Despite the weight of their bottles and the quality of the packaging, for years I’ve found the wines of Domaine Jacques Prieur far from the brightest pennies in the box, but sufficient people have told me to take another look that it’s perhaps time to try a bottle or two…
2005 Jacques Prieur, Beaune 1er Greves
Medium-plus colour, with flashes of purple. A super, super young nose of faint, creamy creme brulée over dark, almost jellied fruit – it’s rather exciting. In the mouth it’s superbly intense, balanced by gushing, but super acidity. The one down-side (for me) is that the dominant flavours are mainly dark, bitter-chocolate oak. Certainly plenty of power, and the lingering flavours end with fruit rather than oak, so I expect time will suck up most of the wood – if not all those toasted flavours – it might (one day) even taste like Beaune! I’m quite impressed by the gusto here and may add a couple to the cellar.
Rebuy – Yes

2005 Bertagna, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Les Dames Huguettes 
Medium, medium-plus cherry red. Frankly I don’t like the nose – it’s quite forward, but it’s mainly the bubble-gum notes of a less than satisfying Beaujolais. In the mouth the acidity is quite bright and the flavours are metallic. As it stands, it’s a big NO! I have to give it a chance, so most waits for day 2:  Another day and the bubble-gum is on a slightly lower order, but aromatically the wine is far from interesting.  Perhaps not so metallic tasting, but the acidity remains very tart – I don’t mind high acidity, but this is tart high acidity.  If represenative (and why shouldn’t it be?) a startling failure for the vintage.
Rebuy – No

My last Potel (99 Volnay 1er Mitans) was horribly corked so it would be hard not to improve! Very highly rated by Perry Mason from barrel, this is a wine that has been sullen virtually since release – every couple of years I pull one out for a test, the last was about the best showing. So…
1997 Nicolas Potel, Volnay 
Quite deeply coloured ruby-red and starting to gain a shade of amber at the rim. Wide, slightly ethereal aromatics with a submerged but dense core of darker fruit – very interesting. The full palate shows plenty of fine background tannin that’s edged with a little bitterness. There’s just enough acidity and the flavour lingers very well, hinting to cream – there was a slightly green cedary phase but then it was gone. A very fine 97 and a better drink than the d’Angerville 99 from yesterday.
Rebuy – Yes (at 97 prices!)

1999 Marquis d’Angerville, Volnay 1er Fremiet
Medium, medium-plus ruby-red core. The nose is dense, and just now will win no prizes for elegance – heavy plum notes dominate a nice dark confiture. Intense and nicely fresh, more mature flavours and a lingering liquid length. Tannin is only found if you roll the wine around in your mouth – it has some grain, but it’s rather anonymous. I finished every drop, but it’s far from in a lovable place today.
Rebuy – Maybe

2005 Heresztyn, Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes
Medium, medium-plus cherry-red colour. Width and dark cherry fruit with faint white pepper and a softer, warmer core. The palate has a soft texture, currently rather bright acidity but a very nice depth of fruit in the mid-palate and finish. It’s another 2005 that’s not an easy drink right now, but the quality behind will eventually repay the wait – though I expect it won’t be short wait.
Rebuy – Yes