When I did my big tasting in Beaujolais, way back in April, there was a problem with one producer’s wine – so he asked if he could send a replacement – and while we were at it, why not the whole range?

Domaine Bertrand
“Bonnège”
69200 Charentay
Tel: +33 4 74 66 85 96
www.domainebertrand.fr

2015 Beaujolais Villages
Medium-plus colour. Fresh, a little herby, but with some flashes of pretty and precise red fruits. An obvious BJ fruit but also with vivacity and energy. Packing a mid-palate punch, this is a tasty wine which holds a great finish for the label. I like!

2014 Brouilly Pisse-Vielle
This time the back label says only Brouilly.
An open and fresh nose, perhaps a little smoke and menthol too. Much fresher wine, lots of energy with the backing of lots of herb-inflected fresh fruit. Bigger in the mouth but less fine than the Vuril. Impressively finishing, but I prefer the last wine.

2014 Fleurie
Modestly medium-plus coloured. Pinched top notes but a deeper bass-line of fresh fruit – it seems a little tight, but this nose remains very inviting. Lots of energy and complexity here – perhaps a little minerality too. A super, narrow line of intense flavour, perhaps with a hint of licorice in the finishing flavours. Tasty!

2013 Moulin-à-Vent Cuvée Infini(ment)
Deeper colour. Here is a nose that takes a little time to unwind but slowly offers more and more dark fruits edged with a little after-eight mintiness – cold from the fridge (it’s 30°C outside) there’s a clear creamy, oaky-vanilla impression, but as the wine warms it’s gone. Supple, and concentrated, here is some herb-edged dark fruit – but this is a wine of concentration – super texture and just a little bitter-chocolate finishing flavours to add to the fine blackcurrant fruit. Of all these, this is the one that would most obviously benefit from more cellar time – but I like the fact that it’s showing no obvious oak artifacts at a correct drinking temperature, despite its 25 months in barrel. Really super! I re-checked this on day 2, and the oak impression was much more forward – not my favourite when showing like this – but you should probably wait another 5 years…

To drink today, I think I’m going to take the Brouilly Vuril – a good set of wines…

2015 Beaujolais Blanc
From an argilo-calcaire soil.
Medium-pale lemon yellow colour. A pungently deep, sweet nose – some boiled sweets perhaps. Mouth-filling and with quite some concentration of sweet fruit, almost a little cloying – yet the acidity seems not so bad. A frank wine…

Two worthy wines, one of which offered much more pizzazz…

2011 Nicolas Rossignol, Volnay 1er Roncerets
There’s just a trace of oak on both the nose and flavours to this wine – nothing overdone, it’s just a faint accent. The wine itself is much more subdued than all the other 2011s I’ve drunk from Nico. It’s a tasty wine yet it’s also a wine that makes me think that I’m missing something. Quite possibly it has been scalped by the cork.
Rebuy – Maybe

2007 Camille Giroud, Chapelle-Chambertin
I seem to remember that the last time I tasted this wine it was a bit tight, surly and young. That’s really not the case today. The colour is rather light – certainly more-so than last weekend’s Camille Giroud 07 Cazetiers. This nose is almost but not quite as good as that wine – there’s a hint of a harder minerality in the aromas here – but wonderful depth of aroma too. In the mouth this belies its colour, offering dimensions of flavour with great clarity. Actually I’d still put it behind the Cazetiers for clarity, precision and deliciousness, but this is way improved on the last time I tried! And still yum!
Rebuy – Yes