Just a few notes from a lovely, sunny weekend.

We were holed up in the Mâconnais village of St.Gengoux-le-National – which used to be le-Royal before the revolution – very picturesque and calm, the area is dotted with pretty little château. I can only think of one complaint; a fifty mile drive for a Côte de Nuits appointment – okay everything is relative – normally I drive 160 miles!

Highlights
Appointments came thick and fast; Lamarche, Michel Gros, Dubreuil-Fontaine, Maison Ilan, M&M, David Clark, Jean-Noel Gagnard and Gilles Bouton. Quite a few 2010s have already finished their malolactic fermentations and are beginning to taste like fresh and precise wines – similarities to 08 but (let’s see) maybe with a better average balance and some interesting depth. The 2009s are mainly in bottle now – only by days in some cases – though some producers may wait another month or two.

The weekend was a Côte Châlonnais winefest and I’m ashamed I don’t have notes of any of the producers of those simple, and occasionally not so simple yet always tasty wines. Myself I opened a 93 Voillot Meursault Cras (solid as a rock – that’s 5 bottles now), a 99 Mugnier Amoureuses (the best aromas I can remember this year and a palate that’s starting to seem a little less simple) and a 76 Richebourg from some anonymous producer (warm, friendly, very understated though no fireworks as far as I could tell with my cold).

Back just in time to mow the grass and then be hit by the rain and cold – it was frosty this morning – hope those leaves and buds in the Côtes weren’t caught out!