Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is a real babe – nothing masculine here – cushioned, soft with a super-elegant, yet fresh, perfume of red fruits with just a hint of something musky (dusky?) in the depth that envelopes you – forget the vintage, aromatically this is simply fabulous. Elegance might be a reasonable descriptor for the flavours too; softly textured but with depth and complexity. Fair to say that the palate cannot quite scale the same heights as the aromas but this wine simply left me purring.
2000
2000 Romanée-Conti Echézeaux
2000 Romanée-Conti Bâtard-Montrachet
The forward nose delivers a whiff of iodine over many savoury notes. Plenty of texture here, the acidity remains rather understated. Fruit seems to be of the preserved variety – some pear perhaps – that said, this is a savoury and very mineral wine which has little to do with fruit. Interesting but not a wine I would covet.
2000 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne
The first whiff is of an oak-based toasty bread, below is a very faint baked citrus note. Very mineral, very lovely width, and even a hint of plush-ness. There is a good mid-palate intensity that intersperses lots of complexity – a faint creamy brûlée lingers in the mouth, and for quite some time. Very good length and complexity, yet, an understated, underdeveloped wine. It is possible to get more enjoyment from a bourgogne today, but with much less to contemplate. The potential for excellent if it avoids too many radicals…
2000 Lambrays Clos des Lambrays
Medium, medium-pale colour. A little warmth of alcohol in the nostrils but chocolate, good stems and clean undergrowth too – it was very pretty. In the mouth there is sweetness, good balancing acidity and a tannin that just occasionally shows itself in the quite long finish. Dry stuff that description – often the problem with recollections – it doesn’t tell you that everyone around the table was oohing and ahing and saying the same word – ‘lovely’. Showing very well now but with the balance to last and last…
2000 Rousseau Armand Clos de la Roche
2000 Guyon Antonin Corton-Charlemagne
Medium straw colour. The nose shows oxidative notes, nuts and a hint of lanolin. In the mouth the texture is good – concentrated and silky – intense, dry, very well balanced, but the flavour that obscures much is an oxidative one. Drinkable – but without joy – probably opened 6-12 months too late and, if anything, was slightly worse on day 2…
2000 Guyon Antonin Corton-Charlemagne
Medium-plus golden colour. Despite the colour, there is no trace of oxidation here, rather it is forward but well integrated sweet brioche oak, behind is a good, freshly mineral base. Concentrated, silkily, waxily smooth texture. The acidity is understated and the flavours are a mix of the mineral and savoury. Very mineral finish that is also very long. This should be at it’s best in another 4 or 5 years, but it did rather on day1 – day two was even better!
2000 Vougeraie Clos de Vougeot
I wasn’t going to rush to open one of these, but given the relatively poor performance of the 2000 ‘Cras‘, I felt compelled to. Medium, medium-plus colour. Warm, ripe aromas with a hint of spice but without any loss of elegance and still a decent focus. Nicely mouth-filling, excellently textured and with understated, though sufficient, acidity. Decent depth of fruit and the faintest residue of tannin – only one complaint; there’s a hint of cola flavour that I don’t think appropriate for Clos de Vougeot. The finish is elegantly long. Neither a powerhouse nor a wine of mind-bending dimension – you might say not a great grand cru then, but this is a beautifully judged middle-weight that is in a very nice place at the moment. Most villages wines now cost more than I paid for this – I’d buy a dozen without a moment’s hesitation if I could pay the same price!