Saturday, with more Gueguen 2014 Chablis as the chaser 😉

2011 Nicolas Rossignol, Volnay 1er Les Santenots
Santenots can be a big, meaty, concentrated and tannic. This is a pussycat – round, open, layered and very, very tasty wine. Just perfectly balanced and in delivery too. Very yum!
Rebuy – Yes

2010 des Croix, Beaune 1er Les Pertuisots
A fine but slightly narrow aromatic – the fabulous violet florals of its youth seem absent though. In the mouth, like the nose it seems narrow, but then opens out wider and wider in a really complex and engaging mid-palate. Modest to start, really something in the finish. A wine for the future.
Rebuy – Yes

 
Thursday/Friday’s CHA-CHA wines – CHAblis and CHAmbertin:

2014 C et F Gueguen, Chablis
Super wine – classic chablis with just a little extra richness of flavour in the mid-palate than I might expect from a villages wine. Sinuous, fine acidity, moreish. And so was the second bottle 😉
Rebuy – Yes

1998 Camus, Chambertin
A polarising producer, because the wines are never quite at the highest performance level; but, if you look only at the value they offer – €/glass – the wines are, in my opinion, usually super. Direct, this bottle cost only about €25 in 2003, even today the latest release is well under €60. The nose was involving and a little virile. Expansive on the palate, not harsh or with troubling (1998) tannin. Just a great drink that we were all sorry to see finished – and it cost less than €25. Not a great Chambertin, but not a poor Chambertin either, and for less than many, many 1er crus. This is entering it’s plateau of enjoyable maturity – I think it will hold for the next 10-20 years – that’s maybe longer than me 😉 Whilst we can all reflect on the loss of ‘potential’ this was simply a great wine for the price. Value, more today than ever, has its place. I’m must thank that I followed my palate, rather than convention – so there are still 3 more in the cellar!
Rebuy – Yes

Not so much a tasting note, as an appreciation note!

As part of this month’s Volnay project (all the producers in the village!) I met with Alain Billard who lives and vinifies in Volnay, but his ‘tasting/selling’ room is actually the other side of the hill in Monthelie.

Like all the producers I’ve visited, I’ve tried to concentrate on their Volnay wines, even if they do have Rugiens! After tasting his excellent Volnays Alain suggested something ‘a little older’ and asked me what – I stumped him by suggesting the Beaune, his vines neighbour those of Lafarge. It turns out he has very little stock but found this bottle – I thought it excellent. Indeed I thought it so good I said I’d buy it for my evening apero – he refused cash and pushed the bottle into my eager hands.

I decided to run before dinner and apero – it was a modest 50 minutes up and around the ‘mountain’ of Beaune. As I walked the last 400m to my apartment (so being moderately less sweaty on arrival) I met a friend and asked them – ‘fancy a coffee – or a wine?‘ 45 minutes later there was no more wine – that’s all you need to know – a really super wine from a lovely, unheralded producer. Yum!

A great wine and a good wine…

2010 Patrick Puize, Chablis Terroir de Fyé
A golden colour. Hmm, lovely nose, a little development, a little honey, a little mineral reduction – lovely and very inviting. Yup! This has gorgeously flowing flavours and seemingly a little fat to the texture – wonderfully balanced with the acidity. Almost impossible for two people not to drink the whole bottle. Fortunately we were two, so I didn’t have to test the hypothesis with 1 person! 😉
Rebuy – Yes like a shot!

2011 Jean-Claude Cluzeaud, Volnay Beau Regard
Medium-plus colour. The nose starts all big and bulky – just a dense block of dark-red fruit. I decanted. After 30 minutes the nose has opened with a lighter, wide note that is almost a textured sweet herb and a narrow but deep red fruit note. Bright acidity, red fruit, a nice extra dimension of fruit in the mid-palate. Really good finishing width. Whilst this may benefit from cellar time, this is very drinkable today. Not the clarity of flavour of the vintages either side, but this is a good wine and so I’m not sure I’d wait…
Rebuy – Maybe