Truth be told, I haven’t seen any since Sunday – and that wasn’t in France!

Anyway, there was the sun in the sky this afternoon and what a beautiful red sky at sunset too! It seems the weather for hordes who will come to visit Beaune for this Hospices Auction weekend, will be fine – except for Sunday – that’s not going to be so good. Oh well! Still, it looks like beautiful weather for Beaune half-marathon on Saturday – a shame, then, that I’ll be in Bern – but a stubborn cough 3 weeks after the start of a cold (negative tested) has left my jogging shoes unworn – maybe I will get to restart this weekend.

It’s been interesting to catch up on the rumours, some new, and not yet announced changes of ownership around the côtes – maybe a note about such gossip at the weekend.

Anyway, this has been my single busiest week of visits with 21 – but I only seem to get further behind with the writing – well, the publishing anyway.

2020 is coming into focus for me now – the whites are easy but the reds have a stylistic complication. I’ll share more at the appropriate time. Anyway, importantly, I’ve so far avoided issues with the mobile speed camera parked in front of the Clos de Vougeot – unlike some of the winemakers I’ve visited. Talking of avoiding, I also avoided tasting at the Roi Chambertin today; I went but decided not to taste. The place (Tonnellerie Rousseau in Gevrey) was just what was needed – a more open and less covid-intensive set-up after last year’s cancellation – with plenty of winemakers in attendance too. Unfortunately, it was a backwards step in the tasting process – winemakers stood by a barrel with 2-3 of their wines on top – a mini Grands Jours de Bourgogne. If you want to taste seriously, you do the villages, then the 1ers and then the grands – which in this case would have meant continuously touring the barrels and never being able to taste three Corbeaux side-by-side. So I said Hi to a lot of people, ate a number of gougères and then left. You can’t win them all.

Just three visits tomorrow before heading home for the weekend. Enjoy yours, wherever that may be.

Some of this weeks snaps:

1996 Dominique Gallois, Charmes-Chambertin
The first wine I ever bought en-primeur – one of the first anyway – there was more than one wine bought in this year (December 1997!) Just 4 bottles of this were left in the cellar before opening – none of the previous has let me down – does anyone else remember when buying 12-packs of grand crus was relatively normal?
Clean, bright, medium-plus colour. This nose has an invigorating mix of darker red berry and a little graphite-style minerality – so pure, so lovelY – it’s relatively rare that wines are brett free at this age but here is one! Time even brings a little youthful floral perfume too. Sweeping lines of fresh, juicy, but also concentrated flavour. Holding a great finishing line – these vines are more than 100 years old today and you can feel the concentration – so persistent is the finish. Fresh, detailed and with a super-fine texture. Charmes is so often an also-ran grand cru – not this one. Bravo!
Rebuy – You Bet!

Nice to, eventually, have one bottle showing great at the weekend 🙂

2008 Alex Gambal, St.Aubin 1er Murgers des Dents du Chien
A little mould on top of the cork but it looks robust enough – not much of pop when it comes out though – maybe the issue here! This is the very first of multiple cases of this cuvée from most vintages 2001 to 2017 where there’s some oxidative ageing.
The nose starts faintly oxidative but with air, the oxidative note fades leaving a more cider background but also a good energy and creamy depth to the nose. Mouth-filling, lots of energy concentrated with good texture and a vibrant, creamy finish. The oxidative impression never fully leaves the palate – a performance where I’m still going to take a second glass – but not a third. Any oxidation completely removes context for me – context such as Burgundy? Or even Chardonnay! But quite tasty all the same.
Rebuy – No

2008 Camille Giroud, Bourgogne Cuvée L
A cork that easily breaks in the middle – I suppose it could be responsible for the more developed style of this wine – but probably not…
Medium colour. Some age-related development and a bit of less interesting beef-stock aroma. Very silky, very mouth-filling- I really love the energy in here. Long, mouth-watering and mineral. Truth be told, this cuvée peaked about 4-5 years ago and that was in magnum too – this is now on the downward. But no hard edges and it’s very drinkable – I opened a 2010 of this not so long ago and that’s still nicely vigorous and complex. Time to say goodby to the last couple of bottles of this one though – drinking a bit better than the Gambal today…
Rebuy – No