Only just bottled. Medium colour. Very red fruited with a creamy depth. The width and intensity belies the not so intense colour – again it is very red fruit. The finish has less width than the 2009 but it holds very well.
Ardhuy
2006 Ardhuy Beaune Les Champs Pimont
2005 Ardhuy Vosne-Romanée Les Chaumes
Deeply coloured. The nose has dark, brambly fruit and plenty of spicy, herbal aspects. In the mouth the acidity has become a little forward though far from overwhelming. A lovely borderline ripe flavour that has a hint of mint to go with its piercingly long finish – there’s added depth through the mid-palate. Rather smooth, this is very good now – even if it’s on its ’sleeptime downslope’. Very-much enjoyed.
2007 Ardhuy Beaune Les Teurons Blanc
2007 Ardhuy Ladoix Les Rognets Blanc
Vines that are surrounded villages vines on one side, Corton on another, Corton-Charlemagne on the third, and the woods at the top of the hill. Another tasteful blend of ripe fruit and higher-toned, more citrus notes. Good ‘cut’ – seems nicely incisive – very good concentration and even an element of dry extract. A slowly lingering finish. I was going to say ‘pretty’, but it’s much more than that…
2007 Ardhuy Beaune Les Champs Pimont
Medium colour. The nose shows a little ‘brown sugar’ oak (Carel – “the oak is Alliers; more for aromatic character than structure”) over finer red berry aromas. Good fat, but the acidity is very well judged. The tannin stands a little proud, but the wine was only bottled the previous week. It finishes very well, and with only a trace of oak character.
2007 Ardhuy Vosne-Romanée Les Chaumes
About one third whole clusters used for this wine. Medium, medium-plus colour. The aromas are less intense than the Beaune, but they are more round and much more complex, slowly they take on more focus and a redder colour. In the mouth this is complex and exciting with an intense spine. The finish shows a little oak, but it’s a long finish.
2005 Ardhuy Pommard Les Fremiers
Medium, medium-plus cherry-red. The nose is pregnant with dark oak and soft spice, quite sweet but avoiding toast and only hinting at vanilla – all this covering black cherry and berry notes. The palate is concentrated without fat, intense in the mid-palate, and with acidity that pushes the finish quite some way. The fruit has dark oaky elements for the first minutes, but the tannins are completely buried. I’d leave this a couple of years to lessen the oak-derived aromas, but it is a medium-weight, complex and rather cultured Pommard.
2005 Ardhuy Vosne-Romanée Les Chaumes
Medium cherry-red. You are greeted by wide, concentrated and bright nose, faintly alcoholic with red and black fruit and a gradually developing creamy background – perhaps a hint of green pepper is the only clue to ‘vosne’. Lovely texture and concentration, the tannins are completely enveloped by the ripe fruit, but enough freshness remains. A slow diminuendo of a finish rolling on with the acidity. At the right price, this is an easy rebuy.