The nose needed just a few minutes to deliver its perfume of cushioned dark red fruit – perhaps not as ethereal as the first bottle, but lovely none-the-less. Once more a very clean and tasty wine delivering volume, dimension and still a little tannin. Very nice length, that’s still dominated by the fruit. What a lovely, elegant yet still robust wine.
Villages
2006 Mischief and Mayhem Puligny-Montrachet
Golden colour. The nose has more than a little butterscotch and a core of floral aromas – eventually an appealing, if slightly disconcerting balsamic note that reminds me more of a red wine. The has a whack of quite powerful flavour, waxy silkiness and sufficient (plenty in a 2006 context) acidity for good balance. The finishing flavour is long with a hint of mineral, but also a trace of oxidation. Fully enjoyed, that oxidative note certainly not spoiling things but it would remind me to finish these up and replace with a younger vintage.
1969 Bourée Pierre Fils Nuits St.Georges
Medium colour. To start with there is no aroma at all, very slowly there is hint of beef broth and a more impressive and sweeter acid cherry. Very silky. You have the taste impression that somewhere there there lies a hint of oxidation but it’s buried under a sweet red note and never becomes more than a suggestion. Pretty with a fine, if understated acidity. Very stable in the glass, and with a lovely core of fruit. My run of excellent 69s continues…
1999 Arlaud Chambolle-Musigny
Rather deeply coloured, and it still looks quite young. The nose is deep and a little meaty, yet is classically (some might say clichéd) Chambolle-Musigny with its very pretty floral top notes – the bass notes are perhaps meatier than your average Chambolle but that’s probably the slow march to maturity. Round, clearly with plenty of extract and a lovely diminuendo into the mouth-watering finish. The tannins give a little astringency if you keep the wine in your mouth, but if you ‘just drink’, the word that comes into my mind is ‘luxurious’. Young but very drinkable. I can only dream that the rest of my 99s would perform to this level right now.
2007 Eugénie Vosne-Romanée
Medium-plus colour. I have an impression of a little coffee at the centre of this wine’s aromas, but mainly this is a clean and almost 2006-style of Vosne with a textured depth to the aromas, edged with a little dark minerals – very fine. Across the tongue there’s nothing of the facile sweetness that some 2007s display, but there is a little of that borderline lack of ripeness that some other producer’s wines show – in this case it is on a really low level and adds an interesting element. There’s no denying the extra dimension of flavour it the end of the mid-palate. An excellent 2007 indeed.
2007 Pavillon Beaune Les Epenottes
Medium, medium-plus colour. This has a nose that starts with quite a bit of vanilla – it’s also reflected in the early flavours – not my favourite but it just about avoids excess; behind is a raspberry coulee, and very nice that is! In the mouth this has the weight of a 1er cru Epenottes and a good ripe aspect to the fruit which lingers on an understated but fine line of acidity. If told this was a 1er cru from Beaune I don’t expect you’d quibble – though you might reject the barrel vanilla. Over 2-3 hours the unneccessary vanilla make-up fades significantly from both the aromas and flavours but underneath is a wine of excellent value.
1972 Bourée Pierre Fils Gevrey-Chambertin
This one has about 7cm of ullage and a cork that crumbles – c’est la vie…
Here is also some balsamic aroma but it’s just a trace, there’s a little beef broth too – neither are my favourite. Slowly both of those components fade to reveal a wine of clarity, silky intensity and a lovely extra creamy dimension of flavour in the mid-palate and into the bright finish. There’s a result! The fruit aromas are of alcohol macerated cherries and oranges. I started to make a coffee in the first few minutes this was opened – I never did finish making it! 😉
2006 Monnot Xavier Pommard Les Vignots
Medium-plus colour, still with purple highlights. The nose is reasonably forward but a bit burly and bulky with hints of cola, only after the bottle has been opened a couple of hours do you start to get some clear, clean and quite pretty fruit notes but it’s only from the last drops in the glass. Like the nose, this a broad-shouldered wine and it wears it’s tannin without a hint of reserve – but the tannin is ripe and not too grippy. There’s a nice breath of fresh acidity and a reasonable length, but I’m missing some excitement – not sure if it’s this wine or also a bit of 2006 thing – will have to check on some.