Another 2006? Well it seems perfect to compare a Pommard with a Nuits – in reality less-so in this case; a Nuits 1er made by Fédéric Mugnier in the Chambolle style – maybe it’s his yeasts! I also remember the Nuits / Vosne area to be the peak of 2006s so I’d anyway expect a little more from an 06 Nuits versus an 06 Pommard. This may not be a great comparison, but it’s a great bottle!

2006 JF Mugnier, Nuits St.Georges 1er Clos de la Maréchale
Medium-plus colour once more. Here the nose is really about pinot (oops – Nuits! – well, maybe…) with a top to bottom elegance, plenty of floral, violet, references too. In the mouth this has extra sweetness and also is much more silky; yet roll it around in your mouth and you’ll find lovely acidity and no lack of velvety tannin – you just need to look for it. The fruit in the mouth is quite high toned, but very pretty. This is actually very lovely now, but has a reserve of balance – which I hope will allow me to still enjoy my last bottle in at least another 20 years. It’s not super-long, but it is super-tasty. Yum. A point worth noting is that if the wine reaches the heady heights of a mere 20 degrees, it becomes a bit diffuse an less impressive – keep to 18 or below and all is well.
Rebuy – Yes

2006 Xavier Monnot, Pommard Les Vignots
Medium-plus colour, still with purple highlights. The nose is reasonably forward but a bit burly and bulky with hints of cola, only after the bottle has been opened a couple of hours do you start to get some clear, clean and quite pretty fruit notes but it’s only from the last drops in the glass. Like the nose, this a broad-shouldered wine and it wears it’s tannin without a hint of reserve – but the tannin is ripe and not too grippy. There’s a nice breath of fresh acidity and a reasonable length, but I’m missing some excitement – not sure if it’s this wine or also a bit of 2006 thing – will have to check on some.
Rebuy – Maybe

Having finally got around to picking up my 6-pack of the redoubtable 2008 Corton I noticed that they have a little wine-sales boutique chez Marchand. I really don’t know who will find it (going through the courtyard and in through the closed door) but this was a very well priced bottle.

2007 Pascal Marchand, Morey St.Denis 1er Clos des Ormes
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is quite interesting; clearly a few stems that are partially obscuring violet flowers but the stems are far from gothic plus, if you swirl, you get a great punch of floral aromas. In the mouth there’s decent weight that despite being a little light on acidity never seems overly heavy. There is sweetness from the fruit, a little more than a suggestion of minerality in the mid-palate and eventually a mouth-watering finish. This is very moreish wine, it shows the vintage more than the village today, but it is very tasty indeed – and that’s before you look at the great price ex domaine.
Rebuy – Yes

1982 Duchet, Corton-Charlemagne
Deep golden hue. The nose started as an old (but correct) white does; interesting, a little diffuse but nuts an d a faint impression there may be some oxidation. In minutes it comes together, delivers more focus and adds a little caramel, some struck-match too. In the mouth, this is less sweet than the nose suggests – you even have the impression that there is a hint of tannic astringency. Quite long flavours and even a little more flavour development in the mid-palate. Certainly this is interesting and even a little rewarding but it will never be cosseting, nor ever was (probably) ‘great’.
Rebuy – No chance

No, I know that wine is not a competition, but with chance to compare two bones what’s a dog to do?

2007 Lucien Le Moine, Beaune 1er Les Avaux
The nose starts as pure oak but needs only a handful of minutes to start coming together in the glass, leaving a prominent but quite nice spicy dimension to the red fruit that has now come into frame. Here is an excellent depth of fruit flavour and a very nice intensity too. Clearly there is the carpenter’s hand here, but this is a wine that works very well indeed. The final twist of tannin gives a bitter-chocolate tang to the finish. Very tasty.
Rebuy – Yes (only at a ‘normal’ price, there is no value here)

2007 des Croix, Beaune 1er Les Grèves
The nose shows depth, width and complexity – of fruit – a totally different animal to the previous wine, eventually also delivering a floral aroma too. Silken entry, this is round and concentrated, and like the Le Moine also delivers a bitter-chocolate tannin in the finish – the first obvious oak artefact. Very lovely wine – you would be hard pressed to guess the vintage.
Rebuy – Yes

Not unexpectedly versus the ‘hearsay’ there seems more of the cabinet-maker’s art in the wine from Le Moine, but it’s a good wine, the de Croix, however, is a very good wine. It is entirely possible that the Le Moine was bested not because of style, but rather the more completeness of the Grèves terroir versus that of Avaux – the Grèves is certainly the wine I would buy again, even forgetting how much cheaper it is! On day two, both of the wines had tired versus their opening performance – that is 07 for you – the Le Moine now clearly with the more bitter tannins.

I’d be tempted to save the de Croix, the Le Moine I would rather drink now, as I’m not sure its oak will ever completely fade.