A mixed bag from okay to great – the ‘okay‘ was probably self-inflicted 🙂

2000 Sylvie Spielmann, Riesling Bergheim
Darker yellow colour but with a classic maturing riesling nose – no petrol but lots of complexity. In the mouth, it is almost a youngster but with lots of width to the flavours on the palate. My only critique on this day was that the flavour was a little too dry – I was missing some succulence, which could have been my palate that day but it didn’t stop me taking a third glass 😉 And – hey! – it’s a more than 20-year-old ‘villages’ riesling in great shape!
Rebuy – Maybe

2020 Alain Geoffroy, Chablis 1er Fourchaume
I’d already put this in the freezer for a quick chill when my wife said – ‘no, let’s have the riesling.’ So I forgot about the Chablis! 2 days later – oops – what’s this(?) Of course, I didn’t need a cork-screw but I did need an hour in a warm room before I could pour anything out of the bottle 🙂
I’d clearly done a good job of ‘cold stabilisation‘ as this wine had thrown out a fine white sand of tartrate crystals. But what of the wine itself? Well, unlike my last 2020 1er from here, which was not showing any of the vintage pyrazines – this clearly was. Both on the nose and the palate. The flavours were a bit jumbled – I guess a couple of days in a freezer and having ejected your cork will do that to you!
Not a wine to make any kind of decision on!

2008 David Clark, Bourgogne Pinot Noir Au Pelson
My last bottle of this was opened in Chablis with friends at the start of this year – and it was disappointingly oxidative and ‘old.’ This was singing – broad, well textured, with a depth of flavour and none of acid-induced ‘sleekness’ of many 2008s. This was a great 2008 for the label. A good cork so back on form!
Rebuy – Yes

2021 Pierre Vincent Girardin, Bourgogne Chardonnay Éclat de Calcaire
Drunk in a restaurant. We actually ordered his villages Meursault which has the same cuvée name and only noticed the mistake as the cork came out of the neck – not a problem – we saved some €€€!
Ooh, If I had to nail my colours to the mast, blind, I’d have said a very fine 2021 Chablis 1er Cru! Complex, energetic, sherbet and yellow citrus. I was going to be the driver so only had the single, small, glass – but this wine made a simply great impression. I’m going to have to try (very hard) to visit and taste his 2022s at the end of this year!
Rebuy – Yes

And the rumour?
Well, it’s not really a rumour as far as I can tell. It seems that Jean-Pierre Cournut of the Château de la Maltroye has already made his last wines. This year, I’m told, all his crop is being bought and divided by PYCM and PVG – it was the above wine that reminded me 😉 It’s almost certain that Monsieur Cournut won’t be returning to his vats next year and nobody seems to think that another generation of the family have any interest in the vines – so – watch this space. For the moment I assume the acquisition of the grapes by PYCM and PVG to be opportunistic, rather than with long-term aspirations – but let’s see!

There are more ‘rumours’ too – maybe I’ll trickle them out. One that I previously introduced you to seems now to be a done deal – the sale of Domaine Monthelie Douhairet Porcheret to the (relatively new) team of Château de la Commaraine…