two recent clos from fevre…

By billn on February 26, 2010 #degustation

fevre-clos

With all the bruhaha of p.ox surrounding wines from Fevre in 2002 – typically, a vintage I have something close to 12 bottles of – I suppose that I will have to make those bottles my house wine for 2010, despite strong competition from Gambal’s 2006 Bourgogne!

Anyway a 2001 and a 2002 were opened last week, and those bottles were absolutely fine. The 2001 seems the more muscular and dense. The 2002 has a little more barrel vanilla and dimension in the mid-palate – it seems a little riper – perhaps that’s just the sweetness of the barrels(?) Both bottles were drunk over 3-4 days, left unstoppered in the refrigerator each night – the 2001 really did seem bullet-proof. Today I have a very slight preference for the 2001, tomorrow, who knows?

Without the elephant in the room I might buy more, but big ears is hiding behind the sofa, maybe there are not so many tomorrows left for these bottles…

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white wines with a red nose…

By billn on February 25, 2010 #degustation#p.ox#travel#travel pics

klosters-madrisa
Impressed with my dexterity in Photoshop? Actually it is just a moody (blurred!) image from my phone…

klosters - dog tiredOnly a few days after a day-trip to Mürren we find ourselves in Klosters – well it is the season! Mainly blue sky, but getting a little warm with sticky snow by lunchtime – good for delivering the characteristic red nose though!

The long-legged redhead went to ‘doggy-daycare’ with 12-13 other daytime-abandoned dogs, delivering the perfect evening example of ‘dog-tired’.

A couple of evening wines – both 2003 whites – might be of interest for you. First up was the 2003 Vincent Girardin, Corton-Charlemagne which delivered an even better performance than this last bottle – whilst not ‘fresh’, I certainly wasn’t longing for more acidity. To follow, came the 2003 Vincent Girardin, Chevailier-Montrachet and what an impressive bottle – and I mean the bottle – a super-deep punt and heavy glass. On pouring, nothing untoward on the colour, but the nose has the first whiffs of oxidation – annoying rather than destructive. Across the palate this is certainly balanced enough and displays a generous extra mass versus the Charlemagne, the texture is good too. Unfortunately this is linear and young – tasty, but little overt complexity – just what you don’t want to hear after the oxidative hints on the nose. That’s a shame, as non-oxidising bottles won’t be anywhere near peaking in the next 5 years…

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michel lafarge 1997 volnay 1er

By billn on February 19, 2010 #asides

lafarge-volnay-1er

What a wine; 3 days, three different results. Drunk over three nights, whilst over-nighting in the refigerator.

1997 Michel Lafarge, Volnay 1er Cru
Day 1. Medium rusty-red colour. Despite a certain 1997 ripeness to the fruit aromas, there is something of a cool edge and plenty of herbal notes – overall it’s ruff and gruff – not a lacy picture of Volnay. The leading edge is the acidity, though behind it the tannin is quite fine. The first flavours have a slight oxidised impression, but the best part of the wine is its extra dimension of very nice mid-palate flavour. Overall this wine lacks a lot of charm, and some aspects give me concern for further cellaring – still, this was my last.
Rebuy – No
Day 2. Same room, same time of day – looks less rust coloured (!?) The aromatics have really cleaned up, it’s still slightly austere but a little less herbal. More balance, and that slight oxidised flavour is gone, the fruit has an altogether younger and darker impression – I would even go as far as to say appeal! Whilst still not charming, I would say this is an altogether more ‘correct’ performance – one that indicates the vigour of youth rather than the previous day’s pallor of age…
Rebuy – Yes
Day 3. Like day 2, but more diffuse. Today the austerity coupled to the loose performance would give it the thumbs down. Interesting that the day 1 problem seemed to be something volatile in the wine – once it was gone, things really came together.
Rebuy – No

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favourite olympic pic…

By billn on February 18, 2010 #random

Noelle-Barahona-of-ChileNice that Whistler now has sunshine to go with the snow, and what a race yesterday!

The ladies downhill – carnage – with poor Anja Paerson, unintentionally leaping further than Eddie the Eagle(!) and in the process losing a nailed-down silver medal 🙁

I love this picture of Noelle Barahona of Chile disappearing underneath a barrier at the finish line – you may need to look twice 😉
Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images

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2006 alex gambal bourgogne blanc

By billn on February 18, 2010 #degustation

gambal_bourgogne

It’s not a proper tasting note I suppose, but I’m sure you’ll get the idea 😉

2006 Alex Gambal, Bourgogne Blanc
I might have written elsewhere that there’s a ‘deliciousness’ to chardonnay (sorry white burgundy!) that can really perk you up – particularly if you’re tasting at 9:00am! I recall a tasting about 1 year ago at Maison Alex Gambal, before we dived into the 2007s we tasted Alex’s most basic bourgogne blanc – a 2006 – it just hit the spot! For somebody of limited will-power there was absolutely no doubt that ‘on the spot’ I would order a case – not unexpectedly I have cases dotted around the Côte d’Or only waiting for my next visit – well, that and some cash of-course! I finally got around to picking it up (amongst other things) when I visited to taste the 2008s about 2 weeks ago. So, one year-on, how does this wine show? The 2006 vintage has endowed it with a little extra richness but it remains perfectly well balanced. Clearly then, this wine has only one obvious flaw – I bought it to use as a nice summer aperitif, but I’ve already drunk two bottles – it seems unlikely that any will survive to see the official starting date for summer time – clearly it’s not fit for purpose then!
Rebuy – Yes

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offer of the day – DRC 2007 & 09 en-primeur price-drop…

By billn on February 17, 2010 #the market

louis latour en-primeurFirst there was Henri Boillot 2008, then Leflaive 2008 – though apparently the latter didn’t like seeing it in print here – now, fresh in it’s Louis Latour 2009.

20% sounds a lot, but it only brings prices roughly back down to (depending on who) vintage 2004 levels, and let’s not forget that some increased their prices already in 2002, 2003 & 2004 – a good vintage followed by two ‘short’ vintages.

Many producers are ‘hurting’ and expect no respite until they launch their 2009s – who can blame them if EPs are ‘well-priced’ – many need the cash!

DRC-2007-GBPNeither the harsh filter of youth nor the frequently traumatic growing season betray the irreversible beauty of these 2007s. They possess grace, a rare quality in even great wines that combines a delicate but persistent richness with purity, elegance, concentration and length.
Source: Corney & Barrow

Of-course not all producers are suffering, some domaines get cash up-front from their local distributors, and need have little consideration for the general economic cycle – That will be Domaine de la Romanée-Conti then!

With yields of 26-32 hl/ha for their reds (38 for Le Montrachet) the yields are a little above average, and quite a bit higher than they achieved for the 2008 vintage.

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new vines for méo-camuzet and champy…

By billn on February 16, 2010 #other sites#the market

News from the BIVB:

Corton PerrieresTHE MEO-CAMUZET ESTATE ACQUIRES TWO PLOTS IN CORTON
In December, the Méo-Camuzet estate (Vosne-Romanée) acquired a beautiful 68-are plot in Corton Perrières and a 19-are plot in
Corton La Vigne au Saint. Both are planted with old vines of fine Pinot Noir. The estate has been able to use grapes from these two
terroirs as of its 2009 vintage, widening its selection of Corton reds.
The Méo-Camuzet estate already owned an enclosed vineyard of 45 ares at Rognet-et-Corton. Its range also includes some of the
most prestigious Côte de Nuits appellations: Clos de Vougeot, Richebourg, Echezeaux, Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru, etc.

Hill of CortonCHAMPY TAKES OVER THE LALEURE-PIOT ESTATE
The firm Champy (Beaune) is currently finalising its takeover of the Laleure-Piot estate (Pernand-Vergelesses). This will come into
effect with the 2010 vintage. Champy’s cultural approach (it has organic certification) will therefore be implemented as of the next
harvest. The estate has around ten hectares, with a range of appellations including Pernand Villages and Premiers Crus, as well as red
Grands Crus (Corton Rognet and Corton Bressandes) and whites (Corton-Charlemagne).

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