1999 Thomas-Moillard Romanée St.Vivant 1999 Thomas-Moillard, Romanée St.Vivant
A smelly, rubbery odour from the cork, so it was decanted and I waited for an hour. Fortunately there was only a short-lived hint of rubber on the nose. The aroma-profile kept improving all night – though at a glacial pace – so I left a little for day two, but it was exactly like the end of day 1! What was it like? A meaty depth with subtle leafy notes – some parallels to the 98 Potel RSV, but this is significantly less far down the road to aromatic maturity. Across the tongue there is more padding and width than the Potel and no tartness. The rough tannin of the last outing (3 years ago) is replaced with a more velvet impression – good mid-palate width of dark cherry fruit too. Slowly lingering – it’s still not a ‘today’ wine, but at this rate of progress, another 5 years should see it in a great place. Rebuy – Yes
1998 Nicolas Potel Romanée St.Vivant
When last in Nuits I mentioned I had this wine the cellar and was informed by the Potel-team that I should probably open it as they had problems with the corks and 50% of the bottles were off. I had but one in the cellar so decided to pop the cork – it looked and smelled fine…
1998 Nicolas Potel, Romanée St.Vivant
Double-decanted, poured after an hour. Plenty of lumpy sediment but no fine stuff to cloud things. The nose needs another 30 minutes to open, but it becomes wide and very Vosne; spicy, leafy, somehow ‘warm’ and textured smelling – overall it’s very good though not necessarily better than a (very) good 1er cru. The acidity is slightly forward – though not excessive – no harsh or astringent tannin, just a latent velvet edge. The flavours are a little tart but there’s a slowly deepening intensity in the mid-palate and a width that’s faintly cream-edged. Very good, if not great length. There is no primary fruit here, but it’s a wine that I would leave for at least another 5 or 6 in the cellar. It’s a reasonable grand cru, but today it’s far from a great RSV. This experience was not spoiled by the cork, only by opening the bottle at least 5 years too early… Rebuy – No regardless of quality, it’s clearly a ‘no’ given the 50% cork lottery.
Jean-Marc Bouley 2006 Beaune 1er Les Reversées
I ‘know’ the name of this producer, but I’ve no idea of the context of that knowledge as I’ve no wines from the domaine in my cellar – time to start learning I suppose…
2006 Jean-Marc Bouley, Beaune 1er Les Reversées
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose starts with a waft of dark and slightly toasty oak – it’s there in the depth too – I suspect that this may not lift. I was wrong, already within 15 minutes virtually all traces of dark oak are consigned to history, what replaces it is beautiful, slightly creamy red fruit – from heights to depths it’s lovely. The palate is, relative to the nose, ‘merely’ good. There is slightly forward acidity coupled to red cherry-fruit that leaves me with the impression that it could have done with half a degree more ripeness – that said it makes for an interesting and ‘edgy’ personality. This reminds me a little of some 2001s in their youth – no bad thing that. I enjoyed it, but can’t decide whether it would be better to drink now or wait 7-10 years. On reflection I would wait – there are other wines that offer a rounder performance today. Rebuy – Yes
2006 Christian Clerget, Chambolle-Musigny
I’ve always considered Christian Clerget an up and down performer. I’ve had great bottles of his Chambolle 1er Charmes and his villages Chambolle too, but equally I’ve had dreary bottles of both. Lert’s see how this stacks up:
2006 Christian Clerget, Chambolle-Musigny
Medium, medium-plus colour, yet relatively deep for a villages Chambolle. Soft, but well-defined red fruit over a denser base – there’s a faint caramel edge that disappears as the wine warms in glass, some focus is also lost. Interesting; there’s a dense, concentrated, rather extracted core to the wine which has the merest trace of bitterness that makes the acidity seem a little bright – yet is mineral too. There is good texture from very faintly astringent but finely grained tannin. Relatively long finishing with an extra depth an dimension that normally indicates 1er cru juice. It’s not yet perfectly balanced, but it has plenty of character – keep it cool and it’s a winner! Rebuy – Yes
2006 Alain Jeanniard, Gevrey-Chambertin 2006 Alain Jeanniard, Gevrey-Chambertin
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose and indeed the flavours show some reduction so I made a quick double-decant, within 10 minutes all was fixed. Not so obviously Gevrey, but there’s nice red cherry with some darker fruit and savoury hints – eventually a lovely redcurrant impression. Balanced acidity and decent depth of flavour. There is some tannin that’s accented with a faint astringency and a decent length. It’s tasty, so if you get a good price it’s worth buying, but their 06 Morey VV is on a higher level. Rebuy – Yes
Weekend wines. 2001 Truffière (Vincent Girardin), Puligny-Montrachet 1er Les Caillerets
Medium gold. The nose majors on a residue of toasty oak and fainter gun-flint aromas. The bottle lasted under an hour, but was actually becoming less interesting with time. After the younger wines of the previous day, this is significantly more mineral and wiry framed. Good acidity and density, yet the flavours do reflect the aromas. Complex for sure but I never really warmed to it – that’s a pure style judgement, so whilst I wouldn’t buy it again for me, I certainly wouldn’t tell you not to. Rebuy – Maybe 2006 Nicolas Potel, Criots Bâtard-Montrachet
The best young white I tasted last year, indeed in the last couple of years – expecations were positioned! Pale yellow. The aromas are very tight – the wine was too ambitiously cooled given the 30° temperatures. Some fat, but balanced and with a width on the mid-palate and finishing length that was on another level to the Caillerets – yet disappointing. Okay, if it’s too cold, I’ll encourage it to warm and open by decanting. As it warmed it put on weight, but no sign of the palate staining flavours of last year. Eventually a faint but unmistakable note appeared on the nose – cork. We actually drank it all, as it was still a better wine than the Caillerets, but what should have been a resounding bottle was merely a sombre one – bugger! 2000 Mont du Toit, Le Sommet
Coastal (Wellington) region of South Africa – from a wax-topped magnum – a blend of cabernets, merlot and shiraz. A winery we visited in 2002. Heavy dark colour, equally deep but far from heavy fruit – liqueur-esque. Smooth but still with a lick of tannin. Drained to the last drop by the crew… Rebuy – Yes
2x 2006 Clos de la Roche
I shouldn’t really call a weekend with dear friends ‘heavy’ I suppose, that said, I (the four of us actually) managed to empty the equivalent of 9 bottles in 2 evenings. I think there was some beer too, but I expect that that doesn’t count! Generally the wines were pretty good, but one fell to the curse of the cork and as elaborated by Murphy, it was the most anticipated bottle. 1997 Raymond Boulard, Champagne Millesime
Hand-carried from the domaine from (sadly) my only visit in early 2002, also the last of these 97s. Full but balanced with a very nice (to me) baked apple flavour. Rebuy – Yes 2006 Mischief and Mayhem, Puligny-Montrachet
Seems a little fatter and less crisp than last time out – countered by being served a little too cool. Beautiful Puligny aromas and plenty of flavour – good length too. Very tasty, and devoured in about 20-25 minutes by the thirsty four! Rebuy – Yes 2005 Mischief and Mayhem, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Champs Gains
The forward oaky notes of its youth are now more considered and savoury. A little better balanced and more mineral than the 06 villages. Way more dimension in the mid-palate and a great finish Rebuy – Yes 2006 Lignier-Michelot, Clos de la Roche 2006 L et A Lignier, Clos de la Roche
A side-by-side comparison – neither holds all the aces. The L et A Lignier, though offering slightly less colour, is a clear winner in the aroma department – just a gorgeous expression of complex fruit – the Lignier-Michelot is good, but really can’t compete. Over the tongue, mirroring the extra colour, the Lignier-Michelot is a little more extracted and offers more ‘up-front’ oomph, from there-on it’s a long slow diminuendo. The L et A offers a different recipe; narrower on entry, bursting with mid-plate dimension and shows more length. No bad wines here, each offers a balanced performance and I’d certainly buy both again, but the relative proportions today would clearly be in favour of Lucie and Auguste’s bottle. Rebuy – Yes
2006 Alain Jeanniard, Morey St.Denis Vieilles Vignes
I’ve not had many from this domaine which is sited just towards the top of the village on the (vineyard) road into Clos St.Denis, finally I picked up a couple of bottles.
2006 Alain Jeanniard, Morey St.Denis Vieilles Vignes
Medium, medium-plus colour. Lovely depth and Morey character to the nose – nice red fruit with a real density to back it up – very nice indeed. On the tongue it seems not the ultimate in concentration, but there’s excellent darker fruit with that creamy old-vine impression. The acidity and tannin are slightly forward, but they only serve to cement the long mineral-infused finish – again with an impression of cream – excellent stuff, I’m looking forward to trying one of the domaine’s 1er crus. Rebuy – Yes
Domaine des Chézeaux 2007 Griotte-Chambertin
I’m rather hooked-in-to this wine just now – maybe I’ll write something eventually…
2007 Chézeaux/Ponsot, Griotte-Chambertin
Medium cherry-red. The nose starts with a burst of enthusiasm, tightens for a couple of minutes, then relaxes; although it’s not so wide there is a wonderful depth of dark, close to raisined, fruit – eventually the aromas fill-out, proffering baked raspberry edged with violets! In your mouth, it cocks it’s hat to the domaine’s Clos St.Denis with an intensity that is acid-encrusted – fresh redcurrant style – with this wine there’s a little more tannin, but the most surprising aspect is the finish – it’s not so much the length, rather the very mineral, slatey flavour – it seems more like grand cru Chablis than comely Griotte, and that’s the wine all-over. No comfy, plush, slightly facile experience that you may expect from the label, rather a wine that challenges you with every sniff and sip, but in return offers you a different aroma and flavour as reward. I can’t call it gorgeous, but I found it sooo rewarding… Rebuy – Yes
