I’ve worked my way through a number of Livera’s 2010s, and frankly, they have all been outstanding – here’s another one for the pile.

2010 Philippe Livera (Domaine des Tilleuls), Côte de Nuits Villages
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose has understated depth and a faint but fine red fruited top note. There’s no padding or any other extraneous make-up, just a frankly beguiling vivacity and a faintly, sweetly leaching acidity that delivers a wine with fine energy. Decently lingering flavour too. A wine that doesn’t crave your attention but makes its mark. Brilliant Côte de Nuits Villages.
Rebuy – Yes

I think I have a good idea what wine to compare this with tomorrow!

2002 des Varoilles, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos des Varoilles
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose starts with a hint of herb, a little leafy development, soil and some high-tones above – it leaves me with the expectation that the wine could be a little mouth-puckering. Actually, far from it; there is decent density and still good weight to the texture despite being in its ‘middle years’. The red fruit is ripe enough to offer a soothing sweet element that balances fine-grained tannins with a faint edge of bitterness. After 20 minutes the nose is rounding-out and augmented with a decent red fruit note, which now better reflects the flavours. This was very tasty as a baby and is still more than fit for purpose now – it should make a lovely bottle in 5+ years…
Rebuy – Yes

2005 Barthod, Bourgogne Rouge
Deeply coloured – and still young colour too. The nose shows a depth of very dark red fruit with a hint of musk – open, primary and rather attractive. Take a sip and you are met with much more power than any regional wine should offer; young fruit, almost liqueur in style, fine acidity and clearly plenty of submerged tannin. Chambolle in 2005 was for me a village where the basic communal wines were easily of 1er cru (also communal!) status – it seems their bourgognes also leaped a level. Painfully young, but totally exceptional for what it is…
Rebuy – Yes

Last time I opened one of these – which was easily 10 years ago – it was that rare wine that was completely closed for business; in every respect you would have found more enjoyment in a Bourgogne Rouge. Let us have another try…

1996 René Engel, Grands-Echézeaux
Tending to a watery rim, but the colour remains saturated at its core. Very, very understated though deep aromas of soil, graphite and a faint spice – and you have to swirl to find those! In the mouth this wine is still a baby; it’s intense with a quickly growing base of tannin – the acidity also grows quickly, focusing the intensity, though also offering that faintly metallic aspect that is common in 96s. The mid-palate slowly leaches some sweetness of fruit onto your tongue. The flavour lasting very long in the finish. There remains high potential here, but I’m thinking the best part of another decade is needed to achieve it.
Rebuy – Yes

Back to being predictable, another red, another 1972. But one with a bit of interest attached… 😉

Charles Viénot is largely remembered as a négoce operation, but like many of today’s négoce, they also had a sizeable ownership of vines too, including vines in Richebourg. Indeed a cursory scan of this label says ‘Négociant à Premeaux par Nuits St.Georges’, but a small addition to the capsule reads that they also have the monopoly of selling the Domaine Charles Viénot wines – such as this one. The Viénot estate was wound up in the 1980s, these particular vines, planted around 1930, were bought and shared by Domaines Jean Grivot and Jean Mongeard.

1972 Charles Viénot, Richebourg
It is a rare thing for the aroma in the neck of a newly uncorked old bottle to be anything other than faintly repulsive – but here we have a gorgeous, pure wild strawberry note – how did that happen? I anyway follow my normal routine with older bottles, I clean up the neck of the bottle and pop a glass stopper in, leaving the wine for a couple of hours before pouring a measure. Clear, medium, medium-plus colour with that indeterminate older colour. The nose is just a hint more reticent than at first – darker and deeper but with a beautiful mid-tone ‘gloss’, swirling brings out a more earthy aspect. Silky smooth, the acidity slowly asserting itself – maybe with a faint hint of bitterness – but a gorgeous slowly growing climax of mid-palate flavour. Long, mineralic and earthy finishing but sweetly so. About as good a ’72 as I ever had…
Rebuy – No Chance

Having taken a quick look at my Diary pages of the last days (weeks…) I realised how boring and how predictable I’ve become. Of-course there’s a large aspect of seasonality involved, but I felt the need to make amends – so here, for the first time in a while – a white wine!!! 🙂

François Mikulski is a quietly spoken guy but one who you can very quickly build an empathy with; earnest in what he does but very, very humble about the results – more humble than the actual results deliver.

2010 François Mikulski, Meursault
A depth of slightly pear fruit and classic Meursault ginger cake. Broad, good weight and intensity – the understated acidity only really asserts itself in the lovely, mouth-watering mid-palate. This is really first-rate Meursault, there’s a little fat in the middle, but not distractingly so – just a wine that makes you happy to refill your glass.
Rebuy – Yes