Last time I opened one of these – which was easily 10 years ago – it was that rare wine that was completely closed for business; in every respect you would have found more enjoyment in a Bourgogne Rouge. Let us have another try…

1996 René Engel, Grands-Echézeaux
Tending to a watery rim, but the colour remains saturated at its core. Very, very understated though deep aromas of soil, graphite and a faint spice – and you have to swirl to find those! In the mouth this wine is still a baby; it’s intense with a quickly growing base of tannin – the acidity also grows quickly, focusing the intensity, though also offering that faintly metallic aspect that is common in 96s. The mid-palate slowly leaches some sweetness of fruit onto your tongue. The flavour lasting very long in the finish. There remains high potential here, but I’m thinking the best part of another decade is needed to achieve it.
Rebuy – Yes

Back to being predictable, another red, another 1972. But one with a bit of interest attached… 😉

Charles Viénot is largely remembered as a négoce operation, but like many of today’s négoce, they also had a sizeable ownership of vines too, including vines in Richebourg. Indeed a cursory scan of this label says ‘Négociant à Premeaux par Nuits St.Georges’, but a small addition to the capsule reads that they also have the monopoly of selling the Domaine Charles Viénot wines – such as this one. The Viénot estate was wound up in the 1980s, these particular vines, planted around 1930, were bought and shared by Domaines Jean Grivot and Jean Mongeard.

1972 Charles Viénot, Richebourg
It is a rare thing for the aroma in the neck of a newly uncorked old bottle to be anything other than faintly repulsive – but here we have a gorgeous, pure wild strawberry note – how did that happen? I anyway follow my normal routine with older bottles, I clean up the neck of the bottle and pop a glass stopper in, leaving the wine for a couple of hours before pouring a measure. Clear, medium, medium-plus colour with that indeterminate older colour. The nose is just a hint more reticent than at first – darker and deeper but with a beautiful mid-tone ‘gloss’, swirling brings out a more earthy aspect. Silky smooth, the acidity slowly asserting itself – maybe with a faint hint of bitterness – but a gorgeous slowly growing climax of mid-palate flavour. Long, mineralic and earthy finishing but sweetly so. About as good a ’72 as I ever had…
Rebuy – No Chance

Having taken a quick look at my Diary pages of the last days (weeks…) I realised how boring and how predictable I’ve become. Of-course there’s a large aspect of seasonality involved, but I felt the need to make amends – so here, for the first time in a while – a white wine!!! 🙂

François Mikulski is a quietly spoken guy but one who you can very quickly build an empathy with; earnest in what he does but very, very humble about the results – more humble than the actual results deliver.

2010 François Mikulski, Meursault
A depth of slightly pear fruit and classic Meursault ginger cake. Broad, good weight and intensity – the understated acidity only really asserts itself in the lovely, mouth-watering mid-palate. This is really first-rate Meursault, there’s a little fat in the middle, but not distractingly so – just a wine that makes you happy to refill your glass.
Rebuy – Yes

I haven’t delved into my 1996s for some time – it is alleged that they are turning a corner – let’s have a look.

1996 A.-F. Gros, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Clos des Guettes
Medium-plus colour – there’s a little age to the colour but it remains quite deep. Dark aromas hinting at prunes, accented with herbs and spices – wait 2 hours and there are interesting flashes of red fruits and licorice. Clean flavours that tend towards savoury notes but there is just enough sweetness to keep me interested; fresh and intense too though the tannin is very understated. Concentrated dark fruit flavours that are quite long, but honestly(?) this is still too early to drink. This wine gives me the impression that its oak was prominent when it was younger, but it is now melting. It is a balanced, but still rather architectural wine, and probably needs another 3-5 years I expect.
Rebuy – Maybe