Asides

week 19, 2019 – the weekend wines…

By billn on May 13, 2019 #asides

weekend wines

A weekend in Beaune – just a few things that fell to hand 😉

2017 Vaudoisey-Creusefond, Bourgogne Côte d’Or Pinot Noir
It’s far from a deep colour – though too dark for a rosé – but it’s a vibrant colour. The nose is like cordial but fresh and inviting – quite some volume of aroma for so modest a colour. Likewise in the mouth the flavour is forward, almost a crunch to the jammy fruit experience – but fresh and moreish. Gotta say, delicious if a little non-standard in style. Definitely yum!
Rebuy – Yes

2011 Alex Gambal, St.Aubin 1er Murgers Des Dents du Chien
I’ve never yet experienced an oxidised or even an advanced wine from this producer, but here is certainly some obvious age.
The colour is rather deep, and whilst there is some modest aromatic development, it’s more a nose that’s (over!) full with caramel-vanilla oak – a very sweet nose – not my favourite. Fortunately in the mouth there’s a lovely drive to this wine – very fine acidity – the wine is fresh, wide and mineral in the middle – fine – but the finish reflects the nose with a sweet caramel finish that I don’t like. It’s showing well though.
Rebuy – No

2002 Nicolas Potel, Vosne-Romanée 1er Aux Malconsorts
Plenty of depth to the colour – much more than the 2017 – but clearly there’s some age going on here. The first nose (from opening) shows a little brett, but with aeration it’s clearly volatile as it fades. The palate doesn’t show it in any overt manner; nice volume in the mouth, layers of fresh, complex, and energetic flavour – ooh that’s super. The mid-palate has excellent depth of flavour and there’s real depth and length to the finishing flavour too. Ooh this is so good – given time the nose is relatively appealing – the flavour is, however, non-stop super!
Rebuy – Maybe

mainly puligny…

By billn on May 11, 2019 #asides

Lunch in the Auberge du Vieux Vignernon, in Corpeau, followed by a ‘Potter around Puligny’ – we managed to avoid the rain too – a result! It seemed that team off-road were parked around the Place des Marronniers.
 

hallellulia – burgundy report version 6…

By billn on May 08, 2019 #asides

To those on my old, almost forgotten, mailing list, plus subscribers new and old, I’ll send out a mailshot this week – my roughly annual mailshot!

For those of you happy enough to browse just here, then here’s the news: On Friday, after 13 years of server stability and slowly growing this site, 100% self-developed (okay, 90%!) since 2002, I finally bit the bullet and got professionals to fix all my bad plumbing!

Midday on Friday (that’s European time for those further afield – plus Brexiters) this site will move to a new service provider and will change a lot. The starting point will be:

  • Wow that’s a lot faster!
  • Wow that’s a lot more stable too – no more intermittent ‘memory errors!’
  • Wow – it now displays properly on tablets and phones – which 50% and growing of you all seem to use now
  • A few subscribers will have noted instability in their subscriptions – always extra work monitoring and fixing for me – I’m led to believe that with this bleeding-edge software, that will be a thing of the past.
  • I’ll describe the design as workmanlike and pragmatic for this first (but expensive) iteration. I’ll see how it beds in and may look at a phase 2 in 6-12 months – but that will just be 80% cosmetic. Let’s see…

Hopefully you will get along okay with everything.
Bill

weekend wines – week 16 2019

By billn on April 22, 2019 #asides#degustation

A super-successful, eclectic, bunch of wines this weekend…

2017 Sylvain Pataille, Marsannay Blanc Chardonnay Rose
I’d already tasted one with him last week, but as I was leaving his cellar Sylvain thrust this unlabeled bottle into my hands – and why not! ‘Chardonnay rose’ is a mutation of chardonnay that seems to be found only in Marsannay. Sylvain Pataille noted that he had these pink grapes amongst the usual yellow-green as far back as 2002, and since then he’s decided not just to propagate this mutation, he’s also planted them at high density – 2014 was his first vintage for this cuvée.
A little roundness and silky texture to this wine – freshness and purity that not everyone manages to achieve with whites in this village – there differentiator, I think, versus ‘normal’ chardonnay, is that there is a more overt floral flavour-aroma – or as Burghound used to say ‘inner mouth perfume.’ Very easy – and delicious – wine to drink without ever seeming to be outstanding in a particular direction…
Rebuy – Yes

2005 Dubreuil-Fontaine, Volnay
As I tell you every time, there’s a lot of 1er cru juice in this wine, and as I also tell you every time – this is one of those very, very tight 2005s – since the beginning – except…
What’s this? A much more open nose than I remember ever from this cuvée. In the mouth it has the silky directness that I’ve come to expect – and almost appreciate – but for the first time, this wine is starting to widen over the palate, flavour that’s beginning to melt, offering mouth-watering deliciousness – if still in a direct form. The fruit is that supposedly classic but actually quite rare thing in Burgundy – strawberry – actually a lovely airy flavour. Easily the best outing for this wine – it’s only taken about 13 years since bottling – so far!
Rebuy – Yes

2013 Comte Liger-Belair, Vosne-Romanée Clos du Colombière
Modestly coloured. The nose and palate are very airy and have slight firework reduction – just like all the 2012s did. This is always the lighter, more airy of the Louis-Michel’s Vosnes. Open, tasty, only very slowly losing that vibration of reduction. Importantly, it’s very delicious wine – but don’t come here for impact or concentration.
Rebuy – Yes

2015 JC Bessin, Chablis 1er Fourchaume La Pièce au Comte
Of all this weekend’s wines, this takes the crown. A wine that’s intense, sparkling with personality and just so pure and complex – the vintage adding a hint of charm that’s probably still missing in the domaine’s 2014. Long, saline – but a wine that sparkles with complexity – bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2017 Alice et Olivier de Moor, Bourgogne Chitry
I’m ashamed to say, that we drank this rather quickly – so a proper tasting note is out of the question 2 days later – but the lasting impression was of a sweetly mineral wine of fine texture – delicious wine!
Rebuy – Yes

I live at 580m in Switzerland, so unsurprisingly, my vines are a week or-so behind those of the Côtes – but they are coming on:
 

tourist-board photos of poilly-sur-serein

By billn on March 21, 2019 #asides

My first time there yesterday morning – it’s nice place but there’s only one shop and no café!

There are a number of Chablis producers in the village – all but one supplying exclusively to the Chablisienne – the one that doesn’t will be in my March report!
 

tuesday, st.romain via volnay…

By billn on March 12, 2019 #asides


The tree at the top of Volnay Clos des Santenots – in full bloom!

I often get distracted whilst underway – at least when the rain stops! The almond tree in Santenots this morning was just the latest example – it didn’t make me too late for my appointment today, though.

I’ve meant to do it for years, but this morning I finally visited a tonnellerie, and not just any, but François Frères a) of St.Romain but b) of rather more global fame. More in my March report, but here’s a ‘flavour’ of my visit:
 

the last days…

By billn on December 07, 2018 #asides

Well, I’m still pumping out some domaine visit reports, adding them to my 2017 white burgundy report, whilst jogging, whilst making more visits, whilst chasing French garages, whilst picking up hire cars – all the usual stuff!

I’ve about 5-6 more reports to add to complete the full white report – by far my biggest ever with over 40 domaines and well over 600 wines. Oh, and Monday evening should see the return of the scooby – they had to import a part from Belgium – try telling that to a Swiss Subaru dealer – they will just laugh – or cry!
 

the tastevinage majors of 2018…

By billn on November 23, 2018 #asides

For this ‘award’ just twenty wines were chosen from 1,033 that were submitted to blind taste in 2018:

  • CRÉMANT DE BOURGOGNE BRUT BLANC – Maison Veuve AMBAL
  • BOURGOGNE VÉZELAY 2015 – CAVE HENRY DE VÉZELAY
  • RULLY PREMIER CRU – RABOURCÉ 2017 – DOMAINE MANIGLEY
  • CHABLIS PREMIER CRU VAILLONS 2016 – DOMAINE GUY ROBIN
  • CHABLIS PREMIER CRU VAILLON 2005 – DOMAINE DANIEL-ÉTIENNE DEFAIX
  • BOURGOGNE PINOT NOIR 2017 – MAISON ALBERT BICHOT
  • BROUILLY 2017 LES MAISONS NEUVES – DOMAINE JAMBON PÈRE & FILS
  • SANTENAY 2017 LES PRARONS – DOMAINE ROUX PÈRE & FILS
  • MARANGES 2016 – BOUCHARD AÎNÉ & FILS
  • SAVIGNY-LÈS-BEAUNE 2016 – DOMAINE JEAN-JACQUES GIRARD
  • LADOIX 2016 EN NAGET – MONOPOLE – DOMAINE MARATRAY-DUBREUIL
  • NUITS-SAINT-GEORGES 2016 – MAISON ROPITEAU
  • PERNAND-VERGELESSES PREMIER CRU LES FICHOTS 2017 – DOMAINE AURÉLIE BERTHOD
  • BEAUNE-GRÈVES PREMIER CRU 2016 – MAISON PATRIARCHE PÈRE & FILS
  • FIXIN PREMIER CRU CLOS DU CHAPITRE 2016 – BOUCHARD AÎNÉ & FILS
  • NUITS-SAINT-GEORGES PREMIER CRU LES CAILLES 2016 – MAISON PATRIARCHE PÈRE & FILS
  • VOUGEOT PREMIER CRU CLOS DE LA PERRIÈRE 2016 – DOMAINE BERTAGNA
  • CLOS-VOUGEOT GRAND CRU 2016 – DOMAINE MANUEL OLIVIER
  • CORTON-PERRIERES GRAND CRU 2015 – DOMAINE MICHEL JUILLOT
  • MAZOYÈRES-CHAMBERTIN GRAND CRU 2011 – DOMAINE TAUPENOT-MERME

vosne to the abbaye – and back!

By billn on September 24, 2018 #asides

Almost 10 degrees cooler today and with a cool wind too – it seemed perfect for lacing-up the walking shoes!

I have to say that the signposts were sometimes good, sometimes totally absent – fortunately we only once went 15 minutes in the wrong direction!
 

Burgundy Report

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