2006 Lucie et Auguste Lignier, Morey St.Denis 1er Les Chaffots
I followed advice; double decanted and left for 1 hour before pouring – hmmm…
2006 Lucie et Auguste Lignier, Morey St.Denis 1er Les Chaffots
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is darkly-fruited, a little mineral and spicy – it almost smells tannic – very interesting and open, time makes it a little creamier and just a shade redder. Despite ‘smelling’ tannic, the considerable structure is almost entirely hidden under a smooth, slightly linear but intense dark fruit. There is an impressive extra dimension of faintly creamy, dark fruit that forms a reprise in the finish. Today it’s far from an elegant pinot – you will have to wait for that – but it is an exciting and rumbustious mouth-full of Morey – serious fun, in a glass. Rebuy – Yes
2000 Bouchard Père et Fils, Chablis 1er Montmains
Just a little darker than last week’s 02 Perrières, but frankly nothing more than a medium gold – no alarm bells. The nose is deep, a little exotic and not really hinting of oxidation, more about toffee-edged fruit – not exactly Chablis-esque, but way-ahead of the Perrières. In the mouth it’s also better – but not by much, clearly showing a strong oxidative character. Actually quite drinkable – but tastes like a 20+ year-old wine. I’m not sure where the border is with respect to fair/not fair to complain about oxidised 1er cru Chablis – but I know it’s not 7 and a bit years after bottling… Rebuy – No
Just a ‘test’ to see how my 2006s are holding. My original note for this wine (below) is from October last year, so here is an 8/9 months-on update:
The wine needs at least 30 minutes to resemble the previous bottle, but slowly those lovely violet aromas come through. In the mouth it has another flavour component – that of licorice, the bitter edge to the tannin is already lost. Still open, and currently delivering even more pleasure than on release…
2006 des Varoilles, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos des Varoilles
A slight update to the label for this vintage. Only just a little more than medium colour. Wide, quite high-toned floral, violet aromatics, underneath a more cherry-type fruit. The palate is soft, slightly fat and shows good fruit that’s edged with a little bitter chocolate / coffee. A reasonable amount of decently grained tannin – perhaps not 100% ripe given a trace of bitterness, but tannin fades. Good acidity and a very nice burst of interest in the mid-palate. Drunk over 3 days it was just a little better each day and the only thing lost was that bitter edge to the tannin. A very nice 2006. Rebuy – Yes
2007 Chézeaux, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Charmes
I don’t think I’ve opened too many 07 reds at home yet – but this is a resoundingly successful start! The Ponsot wines are bottled, but not yet in the distribution chain, but as you see here a few of the Chézeaux labelled bottles are just beginning to appear. Of-note, I see that the various imperfections of the cork are filled with a white material – I checked with Laurent Ponsot and he said:
“Nowadays, all the corks are sold with a very thin silicone film. And when a cork is (as the one on the picture) full with encrusted grains, the silicone gets in. That is what you can see lightly white. This procedure (silicone) is necessery to use the corking machines just after bottling. Nearly nobody is still putting the corks by hand. You just need your hand to… uncork the bottle to drink it and hopefully to love it !”
2007 Chézeaux/Ponsot, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Charmes
Medium colour. The nose is intense red fruit, slightly dried and creamy cranberry in aspect. Lovely freshness, depth without overt concentration and impressive dimension(s) of fruit in the mid-palate. Even without real intensity I’m rather smitten – the complexity is enough! Nice length, the last few drops in the glass provide a gorgeous redcurrant aroma – really super! Rebuy – Yes
2006 Lucie et Auguste Lignier, Morey St.Denis Vieilles Vignes
I like the development of the branding here. The shell at the centre of the label, inter-twined with the scripted ‘L’ has remained constant, but the whole design now has more integrity end elegance. There is also a nice working of the capsule with the domaine name on the collar – but enough of such peripheral things – what about the wine? Well I was thinking of a ‘Rebuy – No’ for the first hour, but the wine really turned on the charm and turned around my vote after aeration…
2006 Lucie et Auguste Lignier, Morey St.Denis Vieilles Vignes
Medium, medium-plus colour. For over one hour there’s a slightly reductive, foisty cardboard behind the fruit – it’s not TCA and it’s not on the palate. Slowly the fruit comes to the fore and 99% covers the cardboard – and it’s lovely fruit – red-black and edged with a little toffee and old-vine cream. In the mouth it needs about 30 minutes to build to a decent level of concentration and nice texture, there’s also a good lick of ripe tannin in and around the mid-palate. Depth of fruit and a nice finish. One third of the bottle was saved for day 2 – and it turned out really well – no strange smells, just brilliant red berry fruit and creamy depth, really super. I blame some reduction for the initial aroma note, as the oxygenation certainly cured it! Rebuy – Yes
For Info: I ran this by Kellen Lignier, and she confirmed that she bottles with a lot of carbon dioxide and recommends at least 1 hour of aeration/decanting – for the next bottle, ‘will-do’!
2002 Bouchard Père et Fils, Meursault 1er Les Perrières
I’d heard rumours of its demise, but only now have the rooks come home to roost (chez moi). The wine retains an overly optimistic young hue given that both the aromas and flavours are coloured by oxidation – this wine has passed. I will drink my last bottle over the weekend; either to enjoy or to further commiserate.
2007 Domaine Vrignaud, Chablis 1er Fourchaume
Pale yellow. Faintly citrus over an even fainter sweet core of yellow fruit. Nice freshness that’s emphasised by the citrus acidity. Not a really concentrated nor intense effort but there is a hint of salty seashore in the mid-palate and the bottle was finished in double-quick time on a balmy evening. Despite the intensity being more on a par with a good villages wine, this is quite pretty and still seems good value. Rebuy – Maybe
2007 Michel Bouzereau, Meursault Les Grands Charrons
2007 Michel Bouzereau, Meursault Les Grands Charrons
Medium-pale yellow. The nose starts a little diffuse. In the mouth it’s very fresh but seems overly dilute – I think it’s too cold – let’s wait for the contents of the glass to warm a little. Warmer, the nose is a little tighter though offers slightly sherbert-style fruit aromas. In the mouth it’s gained a surprising amount of fat – this now almost good – slowly lingering in the finish. Quite pretty, fresh and clean – it’s tasty, but it says Meursault on the label and much as I enjoyed it, I’m torn as to whether I see that level of performance. Rebuy – Maybe
