Entries from 2026

A weekend wine – or two!

By billn on June 01, 2026 #degustation

JJ Archambaud Vosne-RomanĂŠe

The 2019 Champagne? Well, pinot meunier is not my favourite, maybe thanks to that, there were some high-toned esters I didn’t like – but what a wine! Powerful, intense and very long with a strong salinity. This was absolutely a wine that had to be drunk – none left for day two – and also a wine I might consider buying 😉

2022 JJ Archambaud, Vosne-RomanĂŠe Aux RĂŠas
Lots of colour. Still a cherry-purple rim. A deep and concentrated nose, unfortunately with quite a lot of creamy oak today – that’s not unfortunate for the future, but my bottle is open today! Wide, intense, a first texture that’s silky but slowly adds some bitters too. Saline, ultra-wide finishing. This is a powerful wine but clearly a bit too young for drinking (with pleasure) today…
Rebuy – Maybe

The last 10 days in the CĂ´tes…

By billn on May 27, 2026 #vintage 2026

Well, didn’t that weather change quickly !!

A week ago, we were barely seeing 20°C and the heating in my apartment in Beaune was working to keep a steady 20°C. This week it’s been wall-to-wall 33°C – and at least for the first half of the week, humid too – I now have 26°C in my apartment – and that’s without my heating!

I spotted my first flowers – of course, in the chardonnay – on the 14th of May. That’s the earliest I’ve ever personally seen flowers. It’s always in a wind-shaded but sunny-reflective part of a Meursault 1er Cru. That was, of course, an outlier, but by now we are into mid-flowering in pinot and quite some way through the chardonnay flowering phase.

The weather is ideal for flowering, just a light breeze and over 30°C – all should be finishing in the next few days before the weather changes, cooling and becoming wet – all of which could be true by the middle of next week.

In the CĂ´te d’Or, things are looking very bright after two small volume vintages…

Two weekend 1999s?

By billn on May 18, 2026 #degustation

Dodgy cork(s)
Two 1999s – currently one of my favourite vintages, but not for these two! Both have been stored in the same corner of the cellar for many years. Every wine will be different, and mainly due to the quality of their corks:

1999 Camille Giroud, Bourgogne En CrĂŞots
A wine-saturated cork, though I only broke the first cm. The cork itself smells of oxidised wine – but for older wines (usually 30 years older!) – that’s often the case for a wine-saturated cork, and it doesn’t mean that the wine will be the same.
Medium, medium-plus colour – and no cloudiness. No, there’s hardly any oxidation. Unfortunately, there’s a bit of brett. Direct, silky, plenty of acidity, but also an interesting depth of flavour with a slight accent of oxidation, but no flavour of brett. Long, quite direct and intense finishing. Holding impressively long, a metallic, blood-iron type of flavour, still with some subtle bitters – but no tannic grain. This was potentially a bit of a brute for the first few (15?) years of its life, but it seems quite drinkable – and with a better cork, this would probably be a super Bourgogne.
Rebuy – No but with a better cork, probably.

1999 Michel Gay, Beaune 1er Les Toussaints
What a great cork! Just 2mm of colour from wine ingress – and it comes out in one piece too!
The basic colour is similar to that of the Giroud, but here it’s cloudy and with plenty of sediment that hasn’t settled in 48 hours of ‘uprightness.’ To add to the cloudiness, there’s a pervasive note of brett – really as much as I’ve smelled in a wine for a long time – DNPIM*
Rebuy – No

*Do Not Put In Mouth !!

Auctions done and to come…

By billn on May 17, 2026 #the market

La RomanĂŠe 1865Three sales – 2 for roughly similar values – but each for way less than a single bottle of RomanĂŠe-Conti 1945. The middle of these three for quite a bit more…
Image right from the Auctioneer, Baghera

Done – Andrew Lloyd Weber, ÂŁ500,000:
Andrew Lloyd Webber sold his wine cellar ‘treasures‘ for charity.

Hosted by Christie’s, this sale was to benefit the provision of musical instruments in schools. There was also a strong sub-text to this sale, in that Lloyd Webber has spoken about how he became an alcoholic, so in the end, the joy that he found in collecting and drinking his ‘Beaunes’ had a sad end – though not so for the schools who will benefit.

This sale raised £517,910 for The Music in Secondary Schools Trust (MiSST), Christie’s said.

Also done – Baghera – nearly 2 million Swiss Francs:
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Baghera/Wines held two auctions in Geneva on May 10, 2026, presented under the catalogues KIPLING #15 Prelude and KIPLING #16 Heartbeat.
Including a bottle of La RomanĂŠe 1865 from Bouchard Père & Fils, which achieved CHF 122,000 from two weekend sales that totalled CHF 1’948’183:

TOTAL KIPLING 15 Prelude: CHF 1’378’467 achieved
TOTAL KIPLING 16 Heartbeat: CHF 569’716 achieved

Not quite done – Laurent Ponsot, €500,000:
Haute Couture Burgundy, In Never Released Large Formats.‘ This online sale by Sotheby’s opened for bidding on the 15th of May and will close on the 29th of May.

202 lots are being auctioned, each coming directly from his winery, with vintages starting from when he founded his new operation, with his son, in 2017. Not all of the wines included in the sale are grand cru, but they are certainly well represented here, with Bonnes Mares, Chambertin, Clos de Saint Denis, Clos de Vougeot, Échezeaux, Montrachet, Bâtard Montrachet and Corton Charlemagne…

Weekend wines – chilled(?)

By billn on May 11, 2026 #degustation

Last week I was in Chablis – not too cold and not too wet. Unfortunately, the refrigerator in my chambre d’hĂ´te was set way too cold !! So cold, in fact, that two of my bottles froze in there!

The Leroy – the last of a case of 12 – almost lost its cork completely. Truth be told, it was of no loss as the wine was completely corked – yuk – but it was the only bad wine from this case. The Bonnes-Mares fared much better – it was delicious…

It was not the only wine though:

2022 de Moor, Chablis 1er Montmains – delicious, slightly apple fruit aroma as always at this domaine – but a wine of concentration and fruit6 but also of minerality and ‘place!’
2022 Vincent Dauvissat, Chablis 1er Fourneaux – a new wine here since 2021, lost for a couple of years but returning in 2025. A subtle aromatic ripeness of fruit, but a wine of architecture and minerality – it’s a Dauvissat !!
1998 Fougeray de Beauclair, Bonnes-Mares – A fine, robust cork That survived the wine being frozen! Medium colour. Complex and ‘ready’ aromas. Not the power – or tannin – of its youth. But delicious, complex, almost easy drinking…
2021 Alain Geoffroy, Chablis 1er Beauroy (Mag) – Deep but fresh citrus! Open, deliciously energetic and complex, with a little salinity too. A crowd-pleaser !!
2013 Château Mopulin Ă  Vent, Moulin Ă  Vent Croix des VĂŠrillats (Mag) – A beautiful depth of complex, slightly spiced aromas – plenty of attractive development here too. Easy-going, delicious wine – not ultra complex but delicious, easy drinking…

Winners of the 2026 Hautes-CĂ´tes Wine Excellence Awards…

By billn on May 04, 2026 #degustation

Hautes-Cotes-2026
On Friday, April 24, the 2026 Excellence Awards tasting for the Bourgogne Hautes-CĂ´tes de Beaune and Bourgogne Hautes-CĂ´tes de Nuits wines was held in Beaune. For over 70 years, this tasting has brought together the best wines produced in the high-altitude vineyards of these two regional appellations.

In 2026, 101 cuvĂŠes were tasted by a panel of 31 judges. 13 cuvĂŠes from the Hautes-CĂ´tes de Beaune received awards, and 20 from the Hautes-CĂ´tes de Nuits. That’s too high a percentage for them all to be ‘Great Wines’ but I’d expect these wines to be very good/delicious examples of pinot noir and chardonnay with accessible pricing in the context of burgundy wines…

The 2026 winners follow below…

**Press Release | April 2026**

The 2026 Excellence Awards in Figures

101 cuvĂŠes were presented in 2026:
Bourgogne Hautes-CĂ´tes de Beaune: 54
Bourgogne Hautes-CĂ´tes de Nuits: 47

33 cuvĂŠes received the 2026 Excellence Award:
Bourgogne Hautes-CĂ´tes de Beaune: 13 wines, including 7 whites and 6 reds
Bourgogne Hautes-CĂ´tes de Nuits: 20 wines, including 9 whites and 11 reds

The 2026 Tasting, Award-Winning Wines

DOMAINE BERGER RIVE – MANOIR DE MERCEY
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Beaune, Au Paradis, rouge, 2024
DOMAINE BORIS CHAMPY
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Beaune, Montagne 382, blanc, 2024
DOMAINE CARRE REGAZZONI
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Beaune, Champ de la foire, rouge, 2024
CHÂTEAU DE LABORDE
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Beaune, En Cuillery, rouge, 2024
VINS COUDURIER JUNG
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Beaune, Notre Marie, blanc, 2023
DOMAINE DE LA COZANNE
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Beaune, Le Ban, blanc, 2023
DOMAINE CRUCHANDEAU
Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits, Les Valançons, rouge, 2024
Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits, Les Valançons, rouge, 2022
DOMAINE GUY ET YVAN DUFOULEUR
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, Les Dames Huguettes, rouge, 2024
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, La RĂŠserve de Cyprien, rouge, 2023
DOMAINE ALAIN-MAURICE GAVIGNET
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, Les Dames Huguettes, blanc, 2024
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, Les Dames Huguettes, rouge, 2024
DOMAINE MICHEL GROS
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, Fontaine Saint Martin, blanc, 2023
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, Au Vallon, rouge, 2023
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, Fontaine Saint Martin, rouge, 2023
DOMAINE HOFFMANN JAYER
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, blanc, 2023
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, rouge, 2023
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, Rosalie, rouge, 2023
DOMAINE DU LYCÉE VITICOLE DE BEAUNE
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Beaune, Le Mont Battois, blanc, 2023
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Beaune, rouge, 2023
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Beaune, rouge, 2024
DOMAINE MONGEARD MUGNERET
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, Les Dames Huguettes, rouge, 2024
NUITON BEAUNOY CAVE DES HAUTES COTES
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, Le PrieurĂŠ, blanc, 2024
MANUEL OLIVIER
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, blanc, 2024
DOMAINE PANSIOT
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, blanc, 2025
MAISON PROSPER MAUFOUX
Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune, Domaine du Château de Saint Aubin, blanc, 2023
Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune, Domaine du Château de Saint Aubin, rouge, 2023
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, Domaine Vigne au Roy, blanc, 2023
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, Domaine Vigne au Roy, rouge, 2023
DOMAINE REGNARD
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Beaune, blanc, 2024
DOMAINE JEAN-CHARLES RION
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, Les Millottes, blanc, 2023
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits, Les Millottes, blanc, 2022
DOMAINE TRENET PÈRE ET FILS
Bourgogne Hautes CĂ´tes de Beaune, La Gascogne, blanc, 2024

A weekend deux…

By billn on May 03, 2026 #degustation

Henri & Gilles Buisson + Heritiers Lous Jadot2023 Henri & Gilles Buisson, St.Romain Sous la Velle
A great looking cork, topped with a little more than a mm of wax – a lozenge of wax…
Medium Yellow. The nose starts off biscuity and even suggests a little reduction. Wide, cool-flavoured, some density, and even a little structure. But that’s only if you’re looking, if you’re not looking, it’s just an easy, fresh flavour energy. The middle to finish bursts forward and lasts really well – but again, only if you’re looking. Mild-mannered or boisterously energetic – two faces of the same wine depending on where your attention lies 😉 – Oh, and yum!
Rebuy – Yes

1999 Heritiers Louis Jadot, Beaune 1er Clos des Ursules
The cork splits in two, but the lower part stays on the neck and comes easily out in one piece.
Plenty of colour. A round nose, with a small cushion and some floral complexity – nice. Ooh – this is a mouthful of perfume, still with a subtly rustic structural frame. It’s the flavour that pulls you in, delicious if still faintly drying from the tannin. What a baby, it’s a super wine. Clean and attractive, but it will continue to improve for another 20+ years. I’ll wait 3 or 4 more years for the next bottle – and I hope it’s more ready then, as I’ve 6 more 🙂
Rebuy – Yes

Weekend wines- a bit of Champagne included…

By billn on April 28, 2026 #degustation

Nicole Lamarche & Guillaume Marteaux

I’ve always loved Champagne but have no wish to follow the boringly well-trodden route of burgundy reviewers taking on Champagne – and, effectively, reducing their commitment to Burgundy 🙂 It’s enough that half of the (also quite expensive) bottles that I try are a little too oxidative for my taste – but this one was recommended by someone who understood my tastes and it was VERY well-chosen. This was obviously showing its pinot content – I tend to prefer blanc de blancs – and the bubbles started with some aggression – but an hour after opening, it was singing…

2023 Nicole Lamarche, Hautes CĂ´tes de Nuits
The modest colour of many from 2023. A pretty, airy quite transparent red fruit – strawberry style. The aromatic fruits has the same style in the flavours with a small cushion of creamy oak – I prefer my oak more discrete, but this is deliciously done. The aftertaste has a fine width, with plenty of earthy, cherry-stone, graphitic style – also very 2023. Just drinking beautifully already – there’s no shame in drinking this now !!
Rebuy – Yes

Burgundy Report

Translate Âť

You are using an outdated browser. Please update your browser to view this website correctly: https://browsehappy.com/;