Tuesday 14th April @ Sous le Nez in Leeds

A few old pals got together; 3 from Yorkshire plus a proud Lancastrian and an innocent bystander from Switzerland!

We didn’t have a theme, and I was handicapped by only having the wines that I thought might be ‘useful’ during our stay – still – not a lunch to forget! All the wines were served blind and revealed before the next one…

1997 Salon – this was something of a beauty – I had the impression of maturity but also with perfect balance – I guess there’s no rush!
2010 Jadot, Beaune 1er Grèves – my wine and immediately it was clearly very dark in the glass. It smelled of honey and faint oxidation. To be (a little bit!) fair, this wine showed some signs of improving in the glass, but patience wasn’t what this lunch was about, despite some very enticing mandarin flavours!
2010 Louis Max, Corton-Charlemagne – Also my wine. Quite a powerful and mineral aromatic and much more cut and precision than the last wine – fresh enough and good too!
2005 Paul Pernot Bienvenues-Bâtard Montrachet – Powerful wine, but balanced wine and with a really excellent mid-palate complexity – clearly Grand Cru. Fresh and very good. I can’t remember what I guessed.
2004 Comtes Lafon, Montrachet – clearly we are not worthy! I actually guessed it was something rather grand, probably from Lafon – but more due to knowing the provider than anything from the wine. It certainly didn’t suggest either Meaursault or Puligny to me but it was fresh, balanced yet rich and with a brilliant length. Just a little too much barrel caramel on both the nose and finish (for me) but très aristocratic and a very good bottle to boot!
1982 Jean Gros Richebourg – I guessed the year but not the aoc. Just a hauntingly beautiful and floral nose – simply beguiling. Plenty of interest on the very balanced palate – though note quite the utter gorgeousness of the nose – overall, a great wine!
1986 Confuron-Cotetidot Clos de Vougeot – my wine. It’s something of a big bruiser this wine – just a little bulky on the nose and the palate, but clearly with GC weight and complexity. An interesting, indeed good wine – but not that special.
2000 Armand Rousseau, ‘Clos des Ruchottes’ – I don’t remember what I guessed – 1992 I think – but I was anyway wrong. This is simply drinking beautifully now in a measured, balanced way that has you thinking of a warm vintage but older. Simply lovely.
1999 François Gay, Ladoix – Actually this was just a back-up wine I brought, and it had a bit of gunflint on the nose that I’ve not noted in previous bottles, so the nose wasn’t quite up to scratch, but for what it is, it’s still young and quite brilliant – but on this table, très modest…

A big thanks to all who contributed – I can’t envisage that small bracket of the 2004 followed by the 1982 being surpassed this year – but who knows! 😉

A bit of a corky weekend, unfortunately!

2009 Alex Gambal, Bourgogne Chardonnay – Actually quite a good bottle. Powerful and ripe à la 2009s but with balance and lots and lots of flavour – yum!
Rebuy – Yes
2010 Gilles Bouton, St.Aubin 1er En Remilly – Fresh clean, citrus nose. Lovely in the mouth – fresh and very moreish. Yum!
Rebuy – Yes
2010 Gilles Bouton, St.Aubin 1er Dents du Chien – hmm, the nose is less interesting. And the reason? Just a faint cork taint note in the finish – still, everyone is drinking it happily. So be it!
2010 Jadot, Beaune 1er Bressandes (Blanc) – A big whiff of creme patissière but this is such a tasty wine – fresh but eminently devour-able – everybody loved it!
Rebuy – Yes
2000 Fougeray de Beauclair, Fixin Clos Marion – the first bottle is strongly corked – yuk – but bottle 2 is fine, warm, balanced and very tasty. I think I’ve almost drunk up this case now – but it was a great buy!
Rebuy – Yes
2008 Jean-Noel Gagnard Santenay 1er Clos Tavannes – Tasty, tasty wine. Hmm – really tasty!
Rebuy – Yes
1996 Michel Juillot, Corton-Perrières – this smelled okay when first opened, but is slowly grew some cork-taint aromas. The wine underneath wasn’t really much more interesting than a decent villages – but maybe that was the cork talking…