Ignoring for a second 2004, 1995 is the red vintage from recent memory that disappoints me the most – this wine is something of a poster-child for the vintage – it’s just not as good now as it was 5 years ago. The slightly hard personality is becoming more and more reminiscent of the 1994 vintage. Plenty of time left for an improvement I suppose…

1995 Dujac, Morey St.Denis
Medium ruby-red colour with a faint browning at the rim. The nose is sweet and rather stemmy, there’s a faint beefy note that has me flirting with the notion of brett, and some mixed herbs. In the mouth the wine starts narrow, slowly opening over tongue. The acidity is a little sharp and metallic in flavour, it makes you forget to look for tannin, which whilst understated, is still a little blocky. Reasonable length and some sweetness, but today, no love.
Rebuy – No

Not that cheap, but a very good wine:

2006 Bouchard Père et Fils, Monthélie 1er Clos les Champs Fulliot
This is a ‘domaine’ wine. Medium-plus cherry-red colour. There’s width and interest on this perfumed, high-toned nose – very pretty indeed, almost in a Volnay style. The texture has a slightly gravelly tannin as its base, but the balance is very, very good. There’s some faint licorice flavours in the finish from what is otherwise a red-fruit dominated performance. Oh and it’s quite a good finish too.
Rebuy – Yes

2000 Antonin Guyon, Corton-Charlemagne
Medium-plus golden colour. Despite the colour, there is no trace of oxidation here, rather it is forward but well integrated sweet brioche oak, behind is a good, freshly mineral base. Concentrated, silkily, waxily smooth texture. The acidity is understated and the flavours are a mix of the mineral and savoury. Very mineral finish that is also very long. This should be at it’s best in another 4 or 5 years, but it did rather on day1 – day two was even better!
Rebuy – Yes

A couple of weekend bottles. Somebody else’s house and glassware made for puzzling performances from both of these wines – in both cases totally unlike the last bottles I tasted:

2007 Mischief & Mayhem, Puligny-Montrachet
Wow this bursts with toasty-ness, brioche and just about everything but fruit. There is concentration and acidity but no togetherness. The sweet fruit across the tongue held it together, but it seemed quite peculiar.
2004 Pascal Lachaux, Clos St.Denis
Hmm, whilst the 04 character is very, very tiny (like before), the aromas are rather diffuse and slightly stemmy. In the mouth there is some balance, but the texture and concentration of the last bottle seems largely absent…

I was bemused – perhaps it was the piercing Muscat we started with!

I may have criticised the last Bouchard (the Mercurey) for it’s relative (versus quality) value, and here is a wine that has more than doubled in price since the 2002 vintage, yet despite being unhappy about that, there is something innate and worth paying for in a good Volnay – and this has the potential for very good!

2006 Bouchard Père et Fils, Volnay 1er Caillerets Cuvée Carnot
The nose shows a width of creamy red fruit and perhaps has a rose-petal dimension too – really very pretty. Plenty of concentration, the tannin is slightly forward but of velvet texture. A good additional fruit dimension in the mid-palate with understated but balancing acidity. The flavour of the finish remains very barrel-influenced today, but is very long. Will be super.
Rebuy – Yes

2006 Confuron-Cotetidot, Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Medium cherry-red. Sweet, only slightly smokey stems, rather candied red/blue fruit. The palate is as sweet as the nose, with understated acidity. Occasional sips give a padded, slightly plush texture, but most show a mid-palate/tannins with a slightly astringent, sharp effect. Quite long finishing, but this far from a ‘together’ wine. Day two, less aromatically interesting, but more ‘together’ on the palate. I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and say wait another year or two – it’s not really for today though…
Rebuy – Maybe