The three peaks to the left; the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau. The big (closer) one on the right is the Niesen.

I said that there would be some birthday wines – but first, today came a nice walk in the shadow of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau mountains as seen over lake Thun – not bad!

Another recipe from Tanya Grandits and a couple of decent wines too:

2016 Olivier Leflaive, Bâtard-Montrachet
This is a domaine wine. For a number of years, O Leflaive produced the better wines of the two producers of that name in Puligny, certainly from the 2006 vintage. Only from this 2016 vintage had Domaine Leflaive pulled up their bootstraps sufficiently to have at least equivalent quality. 2016, despite the wines’ frosty rarity, is one of my favourite vintages for whites – some critics, bizarrely, describe this as poor vintage, with too many ‘over-concentrated’ wines. Bullshit I say!
Still a very young colour. That’s a very good if not quite great nose – mineral, deeply white-flower-scented and accented with a little caramel – some of that depth undoubtedly coming from a slight firework reduction. Direct, mineral, concentrated and oh-so-pure flavoured. This wine opening out so impressively in the finish – a great, great finish that somehow sustains itself like a mythical perpetual-motion machine – wow! Crystalline, chiselled, with the purity of a waterfall – never for a second do you think that there is insufficient energy for the concentration on hand, never for a moment do you think ‘fat.’ Bravo – this is a grand vin for sure – drinking brilliantly but with a life that will extend to decades with this DIAM¹⁰ seal.
Rebuy – Yes

2000 Thomas-Moillard, Bonnes-Mares
I have often recounted that Bonnes-Mares can be a wine that’s a bit too brutal for me, hence, I (generally – the 2005 de Vogüé excepted!) prefer to give them a few years in the cellar. A six-pack of this wine was bought on release – this is one of the last, perhaps the last, that I have.
Deeply coloured. Oof! What a nose! So large that you have much of the detail long before your nose is in the glass: Very clean – not a hint of bret or any other unhappy signs of age, deeply impressive notes of soil, tobacco, turned leaves in an Autumn forest – and even fruit too – if rather bloody fruit! Seemless concentration in the mouth – this wine is coming into a great place for both flavour and texture. I’d like a hint more energy to really beg me to take the next glass but the flavour is just so good that I’m anyway on message. Big, big wine – grand cru wine – but also a wine that can caress!
Rebuy – Yes and who wouldn’t at the old price!

2019 Louis-Clement David-Beaupaire, Beaujolais Villages
Pale coloured – more of a heavy rosé. The nose is that attractively fecund invitation that comes with many of the natural persuasion but behind is more than a suggestion of perfume and fine fruit. The flavour is equally natural but delicious – rarely are natural wines also terroir wines and that’s certainly the case here but it’s still a fun wine. Tasty and enjoyed though I wouldn’t look to cellar it much longer…
Rebuy – Maybe

2017 Jean-Marc Vincent, Santenay 1er Les Gravières
That’s a serious looking DIAM 10 Origine seal.
Plenty of colour for a Santenay in 2017. The nose draws you in – not just a width but a depth of cherry-red fruit too. Direct, beautifully fresh for the vintage – at first silky, then a little tannin that emphasises the relative youth of this wine. A faint twist of barrel too. I very much like the shape – the architecture – of this wine but it’s elevated to the next level when coupled to such purity of flavour. No simple 2017 this, it’s a great example of what was possible in the Côte de Beaune in this vintage. Deliciously bravo despite its youth!
Rebuy – Yes

And another 2016 Beblenheim Riesling from the family Trapet of Gevrey-Chambertin – this case is now almost gone – you know that I will have to make a replacement purchase!

I last remember attacking some 1999 Clos de Vougeots some 7 years ago – they were all young but some were still drinking enjoyably. Time to try another:

1999 Jean Grivot, Clos de Vougeot
This from a cheeky half-bottle – but not such a cheeky wine! The cork is tightly in place and needs some energy to remove – it’s robust but embarrassingly short for a grand cru – 44mm – did it have a role to play in my lack of enthusiasm? Probably!
Still deeply coloured though starting to show some browning. The nose is powerful and deep – but faintly oxidative and there’s a suggestion of brett too. Mouth-filling and with a super texture despite the structural architecture of the wine – impressive but also with a modest suggestion of oxidation in the flavour. Very concentrated and a little saline. For the first glass, I remain impressed by the shape and texture but not by the grace or any of the flavours of the wine. The finish is impressively long if also lacking any semblance of deliciousness. The second glass brings no relief. On the positive side, I didn’t pay for a whole bottle of this – though presumably, those longer corks may have done a better job…
Rebuy – No

2007 Daniel Rion, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Beaux-Monts
The cork comes out relatively easily and in one piece – not a given, even with wines of such youth!
The first couple of sips leave me with the impression that this is still a bit too oaky – but I shouldn’t be too hasty – within 5 minutes of opening this is singing; aromatically complex, involving and a spiced fruit invitation to drink. Likewise, the flavours unfold with beautiful balance and captivating layers – this is really showing impressively great. Day two – no faults – no brett or anything like that – but the wine is a little more compact and certainly less involving. Tasty, very good but modest versus the greatness it showed on day one – so don’t leave any for another day 🙂
Rebuy – Yes