The twins weren’t available for a visit to taste 2020s earlier this year. It’s close to retirement time for them – hopefully, they have a good succession plan underway as they always produce highly interesting and well-priced wines:

2016 Monternot Les Jumeaux, Beaujolais Villages Fruit & Terroir
More terroir than fruit today. To be honest, I was expecting this 2016 to be a bit more accessible – but it’s concentrated and young – even a little herbed. Of-course, we still managed to knock off the majority of the bottle!
Dark coloured. A nose of weight, impact and still plenty of freshness – yet far from cliché Beaujolais fruit – concentrated and with some herby flashes. In the mouth, this is broad and has super balance, yet the structure – without harshness – retards the drinking pleasure a little – certainly the drinking speed! Good, if not great – but obviously still a baby – I wonder how long it will take for my VV cuvée from 2019 to start to show itself! I might try one soon anyway 🙂
Rebuy – No

The 1996 Castagnier of the weekend was just so damn good – so why not a couple more from 1996?

I’d been doing a little cellar-sorting and had happened upon (as you do…) some older Cortons – that would work!

1996 Thomas-Moillard, Corton Clos du Roi
A cuvée that Clive Coates used to love from this producer that, like most Corton of the era, was something of a masochistic pleasure when younger. The cork had no more than a mm of wine that had had tried to travel up its length and was very impressively robust – a great cork! Or not. The wine was actually corked!!!
Rebuy – No

1996 Hospices de Beaune, Corton Cuvée Charlotte Dumay
Way back when, I scored a whole case of this – do you remember 12-bottle cases of grand crus? Just two remained from this case – a wine equivalently masochistic as the TM when young but, historically, a bit less energy and flavour precision than the TM. Also a decent cork but a wine that smelled much sweeter – though with a tell-tale accent of brett. Just for information, I like Marmite (Vegemite) on my toast but within short order, this wine absolutely stank of the stuff. Pinch your nose and you could lose some of it – but NO! I could no-longer put it in my mouth. Reject!
Rebuy – No

Some weeks, the cellar depletes faster than other weeks!

2020 Sylvain Martel, Juliénas Bessay
Vines that are all on high, on blue-stone. Certainly more rain here than in Fleurie in 2020 – though these old vines, worked organically, delivered 30 hl/ha from 0.8 ha
An aromatic of energy – mineral, almost steely red fruit – freshness too. Good depth and supple concentration but with a lovely finishing freshness – long, haunting flavours in the finish but subtle – this is no broad or powerful finish – just a very elegant wine.
Rebuy – Yes

We were really treated by three out of the four wines this weekend!

2020 Jacques Picq et ses Enfants, Chablis
We needed a little white wine for the risotto – but why not some glasses to drink too? It turned out that this wine emphasised my worries about the green-meanies in 2020 Chablis: More than 10% of all the wines that I tasted in January were green or showing direct pyrazine – but this was lovely – in January. Well, not today – it’s good but there are clear notes of pyrazine where I didn’t see them before. I’m back in Chablis the first week of April – and you can be sure that I’ll be extra attentive!
Rebuy – No

2019 Verret, Saint-Bris Veaupiary
Great nose, delicious flavour – what a super wine – Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2005 Ponsot, Bourgogne Cuvée du Pinson
The corked stained 90% of the way through – looks like good timing to drink this one! The last pour was full of muddy rubble and less bright
Lots of colour – and not a markedly mature colour either. A super nose – really inviting and open – hard to believe (blind) that it’s a more than 15-year-old Bourgogne. The first few sips show a lot of acidity – almost a sour style to the wine – but with food all was fine. Layers of flavour and tons of complexity. A simply great Bourgogne! Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

1996 Guy Castagnier, Clos de La Roche
I was down to my last couple of 1996s from here – there remains only some Bonnes-Mares, I think…
A modest medium colour – but not much browning. Yes! What a great nose! Complex, still with fruit and a large wave of pure floral perfume – great! In the mouth, melting, perfumed flavour – oh-so complex and beautifully balanced. People talk of the 1996 acidity – but here the acidity is much less obvious than for the 2005 Ponsot. Long – with such an airy, delicate and complex persona – Jérôme’s father also made great wine! This was probably the best wine I’ve had at home this year, so far…
Rebuy – Yes