Just back, here are a few more from the album:
Clark is off on one – as they say – but there are flashes of brilliance therein.
Anyway, and more imprtantly, we are in the Côtes. That’s not just the ‘Royal We’, chauffeuse and dog included – even some selfless tasting by the driver too – what a brick. Starting on Tuesday in Meursault, moving to Volnay than south again to Puligny – tough day. My sensitive tooth survived the acidity of day one, but will the Sensodyne stand up to Wednesday? Santenay, Meursault and Santenay again – selfless I call it – you really don’t understand the sacrifices! 😉
A few pics from Tuesday & Wednesday:
Friday. The last day of (almost) sun in the côtes – it was a little misty, but dry. I can’t ever remember walking through the vines in September in ‘normal’ shoes – the ground was so dry. Lots of work was being done replacing old/dead vines and even a bit of ploughing here and there before the rain that was forecast for the weekend.
The pictures that follow are mainly from around and in the Clos St.Jean (1er) in Chassagne-Montrachet. It’s not every autumn that the chardonnay and pinot vines are so well delineated in the vineyard – and yes, the red ones are the pinot!
The evening was a mini-paulée of sorts. This week saw the conclusion of the harvest for the home team – yes even grapes were harvested! A parcel of Hautes Côtes was picked on Monday – the grapes were nothing special but will make a very good rosé – as some vignerons would say, they were still too good for Cremant! The majority of the harvest team (stageurs) were still at the domaine so a dinner seemed appropriate! Two whites; a 2003 Jomain Puligny Perrières was a surprising smooth and interesting aperitif – far from ideal acidity but in a very nice shape – followed by a lovely 2007 Javilier Meursault Clos du Cromin. The reds were a world tour; The previously tasted (here) Donatsch 2008 ‘Passion’, a Californian (non-pinot) whose name I forget, a South African (Danie de Wet) Nature in Concert Pinot and finally a 1990 Lafarge Beaune 1er Grèves. See – we were quite modest 😉
Musical backdrop to the 2010 vintage: Citizen Cope – thanks Amy!
It’s clearly an indian summer in the côtes – and we really have something of the golden hillside as a backdrop.
Three lovely visits yesterday, three more today and four appointments each on Thursday and Friday. I thnk I have just the one appointment on Saturday – that should be enough as ‘part recovery’ – when I visit Thomas Bouley. I’ll be able to ask him about the following…
2007 Jean-Marc Bouley, Volnay Clos de la Cave
This is a wine that changed so much over 30 minutes that it almost requires two tasting notes. Drunk over a dinner in the Ermtage de Corton. It started medium colour and with quite a stemmy and not particularly attractive nose. The palate was a little lightweight and I didn’t percieve that much balance. Moving on. From about 30 minutes onwards, I had the impression that the colour had deepened (probably a little more wine in the glass!) and the nose was padding out with more red fruit aromas around the core of stems – not ‘gorgeous’ but now quite engaging. The palate had also transformed, delivering more padding and flavour so at the same time easing the acidity. The last drops were quite balanced and those of a very nice wine. I expect Thomas will be recommending that I get a bit more air into his cuvées!
Rebuy – Yes
A Meursault Gallery – Pictures from 12. Oct. 2010
Monday was a beautiful day in the Côtes – around 30°c.
I visited 2 new producers and caught up with another 2, getting home just in time to watch Brazil wrap up their passage to the quarter-final.
Yesterday I visited the high-end furniture producer Vitra – they are based just over the border from me in Germany – a cool Herzog & de Meuron designed place, it’s like Ikea for millionaires I suppose 😉
I thought I’d share a few photos…
Impressed with my dexterity in Photoshop? Actually it is just a moody (blurred!) image from my phone…
Only a few days after a day-trip to Mürren we find ourselves in Klosters – well it is the season! Mainly blue sky, but getting a little warm with sticky snow by lunchtime – good for delivering the characteristic red nose though!
The long-legged redhead went to ‘doggy-daycare’ with 12-13 other daytime-abandoned dogs, delivering the perfect evening example of ‘dog-tired’.
A couple of evening wines – both 2003 whites – might be of interest for you. First up was the 2003 Vincent Girardin, Corton-Charlemagne which delivered an even better performance than this last bottle – whilst not ‘fresh’, I certainly wasn’t longing for more acidity. To follow, came the 2003 Vincent Girardin, Chevailier-Montrachet and what an impressive bottle – and I mean the bottle – a super-deep punt and heavy glass. On pouring, nothing untoward on the colour, but the nose has the first whiffs of oxidation – annoying rather than destructive. Across the palate this is certainly balanced enough and displays a generous extra mass versus the Charlemagne, the texture is good too. Unfortunately this is linear and young – tasty, but little overt complexity – just what you don’t want to hear after the oxidative hints on the nose. That’s a shame, as non-oxidising bottles won’t be anywhere near peaking in the next 5 years…
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