2016 Buisson-Charles, Chablis Vaudésir
Patrick Essa has been making a range of maison wines for a few years now. This was served blind and had a ripeness yet energy that made me think of the best producers in Mâconnais – but not Pouilly-Fuisse. There was a modestly exotic style to the fruit but a clean attack that should have reminded me that 2016 is quite a favourite of mine in Chablis. Overall, a great wine for such a ‘non-standard’ Chablis, yet one that properly reflects the vintage there. It drank great for the whole night!
Rebuy – Yes

2016 Vincent Dancer, Meursault Les Grands Charrons
Another wine of supple, slightly exotic flavours – at this age the vintage completely outshining the place. Another wine that you would justly call delicious despite, in this case, having no single feature that you might consider Murisaltien! Yum!
Rebuy – Maybe

2010 Daniel Rion, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Beaux-Monts
Another wine that was served blind, and what a tour de force of a nose – much more mature than you expect from the vintage, full of sous-bois and enticing mature character. It seemed to me to be a warmer vintage so I considered 1997 or 2000 to be suitable vintages and perhaps from a very place – such as Chapelle-Chambertin… So much for blind guessing! But this was a wine that was completely on song – the first to be opened from this case, no-less!
Rebuy – Yes

2020 Camille & Laurent Schaller, Chablis
Here’s a wine with no hint of the 2020 greens – just a very attractive and properly mineral yet tasty wine. All as it should be from this (otherwise) excellent vintage. Super!
Rebuy – Yes

1999 Nicolas Potel, Volnay 1er Clos des Chênes
When released, this wine was one of my joint-top-three Volnays of the vintage – it wasn’t possible to separate this from Lafon’s Santenots or d’Angerville’s Ducs – 3-4 years later this was clearly in third place – though still something great. This may, unfortunately, be my last bottle – unfortunately, because it was such a bravura wine – concentrated, clean, complex, a little muscular, even a little young – certainly younger than the 2010 Rion. But a beauty – a real beauty! Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2000 Bessin-Tremblay, Chablis 1er Montmains
As the previous bottle – great wine from an excellent vintage. Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

Just a few wines that were drunk before last weekend – the weekend wines will follow – but what can I remember? 😉

2016 Raphaël Chopin, Beaujolais Lantignie La Savoye
Full coloured – and with a ton of tartrate rubble to deposit in the last glass too! Full, warm-weather aromatic but not cooked. Really impressive size for this wine – more than the 2019, for instance. Supple, layered, concentrated but just about avoiding ‘heavy.’ Excellent!
Rebuy – Yes

2020 Cyril Gauthier, Chablis Vieilles-Vignes
One of my new ‘house wines’ for this year – but showing the problem of 2020: Not a hint of pyrazine from the tank-sample at the domaine but clearly there’s a lick of it here. Yet! The same bottle on day 2, neither I nor my equally sensitive better half could find any – it was just fabulous. So, I will be decanting this an hour or 2 beforehand. I seem to be already down to my last 8 bottles – oups!
Rebuy – Maybe

2017 Domaine d’Henri, Chablis 1er Fourchaume Héritage
Right out of the gates – great wine. Of course, still a baby – but a mineral and citrus-infused wine that was completely delicious and as classic as you can imagine any Chablis to be from the last 6-7 years. Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2019 Frederic Berne, Régnié Aux Bruyères
Silky, concentrated, pure class in a glass!
Rebuy – Yes

1998 Denis Mortet, Gevrey-Chambertin
Practically undrinkable young (for this palate) with its heavy cigarette-ash oaky nose – but now it’s in great shape. Admittedly, a strong aromatic remains – one that’s now a mix of tobacco and sous-bois – but lovers of mature wine will be purring. Balanced, layered deliciously complex mature wine. Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2019 Boris Champy, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune Altitude 377
Anyone brought up on the Bourgognes of the 1990s and onwards will be shocked by how good the Bourgognes of today can be – and here’s another. Despite being Boris’s first vintage and really only being present for the harvest and elevage of this wine – it’s lovely. Fine open, pure-red-fruited delicious stuff. There’s fine energy as you might expect from the Hautes Côtes but there’s depth and class to this flavour too. His 2020s were even better when tasted last year. Super wine!
Rebuy – Yes