I just finished writing the visit report / profile for Pousse d’Or, so this seemed rather appropriate, particularly after yesterday’s wine – it almost seems planned!

1989 Pousse d’Or, Pommard 1er Jarollières
Medium, medium-plus colour – certainly there is a bit of age about the colour. The nose is an inviting blend of fresh brown sugar and a hard to pin down note – like a faint cabbage – but better than it sounds. In the mouth this is very round, still with a faint rasp of tannin. There’s a mineral flavour that grows in the mid-palate and eventually fades to something akin to the dark sugar note of the nose, but there’s something else too… Hmm, that cabbage note is now ‘cork’ and, yep, there it is in the finish.
To be honest, it’s on a low level. It’s distracting, but it’s on a level that would be a crime to pour a wine like this away: Drank through gritted teeth as it cycled between delighting and disappointing all evening – still, it seemed better than the 2000 from the night before…

Note: All four of my corked bottles came from the same mixed case from auction – all immaculately presented, but I wonder about the cellar they came from…

A wine that I bought on release, that has yo-yo’d between drinkable and not very tasty at all. Time to check in again – first time in 6 years.

2000 Jean-Marc Boillot, Pommard 1er Jarollières
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is as good as it has ever been; close to ripe fruit has a coating of musky/creamy-ness – it’s actually quite interesting. The acidity and associated tannin is tart and a little astringent, but if you swallow quickly, it seems quite okay. I probably needn’t add more…
Rebuy – No

2006 Château de Marsannay, Gevrey-Chambertin
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose begins with deep but narrow aromas with a little mint-leaf and occasional but pretty flowers and cream. There seems not too much tightening of flavour yet – there’s still a little rasp of tannin and a reasonable width of flavour too. Good acidity, which helps further expand the flavours in the mid-palate, which also shows a nice floral aspect. Young, this is a more than adequate wine for the label!
Rebuy – Yes

2001 Joseph Drouhin, Echézeaux
Medium colour. The nose offers occasional floral flashes, there is little on show here, perhaps just a little warm brown sugar. Sweetness of fruit and just a faint sour edge to good acidity. There’s a nice core of flavour, still with a faint rasp of tannin and quite some complexity – like a creamy cinnamon flavour but it’s all in the mid-palate and finish. This, grand cru or not, is a wine of subtle complexity rather than intensity and/or concentration. There should be no rush to drink this, but this is hardly even a middle-weight of a wine – that said, it was lovely!
Rebuy – Yes

2005 Henri Naudin-Ferrand, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune
The label says ‘Orchis Mascula’ – not sure if that’s just a bit of decoration, or the name of the cuvée. Dark, slightly spicy aromas, hints of sweet smoke, almost certainly some stems – actually more and more stem aromas with air – but also approaching a floral perfume. A nice width of flavour, then the acidity comes to the fore – but no problem – a hint of tannin too as you head into the finish. An hour later and it’s rounder, better balanced and quite tasty with a clear strawberry flavour. Good wine – a second bottle in the cellar should be quite interesting with a few more years…
Rebuy – Maybe

And not corked!!!