Bottles supplied for review by www.terroirs-originels.com

You know, it’s not such a bad combination; the mature white Burgundies of the last days and the counterpoint of fresh, crunchy fruit from young Beaujolais! These bottles were opened, contrasted and compared on Sunday, whilst also appreciating the sublime skills of the ‘swiss-master’: Herr Federer von Basel.

Actually, I rarely get to Beaujolais, simply because to do so, I have to drive through the Côte d’Or without stopping – and why would I do that? But taking wines from good producers, almost always demonstrates that, if there is real value anywhere in the ‘wine-world’, it is in the hills of Beaujolais. I could (probably!) have 5x the number of bottles in the cellar if I wasn’t so focused on vines just a few km to the north…

2011 Jean-Michel Dupré, Gamay à Petits Grains
Interesting; despite a back label that shows words ‘Beaujolais Villages’, here is a wine that seems to be coy about saying so. Good colour. The nose is pretty and shaded towards ‘fresh’ with some high-tones and an attractive floral dimension – with time the flowers fade, leaving a dense, dark-red core. With a little plushness to the texture and a little hint of minerality in the mid-palate too, here is a wine that begs to be consumed, indeed making an interesting point: why would anybody need ‘crus? Tasty and fresh, yet voluptuous. There can’t be better value in the wine world these days…
Rebuy – Yes

2010 Pascal Aufranc, Chénas
The label proudly states that the vines for this wine were planted in 1939, indeed the back-label gives the impression that this is the cuvée “Vignes de 1939”. Here the nose is very different. The floral aspect of the previous wine is taken to the tenth power, yet it is not the heavy perfume of a maiden aunt, it is much more beguiling – lovely. In the mouth, the acidity is on a higher level than the 2011 ‘BV’, but it is packaged so that you’ll have no complaints. The tannin is there – if you choose to search for it – and if you do you will then note the cushioned extra dimension of flavour in the mid-palate. Longer finishing for sure – and given sufficient aeration this becomes quite a mineral wine too. Very interesting and quite lovely!
Rebuy – Yes

2010 Laurent Gauthier, Morgon Grands Cras Vieilles Vignes
Here is a label that won’t help the producer sell bottles – it has so many names it is hard to decide what the wine’s called: I hope I got it right above! The aromas are much more mineral after the flowers of the Chénas, edged with dark-red fruit. Slowly this blossoms to deliver a simply gorgeous combination or very subtly creamy red fruits – it’s a sniffer’s wine. This is the most linear and direct wine of the trio, with similar (vintage) acidity to the Chénas – but with plenty of muscles to flex. This is very well put-together wine. Whilst drinking this I thought to myself that I’d rather drink the Chénas today, and sniff this – but switching to the Chénas underlined the gap between the two; the rippling muscle shown here, really makes the Chénas feel a bit ‘pinched’ after this – nice as it was. Super stuff.
Rebuy – Yes

1979 Philippe Thevenot, Meursault 1er Goutte d’Or
Golden. Whilst I may have decanted this, the nose needs no time at all to offer a round, white chocolate and lanolin invitation – lovely. Following the Charlemagne, this has a little more roundness and plushness of texture – let’s call it ‘richness’ – but it has perfectly judged acidity to offer balance. Clean, round and very, very pleasurable – though none of the mineral note of the Charlemagne. This seems all the more voluptuous for it. Simply super!
Rebuy – No Chance

1979 Andre Nudant, Corton-Charlemagne
Golden. Old oak notes, though nothing musty or obviously oxidative – given an hour or so and that typical old-white lanolin aroma comes through – pretty good! Silky with some fat and intensity. Long flavours have a hint of bitterness but plenty of interest. The bitterness quickly takes on a more mineral aspect. Drinking very well after 2 hours – good stuff!
Rebuy – No Chance

Getting bored yet? I hope not, I have one more after this! Maybe I’ll have a short daliance with something else in-between though!

1993 Vaudoisey-Creusefond, Pommard 1er Epenots
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose has an extra dimension of dark-fruited depth, again a little brown sugar but this time with almost no leaf. Cool, intense, rather smooth and an understated tannin that only presents itself if you swirl the wine around your mouth. There is some of the flavour profile of the previous two wines, and like them, the outer-edge of the flavour has a slight bitter element, but this wine delivers far more in terms of ‘presence’. So there is more depth to this wine – a vintage aspect – but the key difference is that this wine has held onto its youth.
Rebuy – Yes

Onto the 1992. This was for a long time, a vintage of which nobody spoke, like a mad aunt hidden from view – but the therapy of time has seen many wines blossom in the last 5 years, or so.

1992 Vaudoisey-Creusefond, Pommard 1er Epenots
Medium, medium-plus colour. Here the nose leaves an impression of sugar dusted leaves over a dense core of plum, occasional accents of mocha too – a couple of hours also betray a brown-sugar note. Decent freshness and fruit that has a nice sweet-sour balance to it. Unlike the ’91, if you roll this wine around your mouth you will find some tannin, and, heading into the finish, it still has a faint edge of astringency – but without too much bitterness or, significantly, the brusque nature of the ’91. Decent enough expansion of flavour in the mid-palate, and a slowly lingering, not particularly modest length. A wine that you can easily drink and savour, if not a resounding Epenots.
Rebuy – Maybe

I ‘scored’ a number of vintages of this wine at auction, time for a first look. I’ve long been a fan of the 1991 vintage, but for reds of the Côte de Nuits – from my modest sampling it seems to me that the Côte de Beaune is much less consistent. Here is a wine that sort of straddles the line – nice aromas but a flavour profile that’s far from cuddly – for the first hour or two after opening anyway…

1991 Vaudoisey-Creusefond, Pommard 1er Epenots
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose has a little classic ‘leaf’ and fainter, higher-toned, herbs. As the glass drains a classy red fruit note comes to the fore. There is sweetness and a little plumpness to the texture too. Hardly any tannin of note but the mid-palate, despite it’s intensity, delivers a rather harsh flavour. Long finishing, it’s true, but for at least 90 minutes this was a wine only to sniff. The harshness slowly fades, but never completely. Still, this is quite robust and will easily stand up to another 10 years wait before I broach my last bottle.
Rebuy – No

1978 Pierre Boillot, Meursault 1er Charmes
Medium-plus golden colour. The nose betrays no overt oxidation, rather it is the classic nose of an older wine but with extra bolstering from a strong herbal note too. That herbal note is also part of the flavour profile; this is a little fat but with a lovely acidity that cleaves through the centre of the wine and emphasises its intensity. To be honest, this isn’t that complex a wine despite its mature profile. Tasty, and it holds the attention too – but based on the first two bottles, I think the 1976 significantly the better wine. I wonder if subsequent comparisons will agree…
Rebuy – No Chance