I remembered a note from Allen Meadows on this wine, it went something like ‘Malconsorts as it should be, but so rarely is’. Having spotted this and a number of other potential gems in a merchants cellar, I quite forgot about 2005’s – this week at least!

Although the vineyard is quite large, you will rarely find this ‘Au-dessus des Malconsorts’ label – pehaps it uses too much ink – most producers simply choose to describe their wine as Malconsorts. Not all the maps show the location either, but you can see it on this older map, sitting at the top of Malconsorts and touching on today’s La Tâche.
1999 H & G Remoriquet, Vosne-Romanée 1er Au-Dessus des Malconsorts
Medium-plus colour – only the faintest traces of cherry-red still remain. The nose is absolutely splendid; forward, very wide, mineral, a little feral, hints of coffee, spice and spruce – it could only come from Vosne, and though it misses a touch of decorum, such is the complexity that you would expect (blind) that it was a very good grand cru. The bar is now set and I’m judging this wine to grand cru standards: The palate starts with a blast, wide interesting and complex – there’s little fat. It slowly fades rather than expands. Under their blanket of fruit the tannins are a little grainy and the finish is in the ‘good but not great’ category. This is an excellent 1er cru but misses a little mid-palate density and length for a truly fine grand cru. All the same, this is open for business and is a very ‘giving’ wine that brims with complexity and interest – if not elegance. Highly recommended…
Rebuy – Yes
Clicking on the dollar sign above I see (once more) that Berry Bros stock this wine – 31 bottles left – and at their case price of ~£22 per bottle it’s a bargain of epic proportions…

1998 H & G Remoriquet, Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Damodes
The colour is very deep and surprisingly still clings to a young, faint cherry-red hue. The nose is brooding, dense and very focused – eventually a little underbrush compliments the black-skinned fruit. Concentrated, slightly metallic flavours and plenty of well covered fine tannin are the first impressions followed by faintly mouth-watering acidity and a long, fresh finish. This wine impresses with its very fresh, linear and concentrated yet still quite primary delivery – it is quite aloof – haughty even – but there are no hard edges. I would say it will benefit from at least another 3 years in the cellar.
Rebuy – Yes

2001 Denis Bachelet, Bourgogne
Medium cherry-red. The nose is wide, faintly funky and softly sweet and red. The palate is relatively soft with a red fruit complexion but initially simple with slightly shrill acidity. Aeration bit-by-bit subdues the acidity and you are left with a soft and friendly wine that shows little tannin and a reasonable length. Given a similar performance on day two (the bottle spent the night in the fridge) it seems more of a temperature effect – quite tart cold, smoother at room temperature. Easy drinking.
Rebuy – Maybe

2004 Comte Armand, Auxey-Duresses
Medium yellow – perhaps already with a glint of gold. The nose started rather exotic and ripe but quickly settled to a core of brioche and sweet pastry with a faint pineapple rim. Almost lush in texture this gives the impression of being from a much riper year than 2004. Reaching the mid-palate the texture is a little less smooth and rolls into a medium finish. Nice, but probably just a little heavy in the mid-palate for a rebuy chez Nanson.
Rebuy – Maybe

1999 Ghislaine Barthod, Chambolle-Musigny
Medium, medium-plus ruby-red colour. The nose is very high toned, just a little metallic and is faintly red in tone – over 90 minutes there is little more showing. A little sweetness, rather linear and some intensity too. The acidity is mouth-watering and the length almost good. Linear and giving little today – but many villages and 1er cru wines from 1999 are showing in quite a similar way right now. Seems an okay wine but one that’s best left in the cellar for at least a couple more years. Day two this has much more depth and interest – confirming that it’s time to leave in the cellar.
Rebuy – Maybe

1998 Denis Mortet, Gevrey-Chambertin
Medium-plus ruby-red colour. The nose still shows plenty of woodsmoke and a trace of ash – time in the glass brings higher tones and fainter red fruits to fill the scene. Very good texture with a real extra dimension of creamy black fruit on the mid-palate and into a finish that still shows a little bitter oak. The oak is far from dominant on the palate but is still a loud voice. The tannins remain grainy and a little astringent. For my taste the oak is one or two notches too high – still.
Rebuy – No

Okay, okay – I know this a 1er Cru and costs much more than the village Barthod, but I needed to see some improvement to get me over the awful weekend weather. What we have here is a wine that Burgundy afficionados will swirl and cajoule, sniff and slurp and find many subtle facets. Those who prefer their wines more ‘up-front’ might be left a little disappointed :
2001 Bertagna, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Plantes
Medium ruby-red colour. The nose is quite creamy with toffee-edged understated red fruit and wider higher tones. The palate is rather fine but rather slender; it’s very well textured with faintly grained tannin and really good length. I think it needs a little extra density for stardom, but this is a lovely subtle and complex wine.
Rebuy – Yes

I bought a full case of this ‘en-primeur’ – frankly almost every bottle has disappointed due to an excess of sulfur;
Bottle one – undrinkable for 2 days due to strong bottle stink (1999), bottle 2 (2001) undrinkable as the sulfur never lifted – even after 2 days. Bottle 3 (2004) started stinky but slowly improved becoming almost good as did another bottle last year – here’s another try.
1996 Ghislaine Barthod, Chambolle-Musigny
A soft and spongy cork. The colour is a medium-plus ruby red showing just a faint amber edge. The first note is a hard sulfur note and it takes quite some time to lift, slowly a quite striking violet note over soft red cherry comes through – quite a compelling impression. The palate starts quite short, but lengthens in tandem with the improvement in the nose. The tannin is still quite astringent and the overall impression is still a little harsh. The acidity is good and the nose eventually shines but this wine remains the Curate’s egg. If you want to drink now, decant or open a couple of hours before pouring.
Rebuy – No
I’ll give the 1999 a run for its money this week to see if I can say something nice about a Barthod – everyone else thinks they’re great!

1996 Leroy (Maison) Bourgogne Rouge
I bought a case of this in ’98 and that first bottle majored on mouth-puckering acidity; time has worked a little magic. Medium ruby red. The nose is a mix sweet red cherry and not too heavy plum. Nicely textured, this is elegant, again nicely plummy red fruit with very good but certainly not overstated acidity. The finish is understated and interesting. The table finished this bottle in double-quick time! There’s lots of life left in these bottles.
Rebuy – Yes