Degustation

RSV – what a difference a little patience makes…

By billn on January 05, 2024 #degustation

Okay, in this instance nearly 25 years of patience for this, the last of the ‘cheap St.Vivants!’

Okay, cheap is certainly relative; this 1999 vintage still cost 80 Swiss Francs a bottle on release – about £40 a bottle at the prevailing exchange rate – I bought a whole case – remember 12-bottle cases? That price was the same as Engel’s Grand Echézeaux and Leroy’s Domaine Savigny 1er Les Narbantons – I bought those on release too, but that latter wine was finished 2 years ago…

This parcel was sold to Wilf Jaeger in 2005 who passed it on via a fermage agreement to Dujac to make the wine. I later heard from more than one source that all was not well between the two parties, so it’s no surprise that Dujac never show the wine – I hope that things are now on a more even keel. I don’t know the current status of this parcel between the parties…

Thomas-Moillard (and sometimes later labelled Domaine Charles Thomas) used ‘rotary fermenters’ during this period – ultra extraction – so it was hardly a surprise when they made hard wines – more of a surprise was that the 1998 and 2000 of this wine were so delicious and at a young age too – maybe they felt that they had to extract more in what they thought was a good vintage!

And, right from the start, what a wine this was – hard as nails! It was still impenetrable at 20 years old so I’m mildly shocked by how it’s now showing!

1999 Thomas-Moillard, Romanée St.Vivant
Lots of colour. A little alcoholic and still with a slug of creamy, almost resinous, aromatic oak – but also a hint of floral perfume too – and that’s new. Mouth-filling, silky, with a certain richness to the texture and depth of flavour – where has this fine texture come from? And come to that, where has the hard personality and tannin gone? It’s still a baby due to the overt concentration and still lacking a little grace, but a wine of (now!) obvious potential. Probably still not ‘ready’ for at least 5 more years but I’ll take today’s ‘drinkable.’ In fact, I’m quite enjoying it, even the second glass (shock) – there’s more than a decent chance for the remaining 4 or 5 bottles…
Rebuy – Maybe

Even more winners! The 2023 Grand Auxerrois Wines Competition

By billn on December 03, 2023 #annual laurels#degustation

2023 Concours Auxerrois

On Saturday 25 November 63 jury members gathered to award 57 medals at the Grand Auxerrois Wines Competition. Chef Blanche Loiseau – daughter of Bernard Loiseau was the ‘Parain’ or hononoury leader of this year’s tasting.

This was the 31st edition of this competition and this year the jurors worked their way through 263 samples presented by 60 domains, covering the 2021 and 2022 vintages.

It’s quite a long list of prizewinners, so click on the image above or here to download the results

GJPV – and the 2023 winners are…

By billn on November 30, 2023 #annual laurels#degustation

Click on the image above for the press release from the winners of the 35th edition of the ‘Young Talents’ competition – chosen and announced during the weekend of the Beaune Hospices wine auction.

The prizes were awarded at the Palais des Congrès in Beaune, the GJPV organization awarded their seven regional trophies to the following young winemakers:

  • Matthieu Dangin, Domaine Bruno DANGIN for the Grand Auxerrois
  • Pierrick Laroche, Domaine DES HATES for Chablis
  • Lyse Chezeaux, Domaine Jérôme CHEZEAUX for the Côte de Nuits
  • Guillaume Nudant, Domaine NUDANT for the Côte de Beaune
  • Rémi Dury, Domaine Jacques DURY for the Côte Chalonnaise
  • Maxime Dutron, Château VITALLIS for the Mâconnais
  • Elie Gauthier, Domaine Laurent GAUTHIER pour le Trophée Beaujolais

Tasting – Côte de Nuits Villages

By billn on November 29, 2023 #degustation#diary dates

Tasting Côte de Nuits VillagesThere’s an annual tasting of Côte de Nuits Villages which, I’m ashamed to say, I’ve never yet got to.

And that won’t change this year either as my last day tasting this year, will be the 8th of December – a shame!

But if YOU are in town, I urge you to go along – this is the third presentation by the producers 😉

It will be held on Thursday 14th December – from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. – in the community hall of Comblanchien…

Tastevinage: The 2023 Majors !!

By billn on November 17, 2023 #annual laurels#degustation

For a few years now the Tastevinage have made a ‘selection’ of the best wines selected from the wines presented for tasting in the year – obviously here from the 2023 tasting season – and this selection, again chosen blind – is the result of 785 wines presented during the year.

At this presentation on Thursday evening I didn’t taste blind but I found a great selection – bar one – and I’ve no idea how that wine made it through!!

The wines for you, first reds:

2021 Bertagna, Vougeot 1er Clos de la Perriere
Smoky, silky, strawberry nose. Silky, sinuous delicious wine – yes! What great texture here. Bravo.

2021 Moillard, Marsannay
A stronger width of red fruit, this nose suggesting a little structure. Silky, beautiful texture again, darker fruited than the Vougeot. Ultra-classy wine.

2020 Patriarche, Auxey-Duresses 1er Les Grands Champs
Lots of colour. Dark and concentrated but sleek fruit. Again, so silky – the common theme in this selection is clear!

2021 Moillard, Mercurey
Powdery style to this dark red fruit. So silky, right at the end showing a hint more tannin – but zltra-sophisticated villages wine

2020 Simmonet-Febvre, Irancy Paradis
Versus all the previous wines, there’s energy in this aroma but quite some herbed, gentian complexity too – far from my favourite. Hmm here is pyrazine – beautiful texture again, and super balance – but for me, flawed…

2020 Patriarche, Monthelie 1er Les Barbières
Power, darker red fruit – a good nose. Mouth-filling, plenty of sweeping flavour – clean structure – no astringency to the structure though with some attractive bitters still present in the finish. That?s really top – bravo!

2020 Ponsard-Chevalier, Santenay Les Charmes
Almost a gooseberry accent to creamy red fruit – yes! Wide, ultra silky again the tannin slowly rising from to the surface – but still velvet. Hard to believe that this is just a villages Santenay – bravo!

2022 Albert Bichot Bourgogne Pinot Noir Origines
A pretty, airy nose of attractive, lite red fruit. Wow 60,000 bottles for this super-silky wine with, slowly, easily fading flavour – Very elegant wine and great for the label, no doubt.

2021 Manuel Olivier, Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Cailles
Not a large nose but pure attractive red fruit – it’s an invitation. Mouth-filling, framed with micro-grain tannin. Delicious wine.

2019 Patriarche, Clos de Vougeot
It seems rarer and rarer to see grand crus in the Tastevinage tastings – maybe this didn’t have a lot of competition in its class?
Hmm – there’s a creamy oak in this fresh width – but only an appealing accent. Fluid, broad, the tannin rising making this a little more velour in texture but beautifully intense and only faintly drying. Just fluid, mouth-watering delicious wine but still with the required structure – maybe I expect a bit more depth for CV but this is clearly excellent.

And Les Whites:

2020 Château de Rully, Rully
Lots of concentrated, ripe citrus but still energetically inviting aromas. Silky, sweetness of ripe, almost exotic fruit. But what a broad and delicious flavour profile in the finish – worthy!

2020 Joseph Drouhin, St.Romain
Lots of extra freshness – airy and inviting. Hmm, just a mm of comfort to this delicious wine, slightly generous and finish fine and saline – properly wonderful with a little zesty finishing style.

Veuve Ambal, Cremant Brut
Small plum – mirabelle – nose but with direct and fresh backing. Ooh next level in the mouth – that’s completely delicious!!

a small bottle download…

By billn on November 07, 2023 #degustation

Wine, that in some cases, I drunk over three weeks ago – so maybe just a few words about each.

2020 Gautherin, Chablis 1er Homme Mort
Hmm, I don’t know what to say – really delicious wine – but since a short bout of covid in September, I’m unsure if I can still spot pyrazines. This certainly had them before!
Rebuy – Maybe

22 Mystery Corton
From a Côte de Nuits producer and it’s not yet bottled – but it’s a beauty – I suppose you’ll have to wait for the reports 😉
Rebuy – Yes

2020 François de Nicolay, Beaujolais Villages
Wow – mega purple! The nose suggests a little volatility – but this is a really delicious drink. Large scale and just soooo good!
Rebuy – Yes

2014 Sylvain Dussort, Meursault Le Limozin
DIAM – so perfect wine. Just a faint suggestion of development and showing a hint more generosity than many from 2014. Complex, spiced – great villages!
Rebuy – Yes

2020 Fleurot-Larose, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Clos de la Roquemore (Blanc)
If I remember correctly this is a monopole within Morgeot – and a very rare one at that!
A nose that needs a little aeration due to some muscaté impression but it becomes clean and powerful. Concentrated, just modestly generous but then a grand finish, complex, wide – really a great finish
Rebuy – Yes

Gilles & Romaine Collet, Cremant de Bourgogne
An old faithful – just delicious!
Rebuy – Yes

2020 Jean Jacquin, Chablis 1er Montée de Tonnerre
Hmm – very tasty – but last time I tasted this there were some pyrazines (see my first note!)
Rebuy – Maybe

2017 Clotilde Davenne, Saint Bris Vieilles-Vignes
Silky, delicious, super wine – as always from here !!
Rebuy – Yes

2019 René Dufaitre, Brouilly Boldness
A magnum. Mainly drunk over 1 evening with friends (after the Collet crémant) – perfumed but with sweetness and richness but retaining a deliciously airy character. The last third of this on day two was already over the hill – so the moral of the story is….
Rebuy – Yes

2018 Clotilde Davenne, Chablis
I’m a little surprised by this – such a high volume vintage but here is rich delicious flavour – a wine that is drunk far too fast. Yum!
Rebuy – Yes

2005 Daniel Rion, Vosne-Romanée 1er Beaux-Monts
A wine that has only just been subsumed into the domaine of Michèle & Patrice Rion
A shy nose at the start but one that opens with clean, far from mature, aromas. This sits beautifully in the mouth – if anything, still a young pup. The finish impresses but on this performance it is a wine that I will wait for.
Rebuy – Maybe

2020 Alexandre Parigot, Meursault Le Limozin
Hmm – that’s got a nice, proper, faintly spiced aromatic. In the mouth this is rather powerful – almost a little burly – a bit 2020 you could say. But there is mouth-watering balance to this power and a very tasty finish.
Rebuy – Maybe

2005 Dubreuil-Fontaine, Corton-Perrières
This was an impenetrable brute on release – but now things are falling into place. An open, complex nose. Layers of flavour – complex flavour – and a super finish. 2005 Corton – that’s ready? Try this one !!
Rebuy – Yes

1973 Maison Thomas-Bassot, Beaune 1er ‘Theurons’
Friends in town. I had very low expectations – but bottles like these are such fun with friends – however they end up! Most of my early work involved extracting the cork in once piece – in the end it was 2 pieces – but all good! The first sniff seemed impressively positive! What a beauty! Complex, leafy, no bret, tons of red fruit interest and then there was the bpalate; silky, wide, generous. Oh we are being treated tonight. Bravo – a great old bottle!
Rebuy – No chance

2021 Bruno Lorenzon, Mercurey Clos Alfred
A wine of easy aromatics and tasty flavour – that’s about all that I can remember – sorry to say!
Rebuy – Maybe

2009 Ramonet, Chassagne-Montract 1er Clos de la Boudriotte (Red)
This gave a super impression on release though the oak was too overt. 5 years later, the remaining oak was really quite bitter – not nice. Today it has finally turned the corner – the nose is both complex and inviting and the flavours likewise – a suggestion of the oak remains but nothing to deter this drinker. Completely delicious though it’s taken the best part of 15 years. I’m still not a big fan of this vintage but things are beginning to stir in these bottles !!
Rebuy – Yes

2021 Pierre Vincent Girardin, Bourgogne Côte d’Or Eclat de Calcaire
On the winelist in a Meursault restaurant – so why not?
Ooh! Now that’s a great, clean-cut nose – chiselled and chalky – so far, it’s living up to its name! IN the mouth too – direct, minerla and so fine-boned. I don’t care that the label ‘only’ says Bourgogne – this is a great Bourgogne – bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2021 de Villaine, Bourgogne Rosé de Pinot Noir
Barbie-pink wax sealed. A wine that’s exclusively sold in the French market – I believe.
The aromas are clean-cut and perfumed – that’s a lovely invitation to drink. Juicy and tasty – 4 of us finished this far too quickly – vin dangereuse – ie you may drink it too fast because it’s so delicious!

Just a few (week 39) weekend wines…

By billn on October 03, 2023 #degustation

Weekend, week 39, wines

2009 Roty, Gevrey-Chambertin La Brunelle
I’m yet to meet a 2009 that I love – certainly the ones that I bought – but this wine is getting nearer and nearer – I’m hoping that it’s only a matter of time!
A silky but slightly dumb, round, nose. In the mouth, there’s also some ripe roundness to the shape but the flavours have more sense of purpose than the aromas. It could indeed be a wine from Gevrey and it has a fine texture too. Well concentrated though possibly still 3-4 more years away from offering something properly interesting.
Rebuy – Maybe

2021 Famille Chasselay, Éphémère
A pale colour – described by the domaine as Blouge! This is a fermented blend of layered gamay, chardonnay and pinot grapes with elevage in an amphora with no added sulfur. Served cold from the fridge.
When tasted at the domaine more than 6 months ago, I loved this. This was my first bottle that I opened and my guests loved it too! Pale colour – pink indeed. Fresh crunchy fruit aromas with the same across the palate – energy and deliciousness – and with only a faint hint of sweetness. Delicious, moreish, wine!
Rebuy – Yes

2019 Olivier Pezenneau, Brouilly Combiaty
Lots of colour. Decent enough freshness overlays a breadth of glossy dark fruit – but without the extra ripe character of many Brouilly of recent years – nice! Cool, direct, sinuous wine – the flavour expanding over the palate with dark cherry and a little licorice – always with a nice energy to both the flavours and shape of the wine. A lovely drink – and another winner from Beaujolais in 2019!
Rebuy – Yes

2017 Clotilde Davenne, Irancy Paradis

By billn on September 25, 2023 #degustation

Clotilde Davenne 2017 Irancy Paradis2017 Clotilde Davenne, Irancy Paradis
This time, it’s a nicely robust cork.
Medium, clean red colour – it’s only the wines with some césar that show any depth of colour in 2017. The nose offers a little warmth of red berry and just a suggestion of flowers – easy – but an invitation all the same. The palate is a broad wave of red fruit with a stonier leading edge to the flavour – like cherry stones. There’s a burst of flavour as you head into this finish and then a little, modest, finishing bitters to keep me in order. Tasty wine, and an easy wine to drink – a very pretty pinot…
Rebuy – Yes

rubbish corks…

By billn on September 24, 2023 #degustation

2005 Lejeune Bourgogne2005 Lejeune, Bourgogne
It’s at least a couple of years ago but the last bottle of this was super – a rare 500ml bottling of which, way back when, I availed myself of a whole case. On this particular occasion (bottle), it was obvious that I was faced with a very spongy cork who would most-likely have some ‘dimensional integrity‘ issues – and so it was. A few minutes later, I managed to get all the pieces out of the neck without losing any. How did the cork smell? Well, no TCA – good! – but within the sweetness of fruit the aromas of brett mingled too. I tried to drink a glass – the rest of the wine putting up a good show – but the performance was overly dominated by the brett. I’m far from the most sensitive to this issue – but this was comfortably beyond my personal limits – the wine went down the sink. Over a certain age, it is often said that there are no good wines, just good bottles – well, this was neither of those.
Rebuy – No – hopefully some of the remaining bottles fair better…

Burgundy Report

Translate »

You are using an outdated browser. Please update your browser to view this website correctly: https://browsehappy.com/;