The 1997s have been a revelation in the last year; they were quite good when young but then entered a long phase of spicy, leathery aromatics with neither focus nor distinction – for a long time 1997 was aromatically one of my least favourite vintages. Today it’s quite different for the better wines because their true secondary aromas are now centre-stage. Here another great showing…

1997 des Chézeaux, Griotte-Chambertin
This is the Leclerc version of this wine, that said – today it’s super. It lacks the fabulous delicacy and perfect palate of the Ponsot bottling but is certainly more robust than my last one of those – after 30 minutes my last Ponsot was becoming oxidised – I’m not sure I have enough bottles remaining to determine whether that was just the cork or the cuvée…
A beautiful nose of clean, sous-bois, deep and silky – it’s an open invitation to drink. Mouth-filling, sweet-fruited, with layers of flavour – simply delicious. There’s a slight balsamic aspect to the acidity – but in a good if not totally caressing way – holding a good density of flavour in the middle. The finish could be longer, but given the delicious nature of what’s gone before, I’ve nothing to complain about here. Super wine! There is none left for day 2 – always a strong indication of how a wine is drinking…
Rebuy – Yes

A long weekend – in much of Europe the Pfingst/Pentecost weekend means an extra day. My choice of wines saw a poor start but getting better:

1997 Sylvain Cathiard, Vosne-Romanée 1er Malconsorts
Oof – not a great nose – balsamic and with brett. If you can get the wine past your nose and into your mouth, this tastes rather good – showing hardly any of the disappointment of the nose – but it’s a big ‘IF.’ More of this was left or used for cooking than was actually drunk – that tells all that you need to know. The only positive thing I can say about brett, is that every bottle will be different – just as well as I have 2 or 3 more of these!
Rebuy – No

2005 JC Boisset, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Les Sepentières
A deeper colour. More depth of fresh and clean aroma – a little graphite and dark fruit. Deep, young fruit here – concentration and super depth. Archetypal young, but not closed, 2005. Perhaps the mid-palate and finish of the Cathiard were nicer, but you had to get past that wine’s nose – no easy task. Bravo wine for the appellation.
Rebuy – Yes

1993 François Jobard, Meursault 1er Genevrières
Deep golden. No oxidation, though a nose that starts rather abruptly – slowly some pineapple is released, then stem ginger, finally a ripe and waxy lemon. Just like the nose, the first impression over the palate is of something a little angular – a wine of rigour. Air changes things, always, seemingly for the better with this wine. It relaxes, becomes silkier and manages to ingrain its flavour into the palate. Never a wine of total deliciousness but always a wine of robust complexity and interest. Intellectual rather than sumptuous. Excellent!
Rebuy – Yes

2013 Camus, Latricières-Chambertin
A nose with a little green about it, but just tipping the balance towards mint rather than herbaceousness. Light across the palate but complex too. A volume of cushioned, airy, focused red-fruited flavour. Long finishing young wine. Not the concentration of either of the previous reds – a modest 1er cru level – except that it was the most open and complex finishing of these.
Rebuy – Maybe

Samples shipped to me by Fabien Dupperay’s PR company – there’s €10 there, just in corks…

I tasted some of these just one year ago with Fabien (here for subscribers), but they were still in tank as he bottles late – he was planning for August 2017. Here I get to try the finished product.

2015 Fleurie
From Morriers and Chapelle du Bois
Very deep colour – if not quite saturated. The nose starts a little yeasty – it needs air. A couple of minutes are enough to release such an impressive depth of kirsch-style dark fruit – it remains a little tight above though. Hmm, this wine melts into the palate, ingraining itself, initially with an inky depth of fruit before emphasising the mineral. The flavour is direct and carried with deft freshness – no mean feat given the concentration. This is great Fleurie!

2015 Chénas Judgement Derniere
Only 9-10 hl/ha
Just a shade lighter in colour. A much rounder and initially brighter nose – there’s some zing – a vibration to the red fruit here. A more overt freshness, here with a very fine but present tannin – texturally it’s a drag over the tongue rather than any apparent grain. Holding a width of impressive flavour in the finish with a more licorice aspect in those flavours. Rounder and redder in character, a wine to wait for – or you will have to take a carafe and wait two hours – then you have more focus, more silk and it becomes the only wine from these five that brings a lovely perfume of violet flowers. Modestly attractive if you pop and pour, but treat it well and you will be rewarded.

2015 Morgon
Back to the deep colour of the Fleurie. Here is a tight nose, one that implies a concentration of dark fruit at its core – but without letting you touch it! Sleek, fresh, like the Chénas it’s showing a little dryness but on a lower level to that wine. It’s brooding, mega-serious stuff, yet open in the finish and fabulously long. Definitely a wine for those with patience, but it has everything going for it – incisive flavour and a hauntingly long finish. Great wine but easily the most backward/least accessible today versus the last two.

2015 Moulin à Vent
25 hl/ha – his highest yield in 2015!
Deep colour. A nose of width, energy and a little spice to the slightly reductive, hence, darker fruit. Extra volume – a mouth-filling wine of energy and concentration – faint bitters in the finish – but this is such a bravado performance – there’s almost braggadocio here. Flavour that melts over the palate into the finish – such a delicious, complex and long finish. If you just want to pop and pour, this is the most delicious and giving of all these today.

2015 Moulin à Vent Les Michelons
A deep colour. There’s such a depth of aroma but there’s an overall tightness too – like the Morgon – don’t touch! Slowly it starts to add some floral complexity. Ooh – despite all that has gone before, there is more volume and energy here and a more overtly mouth-watering, juiciness of flavour too. Juicy, but it’s not all fruit, there’s lots of minerality here. Beautiful texture that’s accented with a hint of dryness. Another great wine, whose energy makes this very accessible.

The Chénas is showing a little behind its siblings today – unless you have a carafe and a little patience – the others are more obviously great wines.

For all their €2 corks, lovingly applied wax capsules and beautiful presentation, the price of these wines is shocking by the standards of Beaujolais, though still quite modest when compared to the Côte d’Or. I’ve no problem with such pricing when people get it right – I’ve placed an order!