2005 Bertagna, Vougeot 1er Clos des Perrières
Deep cherry-red colour. The nose opens with fine, high-toned, red and black berry notes over a deeper, brooding core of fruit – eventually there’s a lovely pure redcurrant note in the emptying glass. In the mouth the acidity starts just a shade bright on the tongue though it contributes to a good, slowly lingering finish. Perhaps it was me, but 30 minutes in the acidity seemed okay. Tight, linear fruit with buried soft tannin and an understated, almost ethereal extra dimension of fruit on the mid-palate that follows also into the finish. Very excellent but other bottles should be left for at least 10 years.
Rebuy – Yes

I picked up a few bottles of this at a recent auction – for a relative song if they taste halfway good! The Savour Club still exists in Belgium/Germany/France/Switzerland as a wine merchant, though today they don’t seem (as in this case) to be so actively using their own labels and acting as a négociant. These bottles proudly wear a back label saying that the cuvée “est recommandée par Pierre Troisgros, Restauranteur à Roanne aux membres du Savour Club” – apparently Pierre was an ‘advisor’ to the club. Well that’s a big build-up, question is, is the wine any good?
1991 Savour Club, Chapelle-Chambertin
Differing from the label, the cork is actually printed with Chapelles-Chambertin – perhaps that means it comes from both parts – Chapelle and Gémeux – or maybe not! The colour is medium, medium-plus ruby red with just a little amber showing at the edge. The nose is a wonderfully soft, truffly, eventually mocha affair – swirling will bring out some soil and leaf notes. In the mouth it has sweetness, some fat and soft texture from still present, relatively fine tannin. There’s a nice extra edge of intensity in the mid-palate and ‘just right’ acidity to whisk you into a good, long finish – should it have a bit more grand cru density? – perhaps, but there is quite enough grand cru ‘flavour authority’. Fabulous wine, still just a bit of tannic bitterness too. This might be well over 15 years old, and whilst it’s still a lovely drink now, it frankly needs another 3-5 years for full maturity. What a shame there were only 8 bottles of this in the ‘lot’…
Rebuy – Yes

The label assumes that you know that ‘Volnay Clos Des Chênes’ is a premier cru as there is no mention of ‘rank’. This is far from a cheap bottle – 70 Swiss francs – but the tariff is in-line with several producers’ current 1er cru offerings from the Côte de Beaune, it also has the benefit of another 8 years of aging, though clearly a lot 1998’s needed it…
1998 Maison Leroy, Volnay 1er Clos des Chênes
Deep ruby-red colour. The nose is herbal and meaty with background sweetness and quite some sense of maturity. In the mouth there is the rasp of ’98 tannins, but they are rather a background element. More to the fore is the sweet but freshly packaged fruit – quite some secondary flavour development again with some of that herbal element and lots of sweet and wide mid-palate flavour. Complex and very well balanced with plenty of time on it’s side it’s a world away from 2005/2006’s but that’s no negative. This is actually not bad value for a Leroy and I may indeed buy a couple more for 5-10 years down the line.
Rebuy – Yes

It would be hard to guess that this came from the same vineyard as the recent Faiveley Santenots. The Faiveley was more butch, and perhaps longer – an ‘hommage’ to the style of Lafon – but the width and complexity of fruit here seems more ‘Volnay’ though the oak needs to fade a little more. Today I’d drink the Faiveley, tomorrow the Rossignol, though at the weekend I’m not sure – choice is no bad thing!
2005 Nicolas Rossignol, Volnay 1er Santenots
Medium, medium-plus ruby-red colour with some purple still at the rim. The nose was overwhelmed by dark, slightly toasty oak for the first couple of minutes, wait and there’s a lovely width of beautiful fruit but it unfortunately still holds onto a slightly reductive-style oak base. Good intensity, and again the fruit is lovely, complex and occasionally shows a little creamy edge. Very well balanced but again with plenty of background reduction/oak – that said, it’s almost gone after about 90 minutes. This is lovely and if the oak fades further, it will be even better than that! For drinking now, open 2 hours before, or decant 20 minutes then pour.
Rebuy – Yes

2003 Lignier-Michelot, Morey St.Denis Vieilles Vignes
Medium-plus colour. The nose is forward, maybe a hint porty and certainly very ripe but generally the fruit talks of pinot. Ripe, plenty of concentration and very well mannered tannin. The understated acidity provides good balance and just enough freshness. It’s riper than I prefer, but if the nose talks of pinot then fruit on the palate clearly says burgundy. A good effort.
Rebuy – Maybe

I don’t often buy wines from Maison Latour, and whilst I’ve had so-so bottles from them, it has more been due to lack of local availability than quality reasons. Now I’ve found a relatively close merchant, so two or three bottles might appear over the next days.
2005 Louis Latour, Gevrey-Chambertin
Medium-plus colour. The first sniff seems architypal Gevrey; dark fruit against an earthy, almost grainy nose. With open time it becomes higher toned with more red fruit, seems much softer if a little less interesting. Decent concentration and certainly it’s more red-fruited in the mouth. Good acidity and late appearing tannin with a little grain. Not the glossy fruit and concentration of many 2005 Gevreys, but at a decent price this is worth buying.
Rebuy – Maybe

2004 Lignier-Michelot, Chambolle-Musigny Les Gammaires
Medium, medium-plus cherry-red colour. The nose is understated but shows good depth and there’s no ‘2004 character’. In the mouth it’s serious, with good mid-palate dimension and a good persistence of ripe flavour. Very nice – I bought some more.
Rebuy – Yes

2006 F et D Clair, Santenay
Medium cherry-red colour. A very nice width of high-toned fruit on the nose, slowly it takes on a clear red berry complexion. Good depth and a furry texture on the palate. The acidity is nicely balanced and the medium-weight flavours last very well. A six-pack offered for 93 Swiss francs is a bit of a bargain for a wine with such personality.
Rebuy – Yes