Degustation

2007 vosne 1er beaux-monts…

By billn on October 06, 2021 #degustation

2007 Daniel Rion Vosne Beaux-Monts2007 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

week 39: the last harvesting days, @louvre_lens & some wines

By billn on October 04, 2021 #degustation#travel pics#travels in burgundy 2021#vintage 2021

week 39 wines...We’ve just returned from a (necessary) week in the UK – so my harvesting this year was cut a little short – that said – my home team in Beaune still managed to finish in September, just!

The major part of the harvest was completed on Saturday (25th) and their Paulée followed on the Sunday. Their last parcel to be picked is always some vines high in Pommard – Les Vaumuriens – often 3-4 days after the rest of the harvest due to the altitude of these vines – but this year they were picked not for full maturity, rather they were picked to avoid the heavy rains that were forecast at the end of the week – 12.5° was not a bad result though and capped 10 days of harvesting for the team.

Apart from our Charlemagne that brought in 30 hl/ha, most of the rest were between 15-25 hl/ha. The Charlemagne was saved by 3 nights of using candles to counter the worst of the frost – at a cost of ~€5,000 per hectare per night – and the domaine owning just over 1/3rd of a hectare here – so that was at a cost of €5,000. Given a price of over €100 a bottle for this grand cru, that’s less than 5 cases of wine so a cost that could easily be absorbed but you can see how quickly that becomes uneconomical as the bottle price reduces.

The team were making their first ‘decuvage’ today and whilst it’s clearly a vintage where the triage was paramount, they are happy that it was done well as the latent wines taste good with no detectable taints.

Below, I include the notes of a few wines that were, mainly, drunk in the UK.

On the way back to Burgundy from the UK we decided to stop at the Louvre-Lens Museum. It more than breaks up the journey, it’s a super location – free to enter but, should you wish, you can make a donation – with a packed restaurant too which, next time, I’d like to try. The next stop was for a few plates of tapas in Chablis’ Why Not – here a bottle of Tribut from the list – more on that below. Finally, to Beaune to sleep and take in the very rainy Sunday!

1998 Guy Castagnier, Clos de la Roche
Not bright and clean but still an inspiring nose – on of purity of fruit and a decadence that implored me to drink – so I did. Deeply flavoured, beautifully fresh – just a little muddled in the long finishing flavours today. Probably to start drinking up but still with plenty of pleasure.
Rebuy – Yes

1996 Leroy SA, Bourgogne
Less depth of colour vs the Castagnier – but clean and bright – actually not so old looking. Complex, a little spice – racy red fruit too – another good aroma. In the mouth, I find unexpected concentration and depth of flavour. This is very, very good. Of course, simpler than the grand cru but with great personality and flavour. Great Bourgogne – bravo – luckily a few more remain at home!
Rebuy – Yes

2019 JC Fagot, Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles-Vignes
An impressive provenance – which I’m not allowed to reveal – that’s why JC had only one barrel – but it’s a beauty. Richly aromatic – ripe but pure – a certain impression of salinity too. In the mouth, the salinity is replaced with a slightly minty attitude to equally rich flavour – not a bruiser by any means though. Beautifully constructed wine – simply excellent.
Rebuy – Yes

2016 Laurent Tribut, Chablis
Ordered from the wine-list – and I’m a bit disappointed by this one – I suppose it serves me right for not being sufficiently adventurous as I’ve had a few of these and they have all been great. This wine, however, has a slightly apple-y hint of oxidation to it. Direct from the fridge (I took the rest home) you will barely notice until the wine starts to warm in the glass after which it’s as clear as day. Sub-standard vs all my previous great bottles.
Rebuy – No – though previous bottles were great.

2018 Château Rougeon, Bourgogne Passetoutgrains La Chapelle
Predominantly (72%) Gamay
What a simply delicious wine – from top to toe – aromatically interesting, beautifully textured, long and deliciously flavoured too. Great Passetoutgrains – bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

Some images from the week:

The 108th edition of the Tastevinage tasting

By billn on October 02, 2021 #degustation

As usual, my invitation to taste came too late for me to actually taste – but I do already have the date for the Spring tasting in March next year 🙂

This tasting was on Friday 10th September and included 411 wines assessed by 100 tasters.

136 of these wines were assessed as meriting the Tastevinage label, of which 43 wear a Bourgogne label, 48 villages, 41 premier cru and, finally, 4 grand crus – there are relatively fewer and fewer grand crus presented these days.

If you click on this link, you can find the list of successful producers and their wines.

the weekend wines – week 36 2021

By billn on September 13, 2021 #degustation

2019 Jean-Claude Lapalu, Beaujolais Villages Le Rang du Merle
A Bordeaux bottle! Late-picked grapes, ‘not much extraction’
A nose that takes some coaxing from the glass, but it is cool, complex and inviting. This is concentrated wine – very red-fruited – it’s silky wine too with only a faint accent of tannin. Very delicious. On day two, despite overnight in the fridge – there are some more developed, meaty notes – drink up and enjoy on day one!
Rebuy – Yes

2010 François Gaunoux, Meursault 1er Goutte d’Or
Freshly yellow coloured. This nose starts a little reductive, needing about 20 minutes in the glass to bring clarity and no shortage of flinty, mineral, aroma. Ooh, that’s a bit of a brute – concentrated, structural, mineral and just so young – the slightly reductive feeling never leaving the flavours. Structurally similar but the flavours seem quite different compared to when last opened – about two years ago.
Rebuy – Maybe

2010 Joseph Roty, Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire
After last week’s ‘ultra-easy’ 2010 Gevrey Brunelle I thought that I’d check in on this one.
This nose is deep, red-fruited, a little narrow and showing some obvious aromatic development – not the ultra inviting purity of fruit of the first 8-9 years. In the mouth this retains a nice shape and energy, the fruit is tasty too. But like the nose this has now lost that ravishingly beautiful combination of fruit purity and energy that commanded ‘drink me.’ I only have a couple of remaining bottles from this 12-pack and they will still be enjoyed, I just won’t wait too long!
Rebuy – Yes – but now from later vintages…

a couple of swift ones…

By billn on September 03, 2021 #degustation

a couple of swift ones...2019 Cyril Gautheron, Chablis 1er Montmains Vieilles-Vignes
One of this year’s house wines…
This has a nice stony/rocky impression to the nose with just a twist of citrus – that’s a fine invitation. In the mouth this is broad over the palate, missing some of extra ‘chiselled’ impression that it gave me at the domaine pre-bottling. This slightly fatter style than I expected doesn’t detract from the delicious flavours but it does make for a wine that doesn’t challenge me as much as I’d been looking forward to. Yum – and, of course, with a lot of time on its side…
Rebuy – Maybe

2010 Joseph Roty, Gevrey-Chambertin La Brunelle
My first from this 6-pack. Talking of not be challenged…
Medium colour – but still a young-looking colour. Round, easy red fruit on the nose – very primary. Hmm, it’s Roty and it’s Gevrey but where’s the challenge? This is round, simple and red-fruited – almost a kids’ cordial fruit style – hardly any structure, certainly silky and with a little undertow of creamy oak. Far too easy to drink! Actually, I think their 2010 BGO (and I haven’t finished my 12-pack of that yet) to be a more interesting drink at the moment. Easy but also primary, delicious but with hardly any visible structure – for this combination of producer and place I’m amazed. I hope it gains a bit of ‘oomph’ with time, as such I probably won’t return for at least 3-4 years…
Rebuy – Maybe

Barthod’s 1999 Chambolle…

By billn on August 26, 2021 #degustation

1999 Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-MusignyThe village Chambolle. Another case rescued from solitary confinement in the UK. Way back when – this was an en-primeur purchase – I don’t think I paid more than £23-24 a bottle; peanuts in a modern context but not inexpensive when you consider that Engel’s Grands Echézeaux cost £40.50 and some of Fred Esmonin’s grand crus were under £30 in the same EP campaign!

1999 Ghislaine Barthod, Chambolle-Musigny
Another nicely robust cork that needs energy to remove but comes out in one piece – hardly any ingress of wine colour along its length.
A shade more depth of colour versus the 1999 Bourgogne today – but only marginally. This nose starts both deeper and fuller – almost a velour texture to it – but any purity of fruit is lacking for the first 20 minutes after opening – slowly but surely it comes into focus though and is more floral in character than that of the 99 Bourgogne – there’s the merest, and only occasional, accent of brett too but it’s significantly below any threshold of displeasure on my part. An hour in and the nose has a bit of beef-broth going on. Ooh, that a big wine in the mouth – not seamless but powerful – full of detail and complexity. This is still a bit of a baby but with so many positive aspects. I forgive the youth because I’m too busy with the next little note of complexity that comes along. There is a bit of brett which begins to add some frustration – though all the bottles will be different. The now modest tannin still has a drying accent too but parts of this wine are beguiling. Better than a Curate’s Egg but still far from perfect.
Rebuy – Maybe

weekend 33 2021 – two bottles

By billn on August 25, 2021 #degustation

weekend 33 2021 bottles

Including another Barthod from my (previous) UK storage – there are more…

2018 Auvigue, Pouilly-Fuissé La Frérie
Cork sealed – the climat name used here.
A forward, slightly round nose – there’s fresh intent but framed with a lemon-custard impression. A wine that, like the nose, starts round but then comes to a more intense point of flavour – here at the end, along with a suggestion of salinity, before that the lemon-custard style of the nose. Delicious it is, and that’s despite a lot of flavour having an origin in the barrels.
Rebuy – Maybe

1999 Ghislaine Barthod, Bourgogne
Nearly a full case of this ‘rescued’ from the UK. Cork-sealed, still robust too.
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose starts a little tight but then bursts into action with a very high-quality, purity of, red fruit – thats very lovely and it has some depth too. Aromatically this seems rather younger than its 22 years – just adding a slightly mineral and graphitic quality with time. In the mouth, this is lithe, direct too. There’s a small fur of tannin but it’s largely bereft of dryness. I love the line and fine acidity here. The finishing flavours recollect the mineral style that became evident on the nose. Overall good sweetness yet this remains a wine of indeterminate age, drinking well despite no overt age-related sous-bois / dried leaves. Not the extra – complete – ripeness of recent vintage Bourgognes but with a clarity of fruit that is different. Lovely wine…
On day two the mineral aspects are more to the fore and there’s a little extra bitters creeping into the finish – it was finer on day 1.
Rebuy – Yes

a couple more bottles from last week…

By billn on August 24, 2021 #degustation

Whilst in the UK last week, I took the opportunity to take delivery of ‘stocks’ of wines that I’d kept in different locations. I’d anyway not visited the UK for three years so it seemed silly to keep paying storage charges for wines that I wasn’t drinking. Delivery duly received, I just had the matter of navigating the post-Brexit customs when I returned home via France. Fortunately being one of the first off the boat meant that they were not ready to ask questions as I sped home on Saturday 🙂

Here are just some thoughts on two that I opened midweek without taking any notes – spot the generic similarity of the labels:

2004 Ghislaine Barthod, Chambolle-Musigny: There’s a long and boring story behind the reason for having a case from this vintage but given that 9 bottles remained I thought I’d make a quick raincheck on how bad they could be! Though the pyrazine taint remains obvious to me, the wine is round and has good flavour too. I even took a second glass which means I liked the wine more than I expected to – clearly I wouldn’t rebuy though!

1998 Denis Mortet, Gevrey-Chambertin:
Previously, this was always a good wine aromatically spoiled by a very ashy oak treatment. There remains more than a hint of cigarette ash on the nose even at close to 25 years of age but the fruit has become rounder and the wine generally more accommodating. The ash is hardly visible in the flavours and I must say, this is rather atypically round and sweetly fruited for the vintage – the acidity is fine though – there were no obvious tannic references to the vintage either. A smooth, supple and delicious wine – only 3 or 4 remain from this case but I will be enjoying them over the next few years.
Rebuy – Yes today. Due to the aromatic oak, I know I was less positive in the wine’s first 15 years!

A Yorkshire lunch – in three acts…

By billn on August 20, 2021 #degustation

A short hop to Leeds – so a Yorkshire lunch – even if one of us didn’t have the fortune of originating from that county 🙂

(My) Lunch was French onion soup, venison Wellington and nibbling from a selection of cheeses. I can’t remember the last time I saw this soup – is it just a Paris thing? Not a large volume of food but with a few bottles to keep the three of us company it still required our attention for 4 hours!

1999 Rougeot, Meursault 1er Charmes
The label tells that this was recorked at the domaine in 2015.
Now that’s a very lovely nose, sweetly fruited but with a fine focus and just a little age-related complexity – that’s just lovely. In the mouth this is incisive but still concentrated; agile and mineral too. I’m liking the precision and minerality here – a lot! I guess that it’s my wine. Simply super wine!

2009 Comtes Lafon, Montrachet
There’s a bit more basso-profundo to this nose, still a suggestion of oak toast too, so it’s a surprise when it bursts over the palate with energy and a taut style yet is still so broad finishing. There’s a creaminess to this finish that I put down to age, rather than the barrel – I’m guessing a wine of the early 90s (93-95) – I should have taken more care with the colour! – but certainly grand cru from the breadth and length of this wonderful finish – it’s a better wine than the 1999 but not by as large a margin as the label suggests as it’s much less chiselled but given the vintage, no surprise… An absolute treat!

Served as a pair and we knew the vintage:

2006 de Montille, Volnay 1er Taillepieds
Modestly red in colour and very red-fruited too – only with time taking on some extra, saline, complexity. Round in the mouth and very accessible – deliciously accessible – though lacking any great intellectual rigour. Time in the glass showed a wine that was developing in multiple directions and becoming more complex though never losing the ‘easy’ tag for me. I guessed Cote de Beaune 1er but was surprised when the wine was revealed having always considered this cuvée to be something stricter…

2006 DRC, Grands-Echézeaux
Wow – immediately I’m thinking of fine structure and the great grand cru complexity of Cote de Nuits aroma. The first taste doesn’t disappoint either! Structural without pain, accessible but with no lack of complexity – mineral wine but without austerity. Yes it’s young and structured but it’s so drinkably delicious too, despite the authority of this performance. The minerality takes me in the direction of a top Clos de la Roche but never for a moment do I note anything of Vosne spice or the roses of whole clusters – but who cares – this is great wine!

And our last pair…

1996 Dominique Gallois, Charmes-Chambertin
The first wine I ever bought en-primeur!
Ooh – that’s also a rather good nose – of more structure and maturity than the DRC – but not by a lot. In the mouth, broad, fresh and energetic – clearly more acidity and tannin too – though never too much in either area. There are some parallels with the previous wine but that younger wine is clearly more sophisticated. Still, I’m very happy with this and the acidity tells me it’s my wine. Balanced and precise, the structural overcoat still has a few creases to iron out but for a, generally speaking, sometimes slightly bland (grand) cru – in comparison to its neighbours such as Latricières etcetera – here’s a wine with character in spades and I love it.

1997 Ponsot, Griotte-Chambertin
Here the nose is certainly redder and riper than the last – less chiselled indeed a little diffuse but with no lack of invitation. Broad, again red-fruited over the palate, almost disarmingly lush. Simply delicious wine but of this pair, give me the little extra rigour, the strictness and complexity combined in the 1996.

I’d call that a great lunch!

Burgundy Report

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