If I look back to my note from my tasting together with Christophe Bouchard, from a value perspective, this was an easy ‘buy’ for me:
2005 Bouchard Père et Fils, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Lavières
28th Feb.2007
With almost 4 hectares of vines, Bouchard P&F own close to one quarter of this vineyard. Bottled at the beginning of February (only 3 weeks before this note), this wine initially shows an understated and nicely floral aspect, slowly it builds on flashes of dark fruit and eventually some caramel barrel notes. Sweeter fruit than the previous wines, again with some grain to the tannin, but the purity of the fruit presentation is excellent as it expands over the mid-palate. I will check a few prices as this could be quite a buy.

Today:
2005 Bouchard Père et Fils, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Lavières
Medium, medium-plus cherry-red colour. The nose shows red and black fruit, but more to the ‘black side’, there is also an underlying note of (medium) oak toast – not overpowering (even to this palate) but consistent for the time the bottle is consumed. The palate is lithe and interesting with good length, without ever generating getting into gear. Good wine for sure, but disappointing vs my initial note.
Rebuy – Yes

Clearly my rebuy note reflects the current ‘good’ showing but more-so the excellent showing of a few months ago. So what’s happened? This wine is significantly ‘less’ than exciting – it’s still very good but has lost the ‘zip’ and ‘zing’. Ravaut, Lignier-Michelot and this make 3 in a row from 2005 – all of which I expected to perform better. Maybe these guys are onto something.

2005 Bouchard Père et Fils, Mercurey
Medium, medium-plus cherry-red colour. The nose is high toned and very, very pinot with a faint oaky undertone. The palate is fresh with a faint astringency coupled to some grain from the tannins. Not so dense, but flavour-packed, though perhaps the acidity is just a little to the fore. A nice red-fruited complexion with a reasonable finish. Almost good, though factor in the price of 22 Swiss francs and it also stays only at ‘almost good’ value stakes – there are many bargains to be found in 2005, this doesn’t qualify.
Rebuy – Maybe

• SF Gate yet another interesting article – this time by Alice

2005 A.-F. Gros, Vosne-Romanée Clos de la Fontaine
The cork seems surprisingly ‘spongy’ and pliable. Medium-plus colour. The nose is dark, spicy and shows a black oak toast and tar – eventually faint red fruits diluted by cream and faint ginger. In your mouth there’s a little fat and some silky texture – the tannin is quite fine. The mid-palate runs into quite a long finish – plenty of bitter-chocolate effect from the oak but some extra creamy fruit dimension too. This wine has plenty of dark oak character today but there’s more than enough density and material to balance – and it will fade with time, even in the glass, slowly there are redder fruits appearing. I’m not the biggest oak fan, but this is nicely presented and has plenty of ‘Vosne’ personality. I look forward following it’s evolution over the next 10+ years. My en-primeur price was a reasonable 35 Swiss francs.
Rebuy – Yes

Warning – turns your tongue purple! 😉

My first ‘bulk’ delivery of en-primeur 2005’s, all ordered from the Swiss co-op back in April 2006. I’ve only had a bottle of Bouchard’s 2002 Bougros before and it was a beauty, but sadly sold out before I could make a second order. This time I wasn’t going to miss out – so a full 12 were ordered at a mere 33 Swiss francs per. This was allowed only 24 hours rest before popping the cork, I wonder how long I can wait to open the reds… 🙂
2005 Bouchard Père et Fils, Chablis Bougros
Medium-pale lemon yellow. The nose is forward and deep, a little vanilla-custard and maybe some background sulfur that seems to slightly dull a citrus edge. The palate is… well… wow! Super-intense. It’s hardly at its best given my lack of patience as the impressive parts are not yet a ‘whole’ but there is reasonable minerality, impressive mid-palate intensity and and a great ‘zing’ to the acidity. The length is very good rather than outstanding, but clearly a bargain at the price.
Rebuy – Yes

From the same source as the last two Drouhins. Whilst not so cheap at 62 Swiss francs, it’s a relative bargain as it’s about 65% of the initial price of the 2005 – which is anyway now sold-out.
2001 Joseph Drouhin, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Petits Monts
Medium-plus ruby-red colour. The nose starts wide, wild and fecund – very impressive – but within 25 minutes it’s a shadow of its former self; higher-toned, fresh and herbal – spicy but without the earlier power. The palate is lithe, linear and undemonstrative – somehow metallic tasting. On the plus-side there is excellent texture and an implied rather than overt power. The length is impressive if rather understated. If I’m honest, there’s nothing here today except potential and more left the bottle for day 2 than normal. Day 2: much of the nose is returned, high-class Vosne, almost textural aromatics. The palate has improved some – mainly the width and length of the finish, but whilst there is enough to tempt me to buy more – this wine has become very difficult to find – you really should avoid opening bottles today.
Rebuy – Yes (eventually!)

Nary a Drouhin in sight and here are two in a row, indeed a (hopefully) super third lies in wait. This is from bought rather than domaine fruit but, can you ever have enough Clos St.Denis? Add to that the purchase price of around $50…
1998 Joseph Drouhin, Clos St.Denis
Medium red colour just a faint amber transition at the rim. The nose is deep, brown sugar and baked red fruit with some higher alcoholic traces and faint vanilla – it’s lovely. On your tongue you miss a little ‘fat’ and there’s just a bitter chocolate edge to the tannin, but the fruit is equally lovely and the finish is very, very long with a raisin-fruit edge. Value alone vs recent vintage pricing is enough to guarantee this being a ‘rebuy’ – it’s hard to find good 1er crus from 2005 at this price.
Rebuy – Yes