A domaine wine, yet the combination of producer, vintage and village make for something potentially daunting – fear not, this was a willing party to my glass.

1999 Domaine Faiveley, Nuits St.Georges 1er Aux Chaignots
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose has a deep core of dark, faintly roast fruit – the rest is more subtle and understated, but for at least an hour there’s a little coconut-style oak in the mix. In the mouth there’s a clear base of grainy tannin but it is ripe enough – that said, it must have been quite a mouthful 10 years ago. The quality of the fruit is very good and has quite high-toned notes too. The flavours really widen-out as you head into the finish, and whilst there’s a bit of coconut flavour here too, it is very long indeed – grand cru length I would say. Whilst a relative youngster, this can drunk today, no problem…
Rebuy – Yes

2005 Hudelot-Noellat, Chambolle-Musigny
Medium-plus colour. The nose is now carrying a suggestion of turned leaves – a H-N classic – and some herbs over a relatively dense yet brilliantly transparent dark fruit. It’s still just a little tight. In the mouth this has just a modest impression of cushioned texture, but as much as anything that’s probably down to the significant concentration of what’s before us, that aside, it’s very silky. Deep red-fruit flavour with more than a hint of florals in the mix too, excellent acidity and a faint fur to the tannin. There are certainly more communicative 05s just now, but this is no shame to drink – at all. Impressive stuff…
Rebuy – Yes

2011 Bart, Chambolle-Musigny Les Veroilles
Deeply coloured. Frankly this starts with way too much CO₂ – you can smell (sense) it and taste (feel) it – it’s probably also responsible for a hint (not too much!) of reduction. I gave this bottle several shakes, releasing a lot of gas, and placed it in the fridge door – returning about 2 hours later. Okay, let’s try again; despite being rather tight, the nose has good depth and a fine high-toned top-note, there seems no obvious reduction, yet it is still a little deep and burly. The grainy texture of the palate tells me that probably there’s still some gas to lose here, but there are flashes of energy and fruit that I find quite impressive. I think, to be fair to the wine, if not the bottling decisions, I have to give this wine even longer to show itself. Oops – what a mistake – what shows on day 2 is a clear and dominating P note, one that is now reflected in the flavour too. For what it’s worth, the texture is much finer now and there is delicate, elegant and precise fruit flavour too. The acidity nicely supports the whole. Unfortunately, it’s no-longer to the taste of this taster. Shame, there’s a nice wine under there..
Rebuy – No

2011 Verget, Meursault Les Clous
What a brilliant wine! The nose is of ginger-cake and nougat – but with plenty of freshness – nice! Lithe and mineral, indeed I’d say muscular too – this wine is doing a great impression of a premier cru. Despite all those muscles and rocks, it’s a pretty wine too. Yum – be warned – the glass empties very quickly!
Rebuy – Yes

2011 Pierre Amiot et Fils, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er, Les Combottes
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose begins very impressively – concentrated dark red fruit that’s more redcurrant than cherry – just joyous. I really should have drunk faster because after about 20 minutes there was a clear P note at centre-stage. What was unctuous and lovely on the palate became a little more spiky and gradually less appealing as the P note on the nose grew, eventually it was discernible on the palate too. What a shame! I suggest you get 6-8 friends together and pour each a glass – the bottle will be gone in 15 minutes, and you will have all loved this! The last half of this bottle seemed to do an amazing turnaround; the ‘P’ faded and there was a little floral note – the palate came back together too – I haven’t seen such a change-around before, probably I am the weak-link in this chain, but it finished as it started – incredibly drinkable…
Rebuy – No

2011 Buisson-Charles, Meursault Les Tessons
Medium-pale colour. Fresh, obviously Meursault aromatics – a little diffuse though. To start with there’s a barely perceptible level of dissolved CO₂ but it’s enough to render the wine just a little unfocused and certainly contributes to the diffuse nose. I double-decanted, left it in the fridge, and returned 2 hours later. A big change! The nose and palate are more focused and the texture is definitely smoother – now it’s a much more ‘together’ wine. The acidity isn’t super intense but keeps the wine plenty fresh, and it has a sweet citrus bite to it. Decanting really made the difference between an ‘okay’ wine and a very good wine! Like many, 2011s the cut and intensity of 2010 is absent, but there’s no denying how very, very tasty they are!
Rebuy – Yes