Well, it’s so rare that anyone seems to drink anything more than 3 years old, I thought I might as well list them! Fortunately the vintage played right into my preference zone, the 2007s easily the best for me! Nice to see that these were all so fresh too!

2008 Domaine du Chardonnay, Chablis 1er Vaillons
Deep, green-fruited aromas. Bright and fresh in the mouth, indeed nicely mouth-watering, super Chablis, but the green fruit, which is common in 08 is not my favourite as it sometimes tends towards asparagus.
Rebuy – Maybe
2008 Domaine du Colombier, Chablis Bougros
A similar colour nose to the last wine, just a little more airy and fresher. Intense and direct flavours with an extra cushioning, just like a grand cru should have. A super finish!
Rebuy – Maybe
2007 Alain Geoffroy, Chablis 1er Beauroy
Pretty, complex and fresh – indeed lovely. Direct and incisive very lovely flavours edged with a little salinity. Excellent length too – yum!
Rebuy – Yes
2007 Jean-Paul et Benoit Droin, Chablis 1er Mont de Milieu
A little more aromatic roundness and weight. Super-fresh, again incisive and direct but also with lovely complexity. In a word, gorgeous!
Rebuy – Yes
2007 Domaine de la Meulière, Chablis 1er Fourneaux
This nose starts bigger and tighter but slowly opens to show some quince and a lovely, engaging open complexity – it becomes really great. Very nice, complex wine – also gorgeous, but different, and just gets better and better in the glass – Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes
2006 La Chablisienne, Chablis Les Preuses
Ooh – now that’s pretty oaky! Time in the glass lessens it a little but this vanilla impression seems to be stubbornly sticking around – I’d have expected it to be gone by this age. Broad, seemingly modest acidity but lots of tasty flavour dimension.
Rebuy – No

We  weren’t planning on being in Beaune over the new year holiday, rather we had the 31st planned with friends in Bern – but due to problems their end, this was postponed – so why not Beaune(?) Well the obvious answer (having now done it!) is that Beaune is completely dead! Walk around the Boulevard (periphique, if you prefer) at 11pm and you may be passed by half a dozen cars – only! The central streets were silent, just the occasional music from an apartment. We decided to walk to Hotel Le Cep for a little bubbles – and there were more staff than people – actually it was about equal – 4 of each, including us! Still it was a lovely moment when 24h00 passed and the bar-man came around with fresh champagne for everyone – classy!

I’m starting a campaign of about 40 domaines in Chablis today, so these are probably the last bottles until next weekend – anyway, considering the amount of food and drink to have passed through my lips over the last couple of weeks – probably a little discipline won’t go amiss! Given the vintages I wasn’t sure if I’d end up drinking all of these, but as it turned out… 😉

2004 Pascal Lachaux, Clos Saint Denis
Deep colour. I’m looking for a bit of pyrazine but I know from experience (I bought 6!) that this wine has shown it on only the lowest level, and sometimes, depending on my detection equipment, not at all. Today is a not at all day. The nose still lacks for any delicacy though there’s the first interesting showing of a little leafy development. In the mouth it tastes much nicer than it smells. The texture is lovely, silken but with a hint of richness that tells you it’s from a very good vineyard. The flavour is ripe enough, layered and tasty. If you don’t want to sniff this is very fine for the vintage.
Rebuy – No

2011 Nicolas Rossignol, Volnay 1er En Chevret
Here’s a wine that needs air-time as it’s a big, tight bundle of dark aroma – there’s a little reduction here. Air allows it to unwind its limbs and become much more aromatically welcoming. In the mouth this has plenty of power for a 2011, weight but balance – excellent balance. I’m obviously drinking this far too young but there’s more than a suggestion of good things to come…
Rebuy – Yes

Dec 23

Dec 24

The magnums

Dec 25

Dec 26

Dec 23+24

Dec 27

Dec 28

Dec 29

Dec 30

Dec 30

Dec 31

Just a modest selection that’s kept mind and soul together over the last days; but quickly going through (most of) them:

2001 Mugneret-Gibourg, Vosne-Romanée
Really something of a modest disappointment – though consistent with previous bottles; fine bones, sleek, but modest, indeed dilute – not a patch on the flamboyance of its youth – at least at near 15 years old!
2005 Alex Gambal, St.Aubin 1er Murgers du Dents du Chien
Wow – one of the best surprises of Christmas – big, deep, complex, somewhat reductive with a modest struck-match. Just a brilliant, brilliant wine – Bravo!
1998 Pol Roger (Mag)
My last of 6. As good as any – beautiful, sleek, complex, elegant drinking – also the last glass on day 2!
2009 J.Moreau, Chablis Valmur (Mag)
Lovely wine with a certain fat but insinuating sweetness and lovely acidity. An absolute wow with people who just want a nice glass of wine.
2000 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée St.Vivant
My last of three and easily the best. Just wonderful on every level – everyone was complimenting it – so I didn’t tell them what it would cost to buy one today!
2000 Finca Altimera Malbec
Dark, almost black, concentrated – seems like a baby, a very tasty baby. Just a great contrast to the DRC.
2008 Alex Gambal, St.Aubin 1er Murgers du Dents du Chien (Mag)
Lovely with a very faint reduction that starts like toasty oak before vanishing. Nicely layered and with lovely acidity. The second half on day two was even better – just a beautiful wine. Not as good as the 05 this Christmas but damn fine.
2001 Leflaive Bourgogne Blanc
Lovely, lovely wine. Fine, precise, beautiful acidity with a subtly excellent finish. The 2008 Dents du Chien was a little more crowd pleasing, but this was lovely.
2007 Mugneret-Gibourg, Bourgogne
This smelled rather nice and open. In the mouth there was good fruit and just a faint spikiness to the acidity – not the most perfectly balanced wine, but easy to drink.
2010 Jean-Marc Bouley, Volnay
This seemed deep and concentrated, a little impenetrable to start, but give it about 3 hours and there’s complexity and even a little elegance. Very enjoyable now, but only if you carafe!
1998 Bouchard Père, Nuits St.Georges 1er Clos St.Marc
I’d been planning to open this when it was 20, but every time I searched for something in the cellar this seemingly popped up shouting ‘me!’ This day I succumbed. It is indeed still a little young – but grand cru in every dimension – what a brilliant wine – complex, powerful and with great dimension. Red surprise of the Christmas.
2005 Mischief & Mayhem, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Champs Gain
Just a faint whiff of oxidation- but faint enough to add complexity not sadness. Big in the mouth but with a truly super line of minerality in the long finish. Holding on and still a great performance.
2005 Potel-Aviron, Morgon Côte du Py
The 11th of 12 – and all have been frankly super. Dark coloured, complex, not obviously gamay. Just a bottle that was very much enjoyed in the same context as all the other more expensive bottles.
2010 Edmond Monnot, Maranges 1er Clos des Rois
Wide-open, pretty red fruit. A certain complexity and freshness. Engaging, indeed faultless!
2009 David Clark, Bourgogne Au Pelson
Lighter colour than many. Floral and pretty (100% whole cluster). Engaging, complex and lovely drinking already.
2009 Chézeaux/Ponsot, Griotte-Chambertin
Do I not like those ardea closures! Damn near impossible to remove with a waiter’s friend, hard enough with a screw-pull! I almost broke the ‘cork’ it was so hard sealed – others I’ve cracked the glass! Anyway, deep, dark, glossy, ripe. Full in the mouth, full-flavoured too. Very one-dimensional today, though it does come out of its shell a little after a few hours. Hard to tell its from Burgundy before that!
2006 Camille Giroud, Gevrey-Chambertin En Champs
Lighter coloured, less intense but prettier aromas. In the mouth it’s sleeker and less rich, but the mid-palate to finishing flavour is beautifully complex, indeed just beautiful, despite a faint vanilla note. Lovely and much nicer than a freshly opened 09 Griotte!
Billecart-Salmon NV Brut Reserve
Lovely, fresh, almost mandarin notes – easy (and fast!) drinking!
1993 JJ Confuron, Clos de Vougeot
Ouf! What do I have in the glass before me(?)
Medium-plus colour of indeterminate middle-age but no browning.
Deep, herby and spicy aromas, massively scaled, and something of a cool, almost dismissive stance.
Mouth-filling, beautifully textured, indeed a little richness to this texture. Growing intensity and rather massively concentrated.
The flavours are also a little herby but also very complex with quite enough sweetness and seemingly resolved tannin – yet – this wine shouts out that it needs 10 years more in the cellar.
Honestly this is something massive, and I have the impression of much, much oak in its youth, but, I don’t know if I like it or not. It’s far too early to love it. Day 2 this was much more drinkable – I think I caught myself enjoying it 😉 The 1993 Jadot Clos de Vougeot is as good a wine as I’ve had in the whole year (behind an incredible 1971 Chambertin) but this Clos de Vougeot is far too young to make such pronouncements!

Wines with friends on Saturday – that I mainly managed to finish on the Sunday! Just a few reminisces…

The bubbles came from Perrier-Jouet, just the normal (gold label) NV, but this particular bottle was laid-up in the cellar for at least the last 6-7 years – the nose was okay but not the best, yet it was a bit of a stunner in the mouth! Next was one of my few remaining St.Aubin Dents du Chiens from Gilles Bouton, a 2010 and it was on great form. I think I bought about 4 mixed cases of St.Aubin 1er 10s from Gilles as my ‘daily drivers’ and just one more bottle lies in the cellar – I’ve had only one sub-standard bottle, and that was the very first!

Two Malconsorts followed; the 2002 from Potel is rather evolved now, classically wild Malconsorts though. That said, I think (my bottles) were a little nicer when younger. Still this showed well. The last was the 2003 Malconsorts from Clos Frantin, and this showed brilliantly. The fruit is broader and, of-course, riper but the overall impression, blind, would have been of a jump to a grand cru wine after the Potel, as opposed to simply a hot vintage. Fresh, complex, still quite young – top stuff!