First, something of a rarity – a Ponsot 1994.

Laurent Ponsot recounted to me this week that “In 1994 most of my neighbours picked a bit too early and had grapes full of rot. Me, (he said with a smile) I picked a bit too late and also had grapes full of rot! The wines were not very good and not something I wanted to put my label on, so I sent them all for distillation.” I pointed out that the de Chézeaux Griotte of 1994 proudly proclaimed him as the producer; “Yes, it’s true. I told the Mercier family (owners of his metayage parcels) what I was doing with my wines but they refused to follow – so for their contracted share of the crop, I had to deliver the bottles.”

1994 des Chézeaux/Ponsot, Griotte-Chambertin
The colour is not bad – certainly no browning here. An intriguing nose – a suggestion of the balsamic but there was no real oxidative character – despite a cork that crumbled into pieces and did, itself, smell very sherried! Still there was a certain hardness to the aromas that couldn’t really be described as an invitation to drink. In the mouth, slightly metallic – but not blood/iron – quite mouth-filling and with balanced acidity – but still, like the nose, with a certain hardness. I drank only one glass and returned the bottle to the fridge. On day two the aromas and flavours were more relaxed – this was a very stable wine with no obvious faults and it was certainly better on day two when I could manage two glasses! Because of its scarcity, Griotte is exceptionally expensive these days but this particular bottle was worth no more than €20 – and only for the experience – so if you find one, you have been warned!
Rebuy – No

1995 Jean Grivot, Vosne-Romanée Les Bossières
The 95s and 96s of Grivot – for a long time – could only be described as monolithic wines. Despite (selling!) merchants describing new approaches and ‘wonderful clarity’ in the early 2000s. then the mid-2000s, then again in the early 2010s, etcetera, etcetera, for me it was the same-old, same-old story. Only in the last 2-3 years have I seen the stirrings of real extra clarity and accessibility in the hands of Mathilde Grivot that make me want to return to taste new vintages. But let’s return to the 95s and 96s: After years of being uninteresting, in the last couple of years I have found many of these Grivot wines to be opening and really delivering some impressive performances – at last. Memorably there was this Richebourg but others have begun to deliver too, such as a 96 Nuits Boudots at a tasting, last week, of 1996s (to come for subscribers) and this 1995 too. Note, another rather spongy cork that was never, ever, going to be released from the neck in one piece!
Medium, medium-plus colour with a very subtle browning at the rim. This nose shows a small suggestion of both caramel and spice – maybe even a little cigar – it is a good invitation to drink, having no obvious faults. In the mouth nicely – but not overly – structural with good balance and whilst still underpinned by a little tannin there is no-longer any harshness to this experience. Decent length and nicely clean finishing – another glass? I don’t mind if I do. Finally, this is very good and another stable wine – like the Ponsot – zero problems with the wine on day 2.
Rebuy – Maybe

2020 Jean Chartron, Puligny-Montrachet
A direct nose with some stone fruit that was accented with florals. Such flavour energy and a growing intensity to this flavour too – really a mouth-watering and energetic wine – tension indeed. It’s lovely – topped off with a vibrantly tasty finish. Excellent villages and very Puligny…
Rebuy – Yes

For everyone in Europe, it’s unnecessary to mention the heatwave of the moment but, for readers further afield, it’s worth mentioning the temperatures of 35-38°C. We see these temperatures for a day or two in most years (not 2021) but typically they come in the high summer of July-August – but these are record temperatures for June.

After a couple of covid years where the magnums were left untouched, we have guests again – and on a hot weekend, it was time to delve into the pile of magnums for something refreshing.

2018 Alain Geoffroy, Chablis 1er Vau-Ligneau
2018, despite its other-worldly yields, continues to offer positive surprises from Chablis – though I’m finding most Côte de Beaune whites a little bland at this stage. Here is a nose of obvious ‘northern freshness’ and a certain citrus twang – it’s a fine invitation. In the mouth, the surprises continue with fine intensity and a grapefruit and tannin style to the flavours and texture. Both delicious and interesting! Excellent wine.
Rebuy – Yes

2017 Chevrot, Bourgogne Aligoté Tilleul Mag
I loved this before bottling but the oak treatment was more generous than I like – so I ordered 6 mags but planned not to open one before it was 5 years old – here’s the first. Cork sealed. A lovely freshness of aroma – very appealing. On the palate there is direction and delicious mouth-watering flavour – still a hint of its creamy oak beginnings – but the oak is now almost in the background. Absolutely delicious young wine – a treat!
Rebuy – Yes

2017 Domaine Champy, Pernand-Vergelesses Mag
Also sealed with cork and herein came a problem. This was just fabulous at the domaine when a baby – today not. Darker colour than the Tilleul and a much more developed nose that suggested a slight oxidation. Over about 1 hour the oxidative note largely faded but the accent remained in the flavours. I’m hoping for better corks in the remaining 2 magnums – I’ve never previously noted any premature ageing with magnums but I won’t be holding onto these with the same confidence as the Chevrot…
Rebuy – No

2020 Gautheron, Chablis VV
One of my ‘house-wine’ purchases and only to note that with these warmer temperatures, the pyrazine was the most visible as for any of these 12 bottles. A shame, as the base wine is great.
Rebuy – No

I have been lacking in my ‘home bottle’ notes of recent, mainly because I’ve been drinking plenty of my ‘home’ wines – ie ones that you’ve already seen too often in these pages – but here are a few different ones:

2020 Ardhuy, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Chaumes
It was nearly the end of the week and the tasting bottles were too numerous for the domaine to do anything with – so one was thrust into my palms:
This a wine with ripe, dark-fruited, moderately spiced aromatics – and fine clarity too. A wine with ample energy despite a generous demeanour – a delicious wine. Very stable too – it drank beautifully over three evenings.
Rebuy – Yes

2017 Alex Gambal, St.Aubin 1er Murgurs des Dents du Chien
There’s still a little aromatic oak padding here but the nose is still an invitation. A wine of evident structure and fine mouth-watering flavour – but for my taste, the oak is still a little too dominant. I will return to this only in another 2-3 years – but with confidence given the DIAM seals.
Rebuy – Maybe

2012 Domaine Faiveley, Corton-Charlemagne
This was the last vintage (2012) where I long-term cellared any whites that were sealed with cork – having thrown away too many high-priced, potentially great wines, due to oxidation.
Rather a dark colour but happily no oxidation – indeed there’s more of a firework-style reduction here – and what a complexity of aroma too – not the full creaminess of an aged white – but it’s starting to appear – still with energy and plenty of ripe fruit too. In the mouth – oh yes – so complex. For the first years this was a wine that I found a little over-generous in shape and energy but today it’s taut – it has been in training – it’s a great, great wine – bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

The Château du Clos de Vougeot proposes a new ‘offer’ for the summer month where they hope to combine (in their words) culture and gastronomy.

Their summer restaurant, La Table de Léonce, is offering lunch/winetastings where the diners can sample the cuisine of the château whilst discovering various (Burgundy!) wines.

Details:
A wine-tasting with 4 wines + lunch + visit: 75€ inclusive of tax
A wine-tasting with 6 wines + lunch + visit: 105€ including tax – this offer including 2 Grand Crus
A visit in the château plus lunch with a selection of fruit juices instead of wine (let’s call this the chauffeur’s option!): 55€ including tax
There’s also a children’s menu (under 17 years): 30€ including tax
And a vegetarian menu (with the chef’s choice of in-season ingredients) but this must be ordered 24 hours in advance

By reservation, private lunches are available on any day of the week, but for a minimum 18 guests:
latable@closdevougeot.info or +33 3 80 62 86 09

I planned a tasting of 2020 Saint Romain and Saint Aubin for this week in Beaune – little did I know that growers, stressed by a lack of vineyard workers and exponential growth of their vines just now, (more on that tomorrow) had better things to do than send samples to Beaune.

It’s not just me – re samples – Decanter this week were in the same position, Bourgogne Aujourd’hui and the Revue du Vin de France too, and even the BIVB’s Cave Prestige has seen a big drop in the number of samples sent by the domaines – estimating ‘half’ the volume of samples versus previous years would be generous!

So, I clearly didn’t have enough samples to make a single report for subscribers, so I’ll simply place the tasting notes here. Still, there are three domaines that I’d be interested to follow up on and, as always, the wines were tasted blind, their identities revealed only for the camera once done:

2020 Sebastien Magnien, St.Romain Sous le Château
Cork – broke in two
A forward and broad nose – citrus skins and relatively modest creamy oak. Broad, nicely vibrant flavour here. The oak is not excessive and fills out the palate, augmenting fine citrus bitters. This is very nicely mouth-watering and could be enjoyed today, though I’d perhaps wait 2 years. This is a lovely finishing wine.

2020 Géraldine Louise, St.Romain La Périère
A personalised cork – and I like the contemporary label very much
A little extra colour. A wide, if calmer, more compact nose in other directions – airy, faintly spiced, less visible oak. A wine that goes deeper, showing riper fruit too, more generous – almost rich. Here the oak is more visible in the flavours and whilst mouth-watering and showing a little mineral character in the finish, the previous wine is much more refreshing and has the better energy today. Give this 2-3 years in the cellar to see how it opens.

2020 Château Philippe le Hardi, St.Aubin En Vesveau
DIAM10
A more stony, mineral, freshness to this nose – narrower but quite deep. Hmm – flighty, energetic, relatively direct – tension – lots of rock and citrus, only faintly of oak and faintly perfumed in the modest length finish. I love the energy here – a super wine for today’s apéro…

2020 Larue, St.Aubin 1er Sous Roche Dumay
Fortunately to pad out this tasting(!) I had a glass of this the day before! I didn’t see the seal.
That has both a width and an energy to the nose – the oak is very modest and it’s the citrus complexity that’s in command. The first impression is of a direct wine, vibrant with mineral energy – no padding. Time in the glass widens the perspective. Another wine of tension and delicious flavours. This is very good!

2020 Pierre Brisset, St.Aubin 1er Sous Roche Dumay
DIAM10 – and a second Sous Roche Dumay – not that well-known a 1er!
A fuller nose – large in the depth too – almost a richness of fruit. Belying the richness of the nose is a mouth-filling wine of lovely energy. There’s a more than interesting, almost haunting, mineral width to the finishing flavour. That’s a beautiful finish – a wine with disparate parts but a very good wine – so wait for it to come together – it could become excellent.

2020 Prosper-Maufoux, St.Aubin 1er Clos du Chateau
54mm (long!) cork and a much too heavy bottle!
Lovely – complex, airy, citrus – a little lime in the mix too – such an inviting nose. Mouth-filling – a flavour that really expands over the palate – almost fizzing as it goes. Not quite the sherbet-style of Montagny but some comparisons. A finish that rolls over the palate as it slowly unwinds. My favourite so far and a wine that should get better and better in the cellar – excellent wine.

2020 Prosper-Maufoux, St.Aubin 1er Combes au Sud
DIAM10 and a lighter bottle – so it seems that I tasted these two in the wrong order…
There are aromatic parallels with the flavours of the previous wine – sherbet energy – here backed with a modest oak component. More silky and mineral – hmm – another level of ripe but balanced concentration here. This flavour is delicious though with an ‘apple-y’ oxidative style and more visible oak – despite that, it’s an impressive finish. That’s a good wine, with very good energy too – but for drinking today – for my cellar, I’d prefer the previous wine because of the oxidiative style of this.

2019 Gautheron, Chablis 1er Montmains
One of my house wines from last year: Already coming into a great place (I might be tempted to open my 2020 Homme Mort!) with freshness and aromatic clarity – a super invitation. In the mouth, cool, all sinew and muscle – mineral freshness. A wine to drink and drink – and we did! Lovely stuff
Rebuy – Yes

2003 des Chézeaux/Berthaut, Gevery-Chambertin 1er Cru
In small-volume vintages – such as this – their Cazetiers and Lavaux are usually blended. For at least 15 years this wine has been absolutely delicious. Today, showing a small extra aromatic maturity but luscious, sweet fruit on the palate too – it just goes to show how we have become accustomed to the ripeness of modern wines – this was quite an outlier for many years – it’s now, practically, normal! On day two the last third (overnighted in the fridge) didn’t smell so nice – I didn’t finish my glass – but day one was really on top form. I think I have 3 or 4 more – I’m sure that they will all be enjoyed!
Rebuy – Yes

2016 Buisson-Charles, Chablis Vaudésir
Patrick Essa has been making a range of maison wines for a few years now. This was served blind and had a ripeness yet energy that made me think of the best producers in Mâconnais – but not Pouilly-Fuisse. There was a modestly exotic style to the fruit but a clean attack that should have reminded me that 2016 is quite a favourite of mine in Chablis. Overall, a great wine for such a ‘non-standard’ Chablis, yet one that properly reflects the vintage there. It drank great for the whole night!
Rebuy – Yes

2016 Vincent Dancer, Meursault Les Grands Charrons
Another wine of supple, slightly exotic flavours – at this age the vintage completely outshining the place. Another wine that you would justly call delicious despite, in this case, having no single feature that you might consider Murisaltien! Yum!
Rebuy – Maybe

2010 Daniel Rion, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Beaux-Monts
Another wine that was served blind, and what a tour de force of a nose – much more mature than you expect from the vintage, full of sous-bois and enticing mature character. It seemed to me to be a warmer vintage so I considered 1997 or 2000 to be suitable vintages and perhaps from a very place – such as Chapelle-Chambertin… So much for blind guessing! But this was a wine that was completely on song – the first to be opened from this case, no-less!
Rebuy – Yes

2020 Camille & Laurent Schaller, Chablis
Here’s a wine with no hint of the 2020 greens – just a very attractive and properly mineral yet tasty wine. All as it should be from this (otherwise) excellent vintage. Super!
Rebuy – Yes

1999 Nicolas Potel, Volnay 1er Clos des Chênes
When released, this wine was one of my joint-top-three Volnays of the vintage – it wasn’t possible to separate this from Lafon’s Santenots or d’Angerville’s Ducs – 3-4 years later this was clearly in third place – though still something great. This may, unfortunately, be my last bottle – unfortunately, because it was such a bravura wine – concentrated, clean, complex, a little muscular, even a little young – certainly younger than the 2010 Rion. But a beauty – a real beauty! Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2000 Bessin-Tremblay, Chablis 1er Montmains
As the previous bottle – great wine from an excellent vintage. Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

Just a few wines that were drunk before last weekend – the weekend wines will follow – but what can I remember? 😉

2016 Raphaël Chopin, Beaujolais Lantignie La Savoye
Full coloured – and with a ton of tartrate rubble to deposit in the last glass too! Full, warm-weather aromatic but not cooked. Really impressive size for this wine – more than the 2019, for instance. Supple, layered, concentrated but just about avoiding ‘heavy.’ Excellent!
Rebuy – Yes

2020 Cyril Gauthier, Chablis Vieilles-Vignes
One of my new ‘house wines’ for this year – but showing the problem of 2020: Not a hint of pyrazine from the tank-sample at the domaine but clearly there’s a lick of it here. Yet! The same bottle on day 2, neither I nor my equally sensitive better half could find any – it was just fabulous. So, I will be decanting this an hour or 2 beforehand. I seem to be already down to my last 8 bottles – oups!
Rebuy – Maybe

2017 Domaine d’Henri, Chablis 1er Fourchaume Héritage
Right out of the gates – great wine. Of course, still a baby – but a mineral and citrus-infused wine that was completely delicious and as classic as you can imagine any Chablis to be from the last 6-7 years. Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2019 Frederic Berne, Régnié Aux Bruyères
Silky, concentrated, pure class in a glass!
Rebuy – Yes

1998 Denis Mortet, Gevrey-Chambertin
Practically undrinkable young (for this palate) with its heavy cigarette-ash oaky nose – but now it’s in great shape. Admittedly, a strong aromatic remains – one that’s now a mix of tobacco and sous-bois – but lovers of mature wine will be purring. Balanced, layered deliciously complex mature wine. Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2019 Boris Champy, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune Altitude 377
Anyone brought up on the Bourgognes of the 1990s and onwards will be shocked by how good the Bourgognes of today can be – and here’s another. Despite being Boris’s first vintage and really only being present for the harvest and elevage of this wine – it’s lovely. Fine open, pure-red-fruited delicious stuff. There’s fine energy as you might expect from the Hautes Côtes but there’s depth and class to this flavour too. His 2020s were even better when tasted last year. Super wine!
Rebuy – Yes