A selection of wines tasted in Burgundy last week. Starting with a pair of perfect 1961’s, two iconic whites from 2006 and then a face-off off between two recently delivered 1999 en-primeur purchases:
1961 Morin Père et Fils, Pommard 1er Rugiens
Medium-pale colour but still with plenty of red. The nose is soft and more than a little earthy with a hint of sweetness. In the mouth it retains a masculine lick of tannin and there’s a good length. Clean and alive

1961 Max Quenot Fils et Meuneveaux, Corton-Bressandes
If any thing the colour is yet younger. The nose is sweeter, still with plenty of fruit – a little roasted. In the mouth it’s clearly more sweetly red fruited than the Pommard, minimal tannin and has a lovely balance. The finish is a good one. I would say this is just about ready – and it’s also very tasty!

2006 Roulot, Meursault 1er Perrières
Pale to medium yellow. The nose is just a little tight, ripe but tight. In the mouth there’s width, density and a very sneaky extra dimension in the mid-palate – it’s very impressive. What’s less impressive is an apparent lack of energy – I think it really needs a bit more acidity. Very nice, but no wow.
Rebuy – Maybe

2006 Louis Carillon, Bienvenues Bâtard Montrachet
A whiff of SO2 defines the first interaction – it’s even still there after about 20 minutes in the glass but on a much lower level. The fading of the sulfur reveals a width of aromas and some very pretty higher tones and eventually a little caramel. For the vintage there’s very decent acidity and a really beautiful width of creamy, dreamy ripe fruit – it seems to go on and on. No fireworks – if anything it’s a little tight – but it’s a very, very competent demonstration of a grand cru.
Rebuy – Yes

1999 Leroy, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Narbantons
The cork is soaked through with wine and splits in half while trying to extract. A medium, medium-plus young colour. The nose starts quite oaky, though slowly it fades to leave heavier and heavier young fruit notes. In the mouth it starts with grainy tannin and a little spritz but it’s followed by a lovely impression of damson/plum fruit and a super length. The fruit continues to blossom, becoming cleaner and fresher though this is clearly a Leroy wine rather than a wine of Savigny. Over time there’s a little mushroom and mineral on the nose, though a quick swirl reveals perfect berry notes.
Rebuy – Yes

1999 Engel, Grands-Echézeaux
Medium-plus colour. The nose is about deep, macerated fruit – and even goes deeper with time in the glass. It’s very pretty indeed and all the while adds faint if not wild complexity. In the mouth the clear first impression is width, aided by faintly grainy tannin across the whole panorama. There is an understated presence and interesting complexity, though the finishing flavours are a tad simple despite their length. A good wine here, but today I shy away from ‘great’ as I didn’t find any real focus or ‘spine’ to the wine making it come across as ill-defined/loose in the mid-palate. Give it time, but today I’d rather drink the Leroy.
Rebuy – Yes

2000 Vougeraie, Vougeot 1er Les Cras
Medium, medium-plus ruby-red colour. The nose is deep, edged with sweet oak spice and more than a hint of cedar – reminiscent of an 04 but less ‘high-toned’. In the mouth this is sweetly ripe and with a little fat in its texture but also a nice core of acidity. Plush but tasty though the decent length finish still shows a little bitter oaky element that has almost become bitter chocolate rather than just ‘bitter’ – a little creamy coconut too – but also some more cedar. For the first hour it was open it was alternately yummy and engaging then herby and bitter, I expected improvement, but instead the palate became a little prickly/pickley. Basically this is all over the place today – unusual for a 2000 – so I can’t recommended it.
Rebuy – No (I hope the 5 in the cellar improve…)

Bought way back in 2000 when Sotheby’s had a sale of old Bouchard Père vintages, for what I thought a bargain at £170 direct for BP&F. In storage since then, here is it’s first outing – time to see if it was really a bargain!
1997 Bouchard Père et Fils, Le Corton
Medium colour. The nose starts with a herby top-note and a little meat below, it slowly develops a sweeter core of spiced plums. In the mouth this is full of dimension and some reasonable tannin too – the flavour is slightly savoury and inflected with coffee. Good sweetness and no lack of balance helps produce a decent finish. Unlike many from the vintage, there’s a real smoothness here – impresses. Half a bottle was left in the refrigerator overnight and next day it was acid-forward and not so nice, though my single glass was always rather cold. So on the third day, at room temperature (~19°C – the weather was cold!) the impression was somewhere between the last two days. So initially a very tasty if not stunning grand cru. Drink it straight away, watch your serving temperature and you will be rewarded!
Rebuy – Maybe

2000/01 Méo-Camuzet, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Clos St.Philibert
Like chalk and cheese these two wines. The 2000 has a quite young, medium yellow colour whereas the 2001 is much more golden. Despite the colours, the 2000 is the more toasty and faintly madirised, the 2001 is aromatically much more like a classic white burgundy. The 2000 needs time in the glass as it starts also with madirised flavours – but they all-but disappear with 1 hour’s aeration, leaving some sweetness, good concentration and balance. The 2001 is very balanced but much more austere in the mid-palate and finish – just needs a little more sweetness for ‘solo’ drinking, however, it fits really well with food. Overall, decent value wines that I occasionally see at reasonable prices on restaurant lists.
Rebuy – Maybe

1997 Daniel Rion, Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Vignes Rondes
Medium, medium-plus colour still. The nose is full of sweet-edged undergrowth and below there’s still a dark edge of oak-toast. In the mouth there’s a silkiness and good, if not totally seamless acidity. The dark flavours mirror the nose but have a nice extra creamy dimension, there’s still a bitter-chocolate edge to the tannins too. No sharp edges and only just beginning to enter its drinking window, despite its oaky beginings being still on display, this is becoming a very above average 1997.
Rebuy – Yes (and I don’t say yes to many ’97’s…)

I was in sunny Ludwigshafen yesterday – and I don’t mean on the Bodensee! – only a 17 hour round-trip!
By the time I returned home it was too late to open something, but I see I did not deliver you a note on this bottle yet:
1999 Joseph Drouhin, Côtes de Nuits Villages
Medium colour. A deep nose of spice and cedar plus faint, sweet and maturing background fruit. Quite silky, a slightly unripe impression to the fruit, good acidity and largely diminished tannin. A pretty length until some finishing bitterness. Interesting parts and great value, but missing charm today.
Rebuy – No