I wasn’t really picking on M&M in the last couple of weeks, it’s only that their bottles were close to hand. The Pillot that follows was still fabulous a couple of years ago, but not today…

2008 Paul Pillot, Chassagne-Montrachtet 1er Les Caillerets
Bottle #1: Dark colour – oops. The nose has a kind of oxidised honey aroma. The palate is flabby and not the tastiest.
Bottle #2: Similar colour but much less obviously oxidative. In the mouth there’s just a small oxidative character, but this wine retains it’s intensity of line and just sufficient interest that I take more than one glass. Day 2 this is completely dead.
Rebuy – No

2005 Lignier-Michelot, Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles Vignes
What a great wine! This needs a little aeration before the nose tends more to elegance, but this is full in the mouth, with fine texture and shows super waves of concentrated flavour in the mid-palate. It’s really still a baby, but it’s open and super-tasty. Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2006 Chenu, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Haut-Jarrons
Medium red. The nose has a similar medium red-coloured berry that’s attractive, fresh and inviting. This is also fresh and red in the mouth, with an engaging complexity – these 2006 Chenus are really showing well right now – not a hint of sous bois but complex and fresh, aided by hint of phenolic. Just really tasty, medium-bodied wine.
Rebuy – Yes

2014 Domaine Gueguen, Chablis 1er Vosgros
This wine is burly yet impressive – there are flashes of fine flavour and aroma too, but compared to the domaine’s Vaucoupin (here) this is a longer-term prospect – you should wait 2-3 years I think. This, today, and good as it still is, is simply not in the same class of deliciousness as that other wine. Still very good though!
Rebuy – Yes

2005 Mischief & Mayhem, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Champs Gain
The identical twin of the last bottle. I forced half a glass down, before the rest was disposed of.

For those with an interest, the Achaval was simply too sweet – like jam. Their 2000 Finca Altimera was much nicer at Christmas…

Following the bad 05 Caillerets, I decided to keep with a 2005 theme before the start of the weekend – with mixed results:

2005 Jomain, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Combottes
Not just deeply coloured and ‘over-the-borderline’ oxidised, it was corked too!

2005 Jomain, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Perrières
A little lighter in colour than the last wine – if not by much. The nose starts with an apple-y note, but becomes clearer and finer in the glass. A nice line of flavour with a fresh intensity for the ride. 2005s are very often a little dense, but here is enough energy and flavour complexity to overcome the density. Tasty – and drunk over 3 days (the fridge in-between) with fine stability. Yum!
Rebuy – Yes

I think I will extend the 05 exercise into next week – there’s no point keeping them if they are ‘off‘…

Well my last 2005 (Bougros) was just sooooo good, that having also found a bunch of these (2007s too!), I decided I had the right material for Wales vs Portugal…

2005 Mischief and Mayhem, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Les Caillerets
Ouf – now that’s deeply coloured… The nose rotates between states of apple cider, a vendanges tardives style and an aroma redolent of a wine from the Jura. It’s big, sweet, long and complex, with exotic fruit but with oxidative overtones too. Nothing for it – I decanted it and left it in the refrigerator for 1 hour – fortunately I had started early 😉 Early or not, this wine was completely stable – even 3 hours later, it hadn’t budged an inch. Nothing for it; where’s the cork-screw?
Rebuy – No

2008 Roty, Gevrey-Chambertin La Brunelle
The Roty starts all smoky and with a little gunpowder reduction too – slowly there’s a fine, slightly cushioned and certainly attractive fruit. Modest of weight but fleet of foot and with super delicacy to the flavour. For the football, maybe I should have taken something more ‘obvious’ and easy – this demands some attention, but in the best way…
Rebuy – Yes

I appear to have had decent luck avoiding the p.ox with most of my whites, but like Wales, tonight it wasn’t to be…

Yes, I know that we were lucky girls and boys, but 14 whites were opened and appraised (drunk!) last night in Zürich – and we were all very happy bunnies. 13x Meursault and one ‘pirate’ a Puligny! Hardly an oxidative note – save a couple that smelled of cider, but didn’t taste like that! Generally, all-round happy faces.

I’ll right it up for the report, but always good to know…

The other day, from a retailer’s sale selection, I could buy 4x Chablis Vaillons spanning the 2007-2010 vintages – so why not! Here are the first two (not an auspicious start!)…

2007 Domaine Servin, Chablis 1er Vaillons
The cork smelled fine, but what happened to the colour? – deep, almost amber. The nose hasn’t a hint of traditional ‘oxidation’ but it’s clearly there in another form; the colour and aroma are of cider, indeed not just the smell of apples, but bruised apples – there’s a little lanolin too, which you normally have to wait 15+ years for, not 5! Flavour-wise, again no sherry-style oxidation, but the bruised apple theme is a consistent one. The acidity is good and this is concentrated and silky – but clearly should have been drunk before its third birthday – probably!
Rebuy – No

What a difference a year makes – or was it the producer, or the DIAM seal, or none of the above…(?)
Interestingly, because of the cheesy reduction, I give this a bit of a Fourrier shake to see if it might help. I’d no impression of CO₂ like I often get in reds, but there was much more hidden in here – interesting how we don’t perceive that – or maybe we’ve just become accustomed to it!

2008 William Fevre, Chablis 1er Vaillons
Medium lemon yellow colour. The nose really needs a bit of time to clean up as there’s a bit of reduction and something a bit cheesy – sulfites probably – but even from the start, a vigorous swirl released pretty, citrus fruit aroma. Half an hour later, the nose is much better, though the fruit is still a little cloying. In the mouth this is lithe, just a little silky and finely transparent – don’t let it warm though as it can get blousy. Overall, nicely incisive, but the weird aroma was also a component of the flavour. Clearly in better shape than the 2007, but not particularly more drinkable. Day 2, and this is a more interesting proposition – intensity, zing and hardly any element of that odd flavour or aroma – indeed, quite nice.
Rebuy – Maybe