1998 Dominique Laurent, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos St.Jacques
Medium colour – a hint of salmon pink at the rim. There is a little tilled earth and a wealth of warm and eventually sharp red berries. Initially I though a suggestion of cigarette ash too, but it was transient and replaced with violets, more time brings a little dried leaf. The palate is silky-smooth, softly balanced and still betrays a suggestion of the vintage tannin – but only a suggestion. The flavours build in the mid-palate rather in the manner of a decent Lambrays vintage -subtle yet still impressive – behind remains a depth of dark, oak derived flavour but at this stage of maturity I can deal with it, even if I find it slightly distracting. Overall this is a really great Clos St.Jacques – really great! The next bottle in 3-5 years.
Rebuy – Yes

One quote from Jasper’s new book:

There is little as satisfying as a really fine bottle of Meursault in its second decade.

So I though – ‘why not?’

1993 Joseph Voillot, Meursault 1er Les Cras
Medium, medium-plus golden. There are few black bits floating in the bottle, but they sink without problem. The nose is a blast of matchstick – I guess a bit more sulfur in those days! – underpinned with a soft spice-bread note. The palate is very 1993, taught, wiry, intense and with very good acidity – add that to the usual minerality of Cras and you have quite a combination. The flavours also seem to have plenty of the matchstick aromas and there is a super extra creamy dimension as you head into a decent, more savoury finish. Not a Meursault to wallow in, this one ‘instructs’.
Rebuy – Yes

2007 David Clark, Morey St.Denis Les Porroux
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is a lovely mix of dark berries and cherries, a suggestion of reduction but nothing like his bourgognes. Width, softly textured and super balance. There is a lovely sweetness to the dark fruit and it lingers very well in the finish. There’s even a suggestion of tannin in the mid-palate too – a surprise considering the ‘light-but-nice’ poise of the domaine’s 2006. This is a very, very above average 2007. Super – really!
Rebuy – Yes

I know Jamie’s not a big fan of lenticels (!) but this one has no problems. The cuvée Lees is a blend of the lees of all the domaine’s red wines – Maranges, Chambertin etc. – so can only be a bourgogne. I think that 2007 was the first time they did this. Given the late malos and bottling of the 08s I think that this has been in bottle less than a month, clearly you need a long time for the fine lees to settle!

2008 Camille Giroud, Bourgogne Cuvée Lees
Stood up in the cellar for 4 days before opening – it wasn’t enough to make the wine shiny bright. Medium, medium-plus colour, The nose has a wild young-wine freshness and immediacy, given an hour or so there is a direct and perfect raspberry note. In the mouth this is wide, very complex, sweet and cushioned. The acidity has a a bit of a leading edge of sharpness (perhaps exacerbated by the suspended material?) but the padding largely covers it. Good length and very tasty right now, in fact in the right circumstances you might be forgiven for thinking it a much higher AOC. This bottle found many friends…
Rebuy – Yes (and I did)

2004 Fourrier, Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles-Vignes
Medium-plus colour. The nose starts a little, inky and earthy with plenty of background reduction – the reduction is a minor flavour component too – it neads to aerate a little, so I decant. An hour later and there’s a higher-toned red fruit note, faint alcohol too but the reduction is gone. The last drops have a lovely redcurrant lift. Decent impact, perhaps a little monolithic like some other Fourrier 04s, but the lingering flavours and the overall balance are very good. I don’t discern any vintage character, but I have the impression I’d probably rather drink a majority now than leave them all in the cellar.
Rebuy – Maybe