For a few years now the Tastevinage have made a ‘selection’ of the best wines selected from the wines presented for tasting in the year – obviously here from the 2023 tasting season – and this selection, again chosen blind – is the result of 785 wines presented during the year.

At this presentation on Thursday evening I didn’t taste blind but I found a great selection – bar one – and I’ve no idea how that wine made it through!!

The wines for you, first reds:

2021 Bertagna, Vougeot 1er Clos de la Perriere
Smoky, silky, strawberry nose. Silky, sinuous delicious wine – yes! What great texture here. Bravo.

2021 Moillard, Marsannay
A stronger width of red fruit, this nose suggesting a little structure. Silky, beautiful texture again, darker fruited than the Vougeot. Ultra-classy wine.

2020 Patriarche, Auxey-Duresses 1er Les Grands Champs
Lots of colour. Dark and concentrated but sleek fruit. Again, so silky – the common theme in this selection is clear!

2021 Moillard, Mercurey
Powdery style to this dark red fruit. So silky, right at the end showing a hint more tannin – but zltra-sophisticated villages wine

2020 Simmonet-Febvre, Irancy Paradis
Versus all the previous wines, there’s energy in this aroma but quite some herbed, gentian complexity too – far from my favourite. Hmm here is pyrazine – beautiful texture again, and super balance – but for me, flawed…

2020 Patriarche, Monthelie 1er Les Barbières
Power, darker red fruit – a good nose. Mouth-filling, plenty of sweeping flavour – clean structure – no astringency to the structure though with some attractive bitters still present in the finish. That?s really top – bravo!

2020 Ponsard-Chevalier, Santenay Les Charmes
Almost a gooseberry accent to creamy red fruit – yes! Wide, ultra silky again the tannin slowly rising from to the surface – but still velvet. Hard to believe that this is just a villages Santenay – bravo!

2022 Albert Bichot Bourgogne Pinot Noir Origines
A pretty, airy nose of attractive, lite red fruit. Wow 60,000 bottles for this super-silky wine with, slowly, easily fading flavour – Very elegant wine and great for the label, no doubt.

2021 Manuel Olivier, Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Cailles
Not a large nose but pure attractive red fruit – it’s an invitation. Mouth-filling, framed with micro-grain tannin. Delicious wine.

2019 Patriarche, Clos de Vougeot
It seems rarer and rarer to see grand crus in the Tastevinage tastings – maybe this didn’t have a lot of competition in its class?
Hmm – there’s a creamy oak in this fresh width – but only an appealing accent. Fluid, broad, the tannin rising making this a little more velour in texture but beautifully intense and only faintly drying. Just fluid, mouth-watering delicious wine but still with the required structure – maybe I expect a bit more depth for CV but this is clearly excellent.

And Les Whites:

2020 Château de Rully, Rully
Lots of concentrated, ripe citrus but still energetically inviting aromas. Silky, sweetness of ripe, almost exotic fruit. But what a broad and delicious flavour profile in the finish – worthy!

2020 Joseph Drouhin, St.Romain
Lots of extra freshness – airy and inviting. Hmm, just a mm of comfort to this delicious wine, slightly generous and finish fine and saline – properly wonderful with a little zesty finishing style.

Veuve Ambal, Cremant Brut
Small plum – mirabelle – nose but with direct and fresh backing. Ooh next level in the mouth – that’s completely delicious!!