2011 Alex Gambal St.Aubin 1er Murgers des Dents du Chien
Plenty of golden colour. A nose of salty biscuits, slowly adding, creamy, golden citrus. Aromatically, this is in great shape. In the mouth, we have depth, complexity and richness – really wide with some boiled sweets complexity – it’s really wide and long. This is absolutely singing. The nose becomes finer and more open, the finish cleaner and more refreshing – yes!!
And you know, this drank perfectly – and with complete stability – over three nights…
Rebuy – Yes

2021 Domaine de Bellene, Nuits St.Georges Vielles-Vignes
Red wax-topped, DIAM¹⁰ sealed…
Plenty of colour. Hmm. A nose of slightly reductive depth – muscular at the base – I have to say, it’s rather sexy… Wide over the palate, subtly cushioned with some sweetness of very well-integrated, slightly creamy-toasty oak. And then just holding. For such a youngster, this is so very, very drinkable. A few hours and the reduction is gone. I find this type of aromatic very attractive, but if you prefer to avoid it, decant – it will only take a few minutes to depart…
Rebuy – Yes

2019 Laurent Martray, Brouilly Sur Pierreux
Lots of colour. A nose of deep, dark fruit – an impression of dark chocolate and cranberry! Wide over the palette, my first impression is the width of graphite minerality – then the almost juicy dark fruit that supports the flavours. At the end, this is a silky wine of very sophisticated tannic texture. Such a big wine though, one that seems quite alcoholic unless you put it in the fridge for a time – then it will drink much too quickly. Delicious wine and with a juicy style despite the warmth of the fruit.
Rebuy – Maybe

A nice wine, and a very interesting wine, from a couple of days ago:

The Crémant from Chablis has been, effectively, my ‘house’ crémant for a few years now – Romain Collet knows his stuff. Delicious.

2022 Place of Changing Winds, Pinot Noir
Brave of me – eh? An Australian PN !! This was actually a gift, and it turned out to be a super bottle. The wine secured by a DIAM30, no less…
The colour was much more modest than I was expecting – there was plenty of restraint here. Likewise, the aromas were very perfumed, with crushed red fruit and a little floral too – very elegant, very inviting. The flavour shows good mouth-filling volume but similar restraint to the aromatics and ripeness that was evident in the aromas. Blind, there is nothing here that would prompt me to guess the US or Australia (for example) as the origin. We both found this wine delicious and drank it (fully!) over 2 nights.
Rebuy – Yes

Tasting at Domaine Roty is always a small marathon – this year extended with a few goodies.

Here you can laugh at my pathetic attempts to guess blind…

#1
Lots of colour but some small browning at the rim. This nose goes deep with soil and turned leaves, a small cushion too. Very fluid in the mouth – still plenty of bitters – and they stay present in the finish. I’m looking for ripe vintages here: My first guess is that it’s 2009 or even older but it’s not a 2003. This is clearly a vintage with a lot of phenolic maturity I feel it’s too mature for 2015, hence my 2009 guess – my second guess was correct, it actually is 2015. Trying to guess the wine, in such a range I’m a little lost, I guess Brunelle but it’s Fontenys….
2015 Roty, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Fontenys

#2
Smoky, roast notes – ooh that’s very beautiful, quite silky too – and no-longer something about the fruit. Cooler freshness – direct and energetic. Massive in tannic structure though practically grainless. I’m way off, I guess first 1998 then because ‘no, it’s much younger,’ 2008 – I’m obviously searching for very fresh vintages – it’s actually a 2009! Not just that, it’s the TVV – I’m shocked. But what a grand cru finish !!
2009 Roty, Charmes-Chambertin TVV

#3
Much more airy and there’s a freshness of aroma – a silky clarity of fruit too. Scale in the mouth, lovely energy – and what a growing complexity too – there are even still florals in this fruit. I think that this is clearly a grand cru finish – so many dimensions – a small cushion, still clarity. I’m thinking 2010 or 2012, but don’t have enough recent experience with 12s to be sure. PJ puts me out of my misery before I have to choose one – it’s 2012 Mazy!!
2012 Roty, Mazy-Chambertin

That was the goodies for today…

I hardly remember when I bought this wine; it was from a (Swiss) auction lot that included 2 0r 3 of these and half a dozen 1980 Charlemagnes that fit for a friend’s birthyear. The 1980s not from a great year, but the bottles were all sound and had a certain, stony, mineral, Charlemagne style. A couple of the DF’s were also drunk – though I have no memory of them – good or bad.

Fast forward 15 (probably more!) years later, and this last 1979 still sat in the ‘wine fridge’ – it’s actually a normal fridge, full of wine, that happens to be in the cellar !! I mentioned the bottle to Christine Dubreuil-Fontaine and she said that she didn’t think she’d ever tasted the 1979. So lunch, cooked by Christine, was in order to drink this – and it turned out to be lovely!

The 2017 wasn’t opened, it was just on hand to compare the old and the new…

1979 Dubreuil-Fontaine, Corton-Charlemagne
The cork came out in a number of pieces, so the wine was decanted.
This had some depth of golden yell colour – but not orange, or worse-still, brown! What an inviting nose; energy, ripe citrus – a certain sucrosity and all those signs of age, such as lanolin, and white chocolate – yet, with a super clarity too. Here the ‘wool’ wasn’t pulled over the eyes. The palate, like the nose also showed enviable clarity for the age of the bottle. Super architecture and a wonderfully tasty finish. We were all left very happy !!
Rebuy – No Chance!!

2023 Alain Burguet, Gevrey-Chambertin Mes Favourites Vieilles-Vignes
Plenty of colour. Large, forward, slightly spiced ripeness – becoming finer and more direct with air. In the mouth – ooh !! That’s fluid and quite mineral – wonderfully balancing the concentration. Fresh, mobile flavour – what a lovely wine – the nose just getting better and better.
Rebuy – Yes

What a shame – a case shared with the late Marko de Morey – because this was completely corked…

Newer converts to Burgundy, or indeed Sylvain Pataille may, understandably, have a little confusion.

The Marsannay village appellation was created in 1987. The neighbouring village (to the south) of Couchey was included in the new Marsannay Villages appellation, To the north of Marsannay, only the vines in the south of the village of Chenôve were included. Le Chapitre was more northerly so kept a Bourgogne label – until that changed in 2019.

Sylvain has two parcels of vines in Chapitre, and to his credit, since the first of these that I tasted with him, he always maintained that it should be a Marsannay label, indeed, worthy of a Marsannay 1er cru label !

I hope that I’ve one more…

2013 Buisson-Charles, Meursault 1er Goutte d’Or
The domaine likes to think that this vintage has a similar style to 2024 so…
The colour now with a golden hue. The flavours have that cushion of maturity, delivering white chocolate, white flowers and waxy lanolin – still in the youth of that. Hmm – there’s richness to this wine with a cushion to the shape and a very silky texture. The finish almost surprises with a more linear, almost a tiny austerity – that’s superb today…
Rebuy – Yes