To be honest, I’ve pretty much given-up buying the wines from this domaine – such is the market demand that prices have skyrocketed in the last 10 years. The Clos Solon was traditionally something of a bargain, and whilst it might not have increased in price by the same number of multiples as the domaine’s Clos St.Jacques or Griotte-Chambertin, this is the last vintage I bought. But it’s still a great wine…

2007 Fourrier, Morey St.Denis Clos Solon VV
There’s plenty of CO₂ to purge from the bottle, you can even ‘smell’ it, so the bottle is shaken 3 or 4 times to release some of it, then rested a couple of hours (Fourrier Shake^™). The colour is just a little more than ‘medium’ in depth, the forward nose grabbing you with dark-skinned fruit notes over a more reticent powdery, redder fruit – eventually a liqueur-cherry starts to show itself – to be honest I can’t ‘see’ Morey, but it’s begging to be drunk! The entry seems a hint saline or with just a slight edge to the acidity, but behind is a palate to luxuriate in, with smooth, relatively concentrated dark-red fruit. There’s still a very slight ‘prickle’ at the back of the palate – so not all the gas is gone yet – but the finishing flavour has both depth and interest, coupled to a twist of old-vine creaminess. A finer wine than many that carry a 1er Cru label!
Rebuy – Yes

Yesterday evening we had the good fortune that some ‘wine friends’ were in town for dinner. Just to give an impression of the wines, we started with an apero of 1979 Thevenot Meursault-Goutte d’Or, I’ve had better bottles as there was a bit of persistent (but faint) musty oxidative note, but overal good sucrosite and tasty enough. With dinner we started with a 1999 Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet, this was in great shape – a quite powerful wine but balanced and tasty, even if the finish was not particularly long. The 2010 Ramonet, Chassagne 1er Les Ruchottes that came next was really a beauty; balanced, intense, complex and with a beautiful lingering flavour.

Our first red was a (decanted) 1990 Comte Armand, Pommard 1er Clos des Epeneaux – clearly it could have done with a little more time to settle as the sediment had been disturbed so delivered a cloudy wine – cloudy, but full of flavour in an iron/blood vernacular and with some grainy tannin still – probably accentuated by the sediment – good wine nonetheless. The next bottle was a beauty, the 1990 Rossignol-Trapet, Latricières-Chambertin was lighter in colour and clean and bright but it was the first sniff that hooked us – lovely. The palate was clean, detailed and very lovely indeed – as good an aged Latricières as I can remember – really super! Our last Burgundy was the 1969 Chanson, Grands-Echézeaux: the cork came out in one piece, but was really stinky – oxidised – just handling the cork made the smell cling to your fingers. I wiped out inside the neck of the bottle with some damp tissue and the wine below didn’t seem as bad, so I then left it in a cool place for a few hours before dinner. The first glasses poured had a great colour, deep and still showing a little red. The nose began with plenty of must, but kept changing in the glass – leather, spice, and sometimes, maybe even a suggestion of fruit! The savoury palate was nicely textured and complex with a saline length – in truth interesting rather than tasty, but far from objectionable. We finished with an excellent Italian whose name I forget! [Edit: Barbaresco Asili Red Label Riserva, Bruno Giacosa 2000!]

And a good read for today…

Not a dud amongst them – lovely…

This wine had very little going for it. Corton-André – hardly a name to search out. A large ullage – the angels certainly helped themselves to a large glass. A corroded capsule, and then to add insult to injury, the cork with only the lightest of touches, falls into the bottle.

UPDATED: 1961 Corton-André, Chambertin Clos de Bèze
An impressively deep colour – amber at the rim, but certainly no brown – looks rather glossy in the glass too. The aromas are almost overpoweringly of saddle leather, perhaps polished wood and a faint undertow of mushroom. Those notes largely influence the flavours too, yet this wine has silk and weight plus a beautiful acidity. I can only be sure about this wine with extended aeration – so more tomorrow. Day two: Of-course the angels had drunk too much – the smell of rancio and leather still shouts ‘do not put in mouth’ on day two. Such a shame that (most probably) the cork let this wine down as the depth and shade of colour plus the concentration, balance and texture were first class – shame!
Rebuy – No Chance!

To rescue my empty glass, the following…

1996 Jean Grivot, Nuits St.Georges Les Lavières
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose has the merest hint of maturing leaf, but is more about faint spice and red berries. Decent acidity and nice flavour – it’s not yet ‘too thin’ – though the tannin suggest wait another 3 to 5…
Rebuy – Yes

They say that the past is a foreign country – well I hope not too foreign! Versus 40 years ago, the winemakers and vignerons may do ‘almost everything’ different now, but if our modern wines can deliver as much pleasure as this, we will have been well-served.

1972 Gagnard-Delagrange, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Morgeot
Barely medium colour. The nose starts with a sweet strawberry jam before building a little struck match – there is width and interest – in a word ‘satisfying’, in two ‘very satisfying!’ There is just the right amount of ‘fat’ to the texture given the fine, smooth acidity – should you wish to search, you can still discern a faint but fine-textured tannin. The sweet fruit has a high-toned impression – plum-skins plus a gentle lift from the phosphorous on the nose, becoming faintly less ripe into the finish – but to add interest.
Rebuy – No Chance!

1990 Michel Juillot, Corton-Perrières
Medium, medium-plus colour at the core, lightening towards the rim. The fruit on the nose has a baked impression that seems a bit unruly if you swirl but has a nice florality if you you’re less energetic! After an hour-or-so, the nose becomes a little brighter and spicier – it’s quite engaging! On the palate there’s a depth of flavour and good intensity too. I like the general balance but it’s best not to search out the tannins, because if you find them there’s a little astringency and bitterness to them – drink normally and you’ll hardly notice. The finish is reasonably long and quite subtle. Tasty enough wine but with the combination of ‘grand cru’ and 1990, you (I) would be forgiven for expecting a little more.
Rebuy – Maybe