I’ve had a good run of ‘upper-end’ bottles, so now it’s time to have a modest week or maybe even two! I’ve not had a wine from this domaine before, and the label is not that inviting – it reminds me of bottles on supermarket shelves, but let’s see…

2005 Maillard Père et Fils, Beaune
Medium-plus colour. The nose starts with sweet, toasty caramel oak and some associated savoury notes – over time it has a more floral, violets dimension. Sweet fruit with glinting acidity – it’s a nice balance – the tannin of the backbone has depth but is fine and ripe. Relatively linear in the mid-palate – I’m not sure if that’s because it’s tight or because I just finished a Griottes! Well-made and tasty wine.
Rebuy – Yes

Did I mention there was also a Griotte to open? – well, it’s so long since I opened the Fourrier! Now I should also correct myself; Esmonin was one of the rare bottlers to say ‘Griottes’ rather than Griotte!

An interesting trio these 99 Esmonins; the Mazy was smooth but full of concentration, power and not a little tension. The Ruchottes was equally smooth but of a lower order of concentration and showing a little oak – then there’s the Griottes which (frankly) far from met expectations; perhaps technically a less good wine than the Mazy, but from a character perspective, the best of the three – now you don’t often get to say that about Griotte(s)!

1999 Frédéric Esmonin, Griottes-Chambertin
Medium, medium-plus colour – still with a little cherry-red shimmer. The nose has a mineral, earthy edge before swirling releases dried currant fruits, finally lovely red berry fruit – even hints of raspberry – hmmm. Intense concentration abetted by perfect acidity. The tannin is is just a little more than ‘background’, and certainly has an astringent edge. I’m bowled over – a Griotte with real character and a little extra dimension in the mid-palate – a Gevrey dimension at that. Chalk and cheese versus the 02 Fourrier – today I’d much, much rather drink this. Character is king…
Rebuy – Yes

1999 Frédéric Esmonin, Ruchottes-Chambertin
Medium, medium-plus colour – paler than the Mazy. The nose starts quite dark and oaky – some dark toast notes that take at least 30 minutes to lift. Redder, less dense fruit is the result, though the dark oak slowly turns to make a nice coffee ‘coating’. Nicely balanced concentration with background velvet tannin. Truth be told it has more of a 1er cru weight, the only distinct grand cru element is the mid-palate flavour – pretty red fruit with a distinct creamy edge and excellent length. Some distance behind the quality of the Mazy, and there are probably better premier crus, but they will cost more than this bottle – value has always been the watchword on the Esmonin GCs, and there is plenty of value in this bottle.
Rebuy – Yes
[Next stop the 99 Griotte – I just had to do it!]

The weather was quite warm, so first I opened the bottle, then I left it in the refrigerator for about 90 minutes – clearly it would start too cold, but would be teased to the right temperature in the glass.

1999 Frédéric Esmonin, Mazy-Chambertin
Medium-plus colour, still with some last vestige of cherry-red. Right from pouring, cold – say 12°-ish – the nose was just a gorgeously smooth interpretation of macerating dark cherry – wow! The palate, however, was tight, linear, hinting towards tannin but delivering only a dark, faintly oaky but very long finish. As the contents of the glass slowly warm the nose adds a little coffee though slightly tightens, the flavours are expanding though, and with them, the tannin seems to be diminishing. Eventually a herbal complexity fills out the aromas. The palate becomes more intense and builds a sweetness – not a ripe vintage, confiture type of sweetness, rather an intensity of sweetness at the back of the palate. A very young, but very rewarding performance – I really wish I’d bought more, not just this wine, but Mazy (Mazis) in general.
Rebuy – Yes