Dinner with friends on Friday, so no note-taking, just a ‘hazy’ memory jotted down a couple of days later…

The house prosecco got the evening moving before changing gear with Chandon de Briailles’ 2007 Charlemagne which was golden coloured, smelled a little of oak, nuts, honey. The mouth showed power, muscle and again a little oak but great balance though a suggestion(?) of oxidation. Great wine, but perhaps showing a tad older than its 10 years. I’ve 2 more, so I’ll use one at Christmas to decide if the last is a short-term drinker or no.

The 2009 Chandon de Briailles Volnay 1er Caillerets was a rented vineyard at that time but unfortunately they no-longer have the contract. This was decanted, as previous bottles needed lots of air – I think it worked. Transparent, mineral and intense with beautiful clarity of fruit – you’d be hard pressed to guess that it came from 2009 – super!

Next up was the 2009 des Chezeaux/Ponsot Chambertin. This wine is often described as being a modest intensity Chambertin, but clearly it had more concentration, dimension and complexity than the Caillerets that it followed. Really great fruit – worth the Ponsot tariff? Not for my money, but for the Chezeaux label (exactly the same wine) then yes indeed. Not mind-changing Chambertin, but a great wine all the same.

There was a need for more wine 🙂 So I pulled out my last bottle of the 1991 Savour Club, Chapelle-Chambertin – and the best for last! This clearly had the best, most robust cork of these 1991s, it was also the only one of the last 3 or 4 bottles that was clear and bright in the glass. Actually the nose was a little behind my last bottle, but it was a tour de force in the mouth – complex, robust, great intensity and a peacock’s tail of flavour dimensions – great wine!

To revive the palate the next two days, two from Camille Giroud:

The 2010 Camille Giroud Bourgogne Cuvée L showed gorgeously floral aromatics that also carried over onto the palate – transparent and beautiful though missing a little mid-palate sweetness(?) Not as good as the magnum opened during Christmas 2015, but a great Bourgogne all the same.*

Finishing on Sunday with the 2007 Camille Giroud Corton Le Rognet – a wine that started with very modest aromatics, if deep. The palate shows another level of interest and complexity – really showing brilliantly today – like many 2007s. Muscle but with some cushioning texture and mouth-watering sweetness if long-lasting flavour. Excellent!

*’Bourgogne’ in name only. The few vintages where a cuvée L was produced saw all the lees from all the cuvees – Santenay to Chambertin – blended and then left to settle in tank for another 6+ months before bottling – so really its a blend of villages from Maranges to Marsannay with all the 1ers and grand crus included along the way…