Jonah time again!

Whilst the few Devevey wines that have passed my lips I remember enjoying – particularly so, the whites – I’ve never-yet managed to pay a visit to understand more about this domaine. However, here is a wine that for more than one reason, I wouldn’t buy again – a shame as it’s one of my favourite Beaune 1ers too…

2011 Devevey Beaune 1er Pertuisots
Bright medium colour. The nose has a faint undertow of P, but overwhelmingly the aromas are dominated by pretty, precise red berry notes, whilst in the background there’s also a greener, herby note. Fresh and lithe – there’s a bit of an acid-kick in the mid-palate too – for-sure not the ripest of wines; yet it has energy and character – I’m enjoying this first glass. Truth be told, over 3 hours this gradually got meaner and the P component became a bit more obvious…
Rebuy – No

My first wine at home in this new year – assuming the cork was a good one, I was pretty sure it should be a good start – and so it was. 1999 is the second-largest vintage in my cellar – maybe I’ll try a few more this year…

1999 l’Arlot, Nuits St.Georges 1er Clos de l’Arlot
Just a little bit more than medium colour. Hmmm – what a forward, round and friendly mix of white chocolate, whole cluster aromas and roses – a real friendly ‘punch’. In the mouth there’s a palpable weight of fat texture that’s cut with good acidity – this wine is incredibly enjoyable – yet, seems a little soft at the core for ‘brilliant’. Return to the glass a couple of hours later and the whole cluster anecdotes are a little more green and resinous – though they are what they are – yet there now seems better definition in the mid-palate – swings and roundabout. Overall I’m preferring this now, to drink. Throughout there has been a steady baseline of velvet tannin. This seems in a good place right now, but clearly no rush at all to drink!
Rebuy – Yes

Happy New Year…

1993 Jayer-Gilles, Nuits St.Georges Les Hautes Poirets
Deeply coloured – still. The nose has undergrowth, dark brambles and the remnants of dark toasty oak; dark and interesting I’d say. Perhaps still a little too much toasty oak flavour but it’s the first assault before a wave a fresh, acid-borne intensity and dark fruit – really mouth-watering flavour. There is still a very faint layer of velvet tannin, so this is still something of a baby – but a communicative one…
Rebuy – Yes

I love the real, versus the ‘pretend’ fraying on these labels!

It’s certainly not worth giving ‘tasting notes’ to these wines, but they helped me get through 3 days of 18 hours, finishing the last Burgundy Report.

I bought a couple of lots at auction; bottles of 82 Sauzet Puligny (villages) and 1990 Maurice Chapuis Corton-Charlemagne. The two ugliest bottles (darkest colour) from both lots, I decided to open first.

The Sauzet was the colour of sherry and almost had the smell of it too – an initial sip was not positive. I waited 2 hours and, by magic, the oxidative note was only a 10th of the intensity with which it started – the colour remained dark. It actually tasted not bad now and had a nice core of sweetness from the fruit. I drunk the lot over the 3 days – it was completely stable after that initial 2 hour wait. I now look forward to those bottles of lighter colour!

The Chapuis had a very similar colour, a similar nose too. This also improved dramatically after 2 hours exposure to the air – but the level of oxidative flavour remained stronger than for the Sauzet. The wine is less sweet (despite the vintage) and more mineral. In combination with the nose I would describe it (still) as austere – I only managed about one-third of this bottle and I’m not sure if I look forward to the lighter bottles or not(!) anyway no point torturing yourself is there – the typing was enough 😉