaky vanilla and a mineral infused but faint red fruit. Nice soft texture backed by an oak-spiced red fruit. There’s width and complexity in the mid-plate, but the density could be better considering that this is a 1er cru. Day two and the oak is much less prominent, though the acidity is less soft. Quite nice overall – for now, decant for an hour and drink on day one.
Rebuy – Maybe
What a little gold-mine this book turned out to be!
A compact, if not quite pocket-sized, volume of around 120 pages. Published by Pitman in 1977 and reprinted (my copy) in 1978 – also signed by the author. But what of the author? – it’s the first time I’ve heard the name.
According to the introduction, Graham has a background of 25 years in the business (ITB), and whilst he indicates some work together with Pierre Maufoux of Santenay, it’s not initially clear if that is in France or the UK. About 40 pages into the book we find that he works (worked) for Laytons Wine Merchants.
The book is structured around the following sections:
Early on, Graham suggest that he’s not much of a writer, and there are a couple of ‘clunks’ in the opening pages, but then either he got into his stride or I got into mine, because it reads well and his depth of knowledge and pragmatism shines through. He does seem rather ‘suspicious’ of the trend towards domaine-bottling, but there’s an ‘old shipper’ for you 😉
Given that this was first published in 1977, we can assume the text was put together sometime 1975-1976, yet portions of that text could be culled from almost any generation:
“when Burgundy prices, even for the more ordinary wines are rising sharply and some of the cherished names are now in a price-bracket that seems beyond decency…!”
I liked the early discussion of various ‘fraternities’. We all know the Chevaliers du Tastevin and most have heard of the Piliers Chablisiens, but what about the Cousinerie de Bourgogne or the Comité de Bourgogne et l’Ordre des Grands Ducs d’Occident? There is even a hint of a Neal Martin – style observation:
[Observations on a Clos de Vougeot banquet…] “At intervals the whole company in invited to join in by singing the Ban Bouguignon, a song that consists chiefly of the syllables ‘la, la la’, with wagging of the hands held above the head and clappings”
Clearly from the text, the 1970s was a time when many smaller vine-owners came home from a ‘steady’ day-job to tend their vines – I assume a slightly better ‘living’ has been made from the vines for that last 10+ years.
Anyway, despite a good history section, this is a book worth having on the shelf as a snapshot of the 1970s, rather than for specific grower histories (there’s none of that). Some attitudes are timeless, others fit their time. I’ll leave you with a few:
[Millerandage, a term used today to sell a vintage, not-so in the 1970s] “A result of coloure, when bunches of grapes do not fully ripen, millerandage leaves only small green berries on the vine. If these bunches reach the winemaking stage, they impart a harsh and bitter flavour to the wine”
“…the sale of grapes in Burgundy by the grower to the shipper (négoce) is declining today”
“It is also alleged that the Côte de Nuits are beginning to suffer from over-fertilisation of the vineyards to force up production. My experience is not extensive enough to assess the truth of this particular anxiety. However, colour in these wines does seem to be lessening. Too many are lacking in body and, often, they do not have the rich generosity characteristic of the exceptional finesse found in the best wines.”
“Remember never to drink labels – just because the name, vintage and presentation appear great, do not automatically assume that the wine will be equally great. Always go directly to the wine – let it speak for itself. …Certainly in Burgundy the best dressed bottles often contain the dreariest wines…”
“Look out for the off-vintage, gradually learn to trust the shippers whose wines you enjoy by recording the taste impressions. It is no value to blindly follow one shipper or group of shippers because ‘you are told X is a fine shipper’. Discover for yourself – do not accept reputations that can be commercially advanced without quality. Decide for yourself, remain open-minded, be critical and be reasonable enough to change your mind with grace. After all, Burgundy is fun.”
Amen!
Within these pages, the ‘Map Resource‘ is one of most people’s favourite stopping-off points. It’s far from perfect of-course, but I cannot for a moment complain of the munificence of Kobrand for supplying me with their maps, and since way-back in 2004 too.
Those maps clearly needed a little work to be of publication quality, but c’est la vie… Clearly there were a number of gaps too, Fixin, Premeaux-Prissey, Volnay etc., but – tada! – a kind reader who wishes to remain anonymous (probably so their employer remains oblivious 😉 ) has donated a map in the same style that covers Volnay.
A big ‘thanks‘ to them – and from all of us I suspect!
Thursday last week and it’s the 09:28 train from Basel to Interlaken – and it was blue sky and sunshine – for 2010 (so far) that’s a novelty . Of-course through the long tunnel in the direction of Olten and we’re back into the more typical grey and mist of January. In-and-out of Bern station, you potentially have the most gorgeous of views; the sunlit, snow-covered alps as a backdrop – but not today – the grey is too grey. But what’s that? Hints of blue above as we stop in Thun and eventually sunshine in Interlaken. Ye-haaah! (sorry, my apologies; for a moment I forgot – I don’t whoop!)
I was heading to Mürren for my annual ‘recapturing my youth weekend’ – the Inferno Rennen – oldest and longest downhill ski-race in the world. This year only 9.6km as the run from Mürren to Lauterbrunnen doesn’t have enough snow – the full distance can be 16km. Despite the fact that this year I’m sporting longer skis and a new helmet (clearly this is the differentiator!) I quickly realise that I have no chance of a medal (less than 160% of winner’s time gets a bronze medal, less than 130% gets a silver – there is only one gold…) because the top-half of the course is a mix of black and red runs on which a normal, competently skiing mortal cannot comprehend the speed of those born(e) on skis!
Still, I had some friends in the resort and the weather was gorgeous – what’s not to love? There’s a new wine on the hotel winelist too – perfect:
2006 Albert Bichot, Volnay
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is deep and a little dark-shaded, perhaps a little dense and unyielding too- higher, floral tones flutter above. In the mouth it is round, velvet textured, with a good, slow diminuendo of flavour. The acidity smoothly keeps everything balanced and ‘together’. Structured and serious, yet currently quite drinkable – very, very good.
Rebuy – Yes
Compared to the Dubreuil-Fontaine Volnay of a few days ago, this is a little less intense but it’s also fuller and much more open to approach.
Friday afternoon – we’ve had sun all day! – I take a friend who has never before been on the Schilthorn-run, all the way through the inferno course – the Schilthorn isn’t pisted so is definitely a black run, but he only slips once – he’s a happy and proud man at the finish – me too, well done Tim!
Saturday and up to see the kamikaze racers (those afore-mentioned people born on skis) who fly down the incredibly steep Kanonnenrohr (the gun-barrel) black-run in only two turns before 4 switch-backs and a schuss to a 270° high-speed (!) turn. The fastest time is 7:31 mins for the 9.6km distance, and that’s despite 3 uphill sections on the course – well it’s 7:31 before I have a go anyway 😉 I ‘only’ need 12 mins for a medal then, ah-well, at least I have a new helmet!
A short recce of a schuss (where I fell last year!) to see how bumpy it is, followed by a liquid lunch – tomato soup and coffee – that’s living! Then back to the hotel to get changed for the race. Changed? Well, yes. Last year I succumbed to peer pressure and acquired a ski-racing suit – everyone does it, honest! – Today I am spider-man – but for ‘technical’ reasons there are no pictures, despite my wondrous physique(!) Last year a fellow competitor called me a fat ba…… when he saw I couldn’t get my back-protector under the spider-suit (he bought one the year before!), so that was an early target in training for the 2010 race. Several weeks of back-pain and a few colds meant that there was no training (jogging) over Christmas, so I settled for reverting to the 2009 target i.e. only to be able to get into the suit! What a shocker then on race-day when I managed the ‘double’. I might still be a b……, but not a fat b……! 😉
Up the cable-car to the Schilthorn with all the ‘racers’ apparently coming from your 1970’s childhood memories – given that 2 metre-plus skis are de-rigeur! Ahead of me in the queue for the starting gate is a young Swedish guy (1472), behind me a 63 year-old ‘Swiss-Racer’ (1474) and behind him a guy that looks like he’s prepared for the Winter Olympics next month (1475) – we set-off at 15 second intervals (as did 1,900 racers that day!). The start is just like the TV – 5,4,3,2,1 – break the timing contact and then try not to fall in the first 10 metres!
Despite my child-like 184cm giant slalom skis, I ride the bumps around the first gates (the ‘piste’ is very far from pisted when 1,400 people have gone before you!) then tuck into the long schuss – wow that’s fast, and I didn’t even go for the fluorinated wax! – around the corner and into the next tuck. I blast past the Swede – that felt good! Further down I blast past another couple of ‘racers’ – no-body’s passed me yet! Down to the Kannonenrohr dispatching another slow-coach and, not bad, only four turns before I get round the turn at the bottom of the Kannonenrohr – which is the first of the 4 switchbacks – I’m getting rather confident when disaster hits on switch-back 3; related to my ‘optimistic’ entry speed and angle of approach perhaps, but who put that great hump of ice in the middle of the turn? I hit it dead-centre and it stops me equally dead. Well not exactly, it throws me into the air whilst removing a ski – I bounce hard on my nice new helmet and end up 10 metres down the (very steep) slope. Bugger! I seem not to be dead, but the lost ski is way above me and the only way to get it is to remove my remaining ski. ‘Walking’ up the slope and Mr ‘1475 Winter Olympics’ zooms past. I recover the lost ski and slide back down to the other one – then ‘how to get the buggers back on on such a steep slope?’ – First the Swede gets back in front (I suspect with a contented smile), then the 63 year-old. I eventually get the skis back on by jamming a stick below them to stop them slipping away when I try to press my foot into the bindings. Ah well, onwards. I take a conservative line for the 270° turn and then head for the finish – virtually straight. I cross the line quite happy with my time – about 16:40 – despite at least 3 minutes on my arse that’s still 1:20 faster than the last time I ‘raced’ the same course in 2008 (a video of the course in 2008) – and I didn’t fall the first time around! Even without the fall I suppose I would have taken 13 minutes – so no problem – it was fun and I’m still alive.
On Sunday, nursing a sore neck, I look at the results; ‘Mr 1475 Winter Olympics’ – 8:30 mins – no way!!! Then ‘1472 The Swede’ under 12 mins and a bronze medal and ‘Mr 1474 63 year-old Swiss-Racer’, just over 12 minutes and a bronze in his class. Shit! Switch-back 3 was about 70% of the way through the course and they were all well behind me – okay Mr Winter Olympics might have caught up most of his 30 seconds deficit, but he was still behind – I had no idea that I’d lost 5 minutes or-more with my miss-hap. Perhaps it’s time to be less self-deprecating and smoke the buggers next year – my neck’s stopped hurting now 🙂
See, I knew the helmet would make the difference!
Race Pictures here
Back from a long weekend – more of that later – and two new things in my inbox that you may be interested in:
2007 Domaine Lejeune, Pommard 1er Les Argillières
Medium colour. The nose is of soft raspberry and red cherry that’s slightly soft-focus and sweet rather than sharply defined and fresh, filled out with a background of faint caramel – it’s rather pretty and very comely! Plenty of fat, late arriving tannin with a hint of astringency and a good width of mid-palate flavours. Medium-weight but above medium-interest. Understated acidity yet just enough structural ‘bite’ to keep you on your toes. This good value wine is very nice to drink now and also to improve over the next 5-10 years.
Rebuy – Yes
Vins blancs
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Combettes 75cl 69.00 Swiss francs (78.00)
MEURSAULT Perrières 75cl 98.00 (109.00)
CORTON CHARLEMAGNE 75cl 109.50 (128.00)
CHEVALIER-MONTRACHET 75cl 198.00 (219.00)
MONTRACHET 75cl 388.00 (399.00)
Vins rouges
CLOS DE VOUGEOT 75cl 99.00 (109.00)
CHAMBERTIN 75cl 149.00 (159.00)
ECHEZEAUX 75cl 158.00 (169.00)
MUSIGNY 75cl 199.00 (218.00)
The values in brackets are the prices for the 2007 offer. Less thrilling ‘discounts’ than those seen for Henri Boillot and Domaine Leflaive, but reductions all the same. For those ‘in the market’, that’s about the lowest price for Musigny around, everything else looks like ‘optimistic’ pricing…
2005 Dubreuil-Fontaine, Volnay
This is a very good value wine, not only is it well priced for a villages wine, as we now know it also contains a significant amount of 1er cru grapes from Carelle Sous Chapelle, Les Brouillards and Les Lurets. Double decanted an hour before pouring. Aromatically this is a little mute but there are fresh, high-tones of dark red fruits and fainter, high-toned floral aromas – very fine fruit – and the empty glass smells of rose petals. The last vestiges of fat are melting as the acidity starts to come to the fore – very smooth before a hint of tannin in the back-end. Certainly there’s a really nice depth of fruit with a decent length and a residual hint of sweetness, but here’s a tight wine. With the merest hint of a wince, this is drinkable today, but realistically it is already set for a 10 year-plus sleep – I think I’m lucky that I didn’t meet it earlier – otherwise I might have bought 2 cases!
Rebuy – Yes
’twas the annual weekend pilgrimage to Klosters for my pre race ‘training’.
Training consisted of a first night of 2001 Girardin, Puligny Combettes – a wine of gunflint and latent savoury oak, lean yet still balanced. The oak means that it’s not my favourite style but it pleased many around the table. It was, though, rather put in the shade by the 2006 Nicolas Potel, Criots-Bâtard Montrachet – this a replacement for the last bottle that was corked. Only in its last 20 minutes did it show any aromatic depth (it was decanted 2 hours before serving), but its supple, brooding approach and achingly long finish were enough to convince. We finished with David Clark’s 2006 Morey St.Denis Les Porroux – which was a wine of elegance and balance – very, very charming – certainly not the masculinity often seen from Morey. I think there was a St.Emilion from 2003 also… 😉
Saturday was a day of sun and also some queues at the lifts – apparently the blue-skies of the web-cams enticing the fog-bound people of Zürich from their lairs. More training in the evening – a wine tasting in a beautiful location. Sunday – no queues, but by lunchtime its snowing – only a nutter (or a good skier!) goes out in this, so by 12:00 I’m already tucking into rösti and ‘house-sausage’. A toss of the coin comes down in favour of apple küchen and cream – meringue and cream the loser. Afterwards I feign motivation and do another hour-or-so, at least managing a good ‘burn’…
For the technicians I’m on Core Downforce 184cm GS skis – admirably stable with a numpty on-board, and just as easy to turn as my older 178cm carvers – impressed!
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