2008 L&A Lignier, Gevrey-Chambertin Les Seuvrées
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose shows lovely depth; just a hint of musk and dark red fruits. Fresh, but not overly so this trips over the tongue delivering excellent dark-shaded fruit and impressive complexity – just a hint tart in the finish but compellingly-so. Chew and you can find a little tannin that sticks to your mouth with a hint of astringency.
Rebuy – Yes

1989 Cave du Dauphin, Bonnes-Mares
Medium colour. There is a hint of roasted to the fruit but generally this is not so bad, rounded with a faint pot-pourri note. The fruit is ripe enough and actually shows a good mineral tension; not the last word in intensity, but not bad either. The acidity is just fine and you can still get a few grains of tannin too. Probably not an exceptional Bonnes-Mares, but a nice enough bottle.
Rebuy – Maybe

An excellent wine I cannot deny and one of character too – but it’s priced as a premier cru – so I would rebuy only at the ‘correct’ price…

2009 Eugénie, Vosne-Romanée
Classic spice-bread on the nose. Clearly there is quite some extraction here, evidenced by that modern rarity – real tannin! Good underlying acidity and plenty of flavour too. This is a wine of real character; the tannins are forward but without astringency and the fruit flavour is equally boisterous. I like it.
Rebuy – Yes

I have always enjoyed the Jayer-Gilles wines – perhaps it’s time I knuckled-down and investigated further.

This is frankly a benchmark Bourgogne that would give many villages wines pause for thought – but for a Bourgogne, it is simply too expensive, at least 50% too expensive; I would personally rather spend 33 Swiss francs on a good villages wine – but if I can find it at a normal price…

2009 Jayer-Gilles, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits
High toned aromas and no obvious oak – very good width too – this is very nice. Very fine, quite narrow but mated to a fine acidity and intensity. I like the fruit very much and it has interesting, rather than heavy-handed, oak accents. Neither a super-ripe nor a fluffy textured 09, simply a stunning Bourgogne – excellent.
Rebuy – Yes

2009 Verget, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Champs Gains
This has a forward nose with a few herbs and decent, high-toned fruit. There’s plenty of flavour and a really good intensity too. I’d just like a little more acidity to provide focus, without this it’s a bit too expensive – both 2008 and 2010 villages will offer more value.
Rebuy – No

A wine of consolation this – I just (with sadness) turned down an invitation to the Paulée de Meursault on the 21st November – well I am already there three days next week and two days the week after…

Anyway, the Antonin Guyon was not so bad – so let’s try something a little more ‘middle of the road‘…

2008 Louis Jadot, Pommard
This wine showed two personalities; day 1 it was a little non-descript on the nose; rounder and sweeter than the Guyon Chambolle but less impact or dimension – here was a club to the rapier of the Guyon. Day 2 and I’m much more impressed with this; the nose has opened with a slightly warm and sweet core but coupled to creamy flashes and top notes of violets – nice! There also seems a bit more depth to the palate, pretty, higher-toned red fruit and a slowly lingering finish on very good but not bright acidity. There is a hint of grain to the low-key tannin. If I’m totally honest, this cuvée can be a bit expensive, but here is a wine that rewards your investment – on day 2 anyway!
Rebuy – Yes

Ooh – it seems like ages since I had a 2008 – it must be over a week, maybe even two! Let’s put that right.

Here’s a Chambolle Les Cras, but this ‘domaine’ wine is actually a villages Les Cras, in this case from Antonin Guyon.

2008 Antonin Guyon, Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras
Medium, medium-plus colour. Forward red fruit notes that have a hint of sour about them – they make me think of rhubarb – lucky I like rhubarb! In the mouth this is very smooth and it pulls you into the mid-palate with plenty of (equally smooth) acidity – but I expect this could become a bit screechy in 2-3 years as the sweet fat of the fruit shrinks. There is quite some intensity and even a little extra dimension in the mid-palate, though to be fair, it’s mainly acid-led intensity. The last flavours of the mid-palate have a little bitter-chocolate about them but I think they are mainly the result of a hint of toasty oak blended with a bit of borderline ripe fruit. I have to say that I’m enjoying this wine, but I really do think that the enjoyment could be transient – say 18-or-so months worth.
Rebuy – Maybe

Well the last ’83 was super so why not try another. Blind, there is nothing here that may have led you to assume that this was the grand cru of the pair…

1983 Pierre Bourée, Charmes-Chambertin
Medium colour, again with plenty of browning. The nose starts in a very tight way; some savoury notes but little else to latch onto. Very slowly a raspberry perfume with clear stem references begins to evolve. The first mouthful is of a perfectly balanced, if rather thin, wine. There is a little rasp from what remains of the tannin – it’s a nice touch of character. There is eventually an interesting extra dimension, and some intensity, in the mid-palate – this is not a food wine, it’s flavours are engulfed by just about anything. Without food there’s just enough sweetness, but overall, it’s hardly worth the effort. After the 66 Pommard of last week, this is something of a let-down.
Rebuy – No