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

2011 Philippe Livera, Côte de Nuits Villages
Pound for pound, the 2010 of this wine was simply magnificent. This is almost equally deep-coloured, amazing for a 2011. The nose starts with hint of reduction, so I double decanted – 30 minutes later the wine is cleaned of that note, unfortunately a P note is starting to take its place – that’s a big shame, as this wine didn’t show the note from barrel – but there’s plenty of innate density about the nose too, mixing oak and a hint of musk. Width in the mouth and really good, balanced, concentration for this label. The P is sufficient to be a flavour component too. For all that, this wine drank very easily today…
Rebuy – No

2011 Digioia-Royer, Nuits St.Georges Les Charmois
Deeply coloured, yet still paler than the Livera. The higher-toned nose also has hints of tobacco, but never develops any P. There’s plenty of structure but it’s not too heavy, rather it’s more apparent by the texture of the wine – still no astringency though. The sweet red fruit’s sucrosité is a good enough foil today. The mid-palate has good dimension, though with a faint bitterness (oak, probably). For all that non-committal sounding note, this was tasty drinking with upside potential. A wine you can enjoy.
Rebuy – Yes

2011 Ramonet, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Clos des Boudriotte
After the wine wines from the Côte de Nuits, this is rather pale – only just medium coloured. There are no stems to blame, just the wine-making choices chez Ramonet. The nose is high-toned with a twist of mint and herb – but sweet. Sweet in the mouth too, but still a shade less ripe in character – overall this has a lovely fresh and interesting character. The flavours are quite long and this remains a very enjoyable wine. No P today, either!
Rebuy – Yes

A trip to Germany this week, brought a wealth of wine riches. The following were tasted blind with dinner and each was unveiled only after writing my notes:

2004 Romanée-Conti, La Tâche
A beautiful floral nose with an obvious whole cluster character. There is good width on the palate and pretty fruit flavours. There seems plenty of acidity in the mid-palate though despite that, not that special energy or dimension, but clearly a very classy wine.
Rebuy – Yes

2004 Romanée-Conti, Romanée St.Vivant
This nose has darker, deeper fruit and is less padded-out with whole cluster character – but there is still some. In the mouth this is lithe and beautifully proportioned – better tonight than the last wine due to more concentration, muscle, dimension and energy. Yum!
Rebuy – Yes

2007 Jadot, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos St.Jacques
Aromatically, this shows pretty, clean, deep red fruit – it is very fine. I really like the width and dimension in the mouth, then comes an extra dimension in the mid-palate – this is excellent and has a cool character that reminds me of Latricières…
Rebuy – Yes

What great ‘off-vintage’ wines! I didn’t spot any ‘vintage character’ even after returning to the glasses armed with vintage info – interesting that the RSV is currently the more impressive of the two DRCs. The Jadot was also brilliant!

Weingut Philipp Wittmann

Weingut Philipp Wittmann

Nierstein