Saturday was lovely, but it was mainly overcast on Sunday – the vines still looking good though:
Quite an important announcement I think – at a time with very few transactions:
http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/Burgundy-Wine-Producer-Maison-Champy-Sold
Advini are also the owners of Domaine Laroche in Chablis – and frankly, despite their ‘factory size’ Laroche have been making outstanding wines for a few years now. Smaller Champy will have much to benefit from, I think…
Returning to my ‘very few transactions’ comment. Burgundy pricing, including land prices are at historic highs, so Advini must have paid a very good (high!) price for this entry into the Côte d’Or. It seems that they have a lot of confidence!
And here is the press-release from Advini:
Bâtard
An on/off rain day today. Today is also the start of my visits to taste 2015s – as usual, commencing with ‘mainly white’ domaines. Today taking in a little Puligny and Santenay, with obligatory photo-stops along the way…
Believe it or not, on Sunday, there was no wine…
But Saturday allowed me to finish the 2002 Engel and the 2001 Clos de Tart, plus open the de Vogüé and the Mugnier. The Engel held up perfectly (stoppered and left at about 15°C overnight), and the Clos de Tart was just a little more yielding than on Friday – a beautiful wine but one for the ages – don’t return for at least 5 years! The Musigny was simply gorgeous, showing big aromas but given its sweetness of fruit and the lack of any hard edges, you might think a great 97 rather than a 98. The Mugnier was simply a great wine – for many years the Fuées has been my favourite wine from this domaine – and this 2005 did nothing to change that thought. You probably all know that I consider the epicentre of 2005’s outrageous quality to be Chambolle – and this wine certainly exudes greatness. The Engel is so different and ethereal, I can’t begin to compare it to the density of the 2005, but this Fuées bested the 98 Musigny, despite me savouring every drop of that 98!
From a merchant in Switzerland, today – and even a discount for buying 3 at a time – some of the wines, anyway!
Don’t cases of 12 now sound so 20th century?
Bourgogne Cuvée de Noble Souche 2014, 32.00/bt, 3 bts 27.20/bt (CHF)
Marsannay Les Longeroies 2014, 41.00/bt, 3 bts 34.85/bt
Fixin, Vieilles Vignes 2014, 46.00/bt, 3 bts 39.10/bt
Gevrey-Chambertin Mes Cinq Terroirs 2014, 65.00/bt, 3 bts 55.25/bt
Gevrey-Chambertin Champonnet 1er Cru 2014, 114.00
Gevrey-Chambertin Les Champeaux 1er Cru 2014, 124.00
Chambolle-Musigny Aux Beaux Bruns 1er Cru 2014, 124.00
Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux St-Jacques 1er Cru 2014, 135.00
Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 2014, 250.00
The Noble Souche is a great Bourgogne, indeed simply a great wine, but the argument about buying it reminds me of the case of the (Domaine) Leflaive Bourgogne; the price of this wine is so high, that its peer group is not other Bourgognes, rather village Gevrey-Chambertins…
Thursday rained nearly all day, Friday was mainly wet too – but Saturday gave us the chance to walk for the best part of 4 hours around Beaune, and through its vines to Pommard, and (of-course) all the way back again. Some nice bottles were waiting at home for us, but until then, the views were to drink-in too…
I stopped counting a long time ago – but it seems that last Friday was my birthday – it was also our domaine’s Paulée, to celebrate the end of our 2016 harvest – now how’s that for planning? Actually there are still three tanks to be dug out, but by Monday, or Tuesday, all will be safely put to bed in either tank or barrel.
As Paulées go, this was a very modest affair – indeed, only 8 bottles for 8 people – but there was nothing modest about the wines.
Champagne 1 – a little apple-y and a lot tasty. Champagne 2 was more muscular and intense – tightly wound and fabulous – as it should be. White 1 was Camille Giroud’s 2011 Meursault Charmes, big, bold and impressive – despite the fat, balanced and expressive. Lots of petrol on white 2, and a fabulous open-ended and creamy finish – yum! White 3 was tasty but without reference points – it was basically exactly the same when finished on Saturday night! Red 1 turned out to be Camille Giroud’s 2005 Chapelle-Chambertin – massive aromatics, impressive, tightly wound and complex flavours – bravo – a red version of the Crystal! Red 2 was filigree, complex, fresh, more complex, superb wine – simply exquisite. Red wine 3 was young, a hint diffuse on the nose (though Brillat-Savarin brought out a beautiful beacon of fruit) likewise in the mouth this was young and still showing some oaky structure to go with the impressive density – again the BS shaved off the sharp edges and helped with the focus – easily the youngest of the reds but still number 3 in terms of drinkability today…
And this year’s team:
You are using an outdated browser. Please update your browser to view this website correctly: https://browsehappy.com/;
