Another Lignier, this time more differentiated by it’s label. I also see there’s a new website from this team.
2005 Lucie et Auguste Lignier, Morey St.Denis
Deep cherry-red colour, almost a little purple. Wide aromatics with slight white-pepper spice over a deeper but reticent black cherry. Excellent intensity of black cherry fruit, super acidity to balance and tannin that is submerged in the extract. It’s a powerful combination for a villages wine, a little mineral too but it’s also very linear and obviously closing-in on itself – faint black chocolate shows on the finish. Super villages but be prepared to wait.
Rebuy – Yes

2004 Hubert Lignier, Morey St.Denis
Medium, medium-plus colour still with some cherry-red colour. Deep aromatics, with dense darker cherry fruit thats not perfectly fine but has a lovely faint mocha halo. Mouth-filling, well balanced acidity and tannin that comes through on the mid-palate but has already faded before the finish. Actually the finish is rather good with small after-shocks of creamy flavour. Today the mid-palate flavours have a bitter edge that contasts well with the sweet fruit but was just on a little too high level to start – after an hour and with food I’d rather say bitter chocolate – nothing left for tomorrow, very nice.
Rebuy – Maybe

2004 Sérafin Père et Fils, Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes
Medium-plus colour, only just retaining a hint of cherry-red colour. The nose starts with full-on oak toast which slowly, slowly recedes to reveal black-shaded cherry, faint coffee and even some higher floral notes. Good texture and an ever-increasing intensity as you head for the mid-palate – the acidity seems not perfectly integrated though. Long, with creamy elements. Overall it is rather too oaky for my palate (to enjoy) and there’s eventually a suggestion of ash on the nose, but it’s certainly a good effort with no green.
Rebuy – Maybe – but too oaky for me…

If I didn’t get on all that well with the 06 Jadot Bourgogne Chardonnay, this is much more interesting. It’s actually about 20% more expensive than my highly rated Mugneret-Gibourg or Albert Bichot 04 Vosnes and both of those offer a more compelling current drinking experience – it won’t be everyone’s choice, but I found it really interesting.
2004 Louis Jadot, Vosne-Romanée
Medium ruby-red colour – already showing some older colour. The nose initially has none of the green 04-ness, though a little develops over-time, it is, however, on such a low level that it really is additive and makes from cedar at the top, down to its creamy edge at the bottom, with faint clove in the middle – a rather superior if not textbook Vosne nose; I’m very impressed. In the mouth it’s a long way from my expectation; there is only a hint of the ripe sweetness of the vintage, but the overall balance is reminiscent of a 1996 with it’s acid-forward stance. There is super dimension to the fruit too. This is far from an average ready-to-drink-now 2004 and very different to my 04 villages beau (from Mugneret-Gibourg), but this is an interesting mid-term cellar candidate – maybe 2 more bottles…
Rebuy – Yes

A wine that shows the difficulty of those that picked just a little later in this vintage – given the size of this cuvée, it would be no surprise if a significant proportion of the mix was picked just a little later than optimum. I note that the price is also up 20% versus the excellent 2004 and 2005 versions, both of which became ‘house wines’ chez moi.
2006 Louis Jadot, Bourgogne Chardonnay
Medium yellow. The nose shows faint bready notes over equally faint pear fruit. Quite full in the mouth, also quite dense. Whilst your mouth slowly waters after you swallow, it still seems to lack a little freshness. A reasonable finish, but just a little too clumsy and heavy…
Rebuy – No

2004 Bouchard P&F, Beaune 1er du Chateau
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is deep and oaky; dark, sweet oak rather than overt toast and there’s not a trace of vintage cedar. In the mouth it is similarly dominated by the oak. Certainly there is decent, sweet intensity behind the wood and a more than lingering finish – it really is very long – but frankly on day one, whilst it’s a tasty oak beverage, I can find little to suggest Burgundy, let-alone Beaune! This is usually one of the best value cuvées you can buy from any négoce so I gave it a chance: Day 2. The nose remains deep, a little musky – not so much oak but still hard to spot the fruit – perhaps dark-skinned plum, but on the negative side as it warms in the glass you get a hint of ash. In the mouth it now has a higher-toned dimension and plenty of sweetness. The length is unchanged and I’m happy to report that it shows more of a creamy than vanilla edge. This is significantly improved, even if I still wouldn’t guess Beaune! If you want to drink Beaune, then decant this at least 5-6 hours before drinking. If you just want a delicious glass, pop and pour.
Rebuy – Maybe (for those who have a better oak tolerance, but not for me)

Found in Leclerc supermarket in Beaune – was relatively cheap, but how much(?), I don’t remember…
2005 Guy Amiot, Chassagne-Montrachet (Rouge) Vielles Vignes
For the vintage it’s a modestly coloured medium, medium-plus cherry red. The nose has some depth, and pulls you in with faint toasted bread and bouquet garni. Intense, with slightly grainy tannin and with good understated acidity followed by another dimension of dark fruit and a little oak on the mid-palate. The finish is savoury with a long undertow of creamy dark fruit. If not totally sophisticated it balances with real personality. This is a wine that delivers on both personality and value. It’s really rather good.
Rebuy – Yes

It’s been a while since I saw the chaps of Pierre Bourée, but last Saturday I visited for the first time their WiFi enabled and air-conditioned ‘Table de Pierre Bourée’. Heading North it is on your right-hand side, just before the main traffic-lights of RN74 in Gevrey, though it has one problem – it’s hard to spot as you head-by because of the cars parked on the pavement in front. It seems to have another function in the village too – the day I was there, first one person came to ask if there was a hairdresser nearby, later another asking the whereabouts of the doctor – clearly you have to multi-task in Gevrey!

Inside is very nicely done for a ‘simple’ eatery, and if you choose to go through the back door and down the steps to the cellar you’ll find racks of bottles you can buy and a coopering and bottling display.

As for food, it’s one menu – a Burgundian menu – gougères that were just a little better than I can make(!), the best jambon persillé that I can remember eating and beef bourguignonne. A quartet of local cheeses, but is Brillat-Savarin local? – I don’t know. Dessert is actually your choice of ‘grand cru’ coffees – my choice was Ethiopian ‘Moka’. So how much do you pay? – well it depends on how much and what you drink.

The wines are all kept at 14°C in a wine refrigerator, and my choice was the ‘simple’ accompaniment of five wines for a tariff of €29, as follows:
2005 Pierre Bourée, Bourgogne Blanc
Medium yellow. Deep aromas, quite forward and with good depth. Whilst it’s a little plump, the balance is very good. It’s far from steely but it’s nicely clean.
Rebuy – Maybe
2004 Pierre Bourée, Marsannay Blanc
Made from purchased grapes. The nose is just that little bit finer and again with good depth. This is very tasty and has a nice lift to the acidity in the mid-palate. I liked.
Rebuy – Yes
2006 Pierre Bourée, Bourgogne
The only 2006 red that’s currently bottled. All the gapes come from the Côte de Nuits, mainly a mix of Gevrey and Brochon. The colour is medium-pale. A strikingly perfumed, wide nose – even at this level the stems are included. The taste is far from concentrated, but it is very interesting and wide. This is unlike any other bourgogne I can think of – really very pretty.
Rebuy – Yes
2002 Pierre Bourée, Côte de Nuits Villages
From purchased grapes. Medium-pale colour. Sweet stemmy perfume – and it IS perfume – lovely. Silky, subtle, delicate and complex. Super for ‘what it is’ and very clean. I bought some.
Rebuy – Yes
2004 Pierre Bourée, Gevrey-Chambertin
The nose once more brings the stemmy perfume, edged with slight cedar, width and depth. Fuller, with ripe fruit. The acidity is a little forward and initially seams not so well integrated, but with the food is absolutely fine. This is showing much better than when I tasted it about 2 years ago.
Rebuy – Maybe

In summary; it’s a nice place to visit and the food tastes super – even though there’s only one choice – though they did tell me that a group rang ahead and said it wasn’t quite Burgundian enough, so could they please add a snails course! Although they are only open from 11am-4pm, larger groups could ring ahead and enquire about the possibility of an evening opening.

In the end though, it’s not simply the food or the place that I would recommend it for, it’s the wines. You owe it to yourself to try these perfumed and complex reds to see if they are to your taste – when done well at the entry level, there’s really nothing quite like them.

Many 2005’s are a shadow of where they were 6 months ago, so despite not all being in bottle yet, it’s lucky that some are now filtering through:
2006 Antonin Guyon, Pernand Vergelesses
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is reasonably wide but with a good depth of powdery cherry fruit. In the mouth there’s a really super balance between the sweet, ripe fruit and the flowing acidity, so much so that tannin is an after-thought. The finish is narrow but sneakily long and shows a faint creaminess. A lovely wine and excellent value.
Rebuy – Yes