Back on message! Unlike my lust for Grand Cru Chablis, which I just love as a baby or 10 years old, it seems that these 1ers just got better with youth – of-course another 4 bottles, probably provide a different result!

2009 J Moreau, Chablis 1er Vaillons
Medium golden colour. The aromas are clean and pretty with high citrus tones and a more concentrated but understated core – pretty enough. In the mouth this is very good – better than average acidity for the vintage and the flavour seems to wash over my tongue in waves, and culminates in a nice intense mid-palate before slowly fading over rocks it seems – like a wave travelling away from you. Just a very nice wine.
Rebuy – Yes

2010 Long-Depaquit, Chablis 1er Vaillons
Pale lemon yellow. The nose starts unimpressively with a forward slug of sweet oak, but I think I’m being fooled and it’s mainly something reductive that doesn’t hang around for long – afterwards it’s pure seashore – the only wine with that impression. The seashore also fades – perhaps that’s reduction too – leaving a pretty floral note and good though understated fruit, I think it’s lovely now. In the mouth this is unctuous yet mineral; the acidity whilst understated never gives the impression of being insufficient. Just a very lovely wine for now – but decant for best effect!
Rebuy – Yes

It’s true, I took a short red break from my 4 Vaillons – the next two are (of-course) still on their way!

To develop a thirst for the Chablis I set myself a task on Saturday – to run from Lauterbrunnen up to Mürren, have lunch then do 4-5 hours of walking. The run didn’t go quite to plan; a couple of times I needed a 2 minute walk ‘recovery’, and by the time I got to Winteregg I was ‘done-in’ so took lunch there and changed into my boots. Actually I felt ashamed whilst walking from Winteregg to Mürren as it’s virtually flat – I could have run another 15 minutes – no problem, oh-well, maybe next time…

First, an ice-cream stop in Mürren – which is as gorgeously pretty in the summer as it is in the winter – before walking up the Palace Run to the Almendhübel and then onto Suppenalp for an ‘ice-coffee’. Back down into Mürren then the walk to Gimmelwald, Stechelberg and Lauterbrunnen – about 4 hours I suppose. I admit to napping on the train home! I’ll also admit to quite some muscle pain on Sunday too!

2010 Antonin Guyon, Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras
Spicy oak and a little vanilla which really needs over an hour to become background elements. In the mouth this is sweet, fresh and has a lovely cut and clarity – it drinks very easily. The nose is a bit commercial which is a shame as Chambolle shouldn’t need all that make-up – but make-up or not, a very pretty wine.
Rebuy – Yes

A sunny day in Mürren:

2007 Bouchard Père et Fils, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Suchots
Well, what a gorgeous welcome this wine offered! Medium-plus coloured with a depth of faint spice and warm fruit – ‘drink me’ the label could have said! Round, sweet and supple with a fine supporting acidity. The texture has just a hint of cushioning and there’s certainly a bit of 1er cru dimension in the mid-palate. The finish becomes stricter and more stony – good, I don’t want everything too welcoming and friendly. A 2007 that will amply repay opening right away. Drink Me indeed!
Rebuy – Yes

I only started with three of these, and last year I opened two, within a few weeks of each other, and both were corked. I came across this lonesome bottle the other day and thought to myself – ‘what’s the point of it taking up space if it’s also going to be corked(?)’ Of-course the wine gods play tricks on you, don’t they…

2003 Fourrier, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Combe aux Moines
The tell-tale small bubbles of CO₂ in the neck, as the cork slid out, told me that this would need a shake or decanting, but of more immediate concern, how did the cork smell? Hmm… it smelled of sweet fruit – excellent, we are in business! The first pour was indeed a bit like cola and smelled a little reduced too, so time for the ceremonial half-dozen shakes! I came back 20 minutes later to find a more than interesting wine. The colour is still more than medium and whilst there are no-longer the purples of youth, there is no amber either. The reduction has now left, and the nose seems to have the first hints of leafy development, though this moves into the background as a warm, but polished, dark cherry note comes to the fore with a faint whiff of prune too. There is lovely acidity here which helps wrap the silky wine around your tongue. The mid-palate is sweet and has good density of fruit, the finish is modest but interesting. As time wears on, the wine becomes fatter and the fruit begins to reflect the prunes of the nose. It is a tasty, and easy drink, but I have a preference for prunes on a plate not in my glass – drink it faster than me and you may not notice!
Rebuy – Maybe

I’m off the whites for a bit – after 34,35,37,28,26°C during the last working week, we are now dumped back into 15-17°C – something to warm my heart is required…

2005 Bertagna, Chambolle-Musigny Le Village
Medium-plus colour. The nose is concentrated essence of dark cherry with hints of cherry stone too – it needs no time to warm-up in the glass, staying very primary over the 30 or-so hours it was consumed. In the mouth this is concentrated and smooth, initially part of the flavour components had a volatile impression but it was soon gone – that’s the thing with volatility I guess 😉 Wide, plenty of impact – super acidity balances the impressive concentration and finely textured (lurking) tannin too. I thought this brilliant on release – but much from Chambolle was in this vintage – and I’m still not disappointed to have bought the bottles.
Rebuy – Yes

Not sure How I ended up with this one – part of a mixed ‘summer’ case I think. Turns out to be quite nice:

2010 Alain & Isabelle Hasard, Mercurey Champs de l’Abbaye Les Marcoeurs
Deeper and more intense colour after the Duband wine. Likewise, the nose seems deep, and the dark cherry notes give a polished impression. In the mouth, this really is quite silky and competent, yet, it never really fires the imagination like the Duband did – it just lacks some defining character – it is simply a silky, pretty wine, and perhaps a slightly riper wine than the Duband. I note that it also costs about 25% more so I would say offers less value too. All that said, it remains a good wine.
Rebuy – Yes

All my early experiences of the wines of David Duband proved that, for me, they were very commercially styled wines, and frankly I didn’t like them. I’m not sure when the change was exactly – 2005? 2006? or maybe 2007? But there has been an extraordinary change of course by this winemaker, not just eliminating the sickly-sweet oak, but also embracing the whole cluster. Because of the latter trait, they may not be to everyone’s taste, but you have to applaud what’s in the glass…

2010 David Duband, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Louis Auguste
Medium, medium-pale colour. The nose is rather stemmy for the first few minutes but becomes ever-more interesting – eventually it is a simply beguiling blend of redcurrant and smoky wild strawberry – a gorgeous thing. The palate is consistently fresh and zingy, such that I’d be opting to drink this over the next 2-3 years just in case it became shrill, but today it is fresh, decently intense, very tasty and, not forgetting, gorgeously perfumed. Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes