When last in Nuits I mentioned I had this wine the cellar and was informed by the Potel-team that I should probably open it as they had problems with the corks and 50% of the bottles were off. I had but one in the cellar so decided to pop the cork – it looked and smelled fine…

1998 Nicolas Potel, Romanée St.Vivant
Double-decanted, poured after an hour. Plenty of lumpy sediment but no fine stuff to cloud things. The nose needs another 30 minutes to open, but it becomes wide and very Vosne; spicy, leafy, somehow ‘warm’ and textured smelling – overall it’s very good though not necessarily better than a (very) good 1er cru. The acidity is slightly forward – though not excessive – no harsh or astringent tannin, just a latent velvet edge. The flavours are a little tart but there’s a slowly deepening intensity in the mid-palate and a width that’s faintly cream-edged. Very good, if not great length. There is no primary fruit here, but it’s a wine that I would leave for at least another 5 or 6 in the cellar. It’s a reasonable grand cru, but today it’s far from a great RSV. This experience was not spoiled by the cork, only by opening the bottle at least 5 years too early…
Rebuy – No regardless of quality, it’s clearly a ‘no’ given the 50% cork lottery.

I ‘know’ the name of this producer, but I’ve no idea of the context of that knowledge as I’ve no wines from the domaine in my cellar – time to start learning I suppose…

2006 Jean-Marc Bouley, Beaune 1er Les Reversées
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose starts with a waft of dark and slightly toasty oak – it’s there in the depth too – I suspect that this may not lift. I was wrong, already within 15 minutes virtually all traces of dark oak are consigned to history, what replaces it is beautiful, slightly creamy red fruit – from heights to depths it’s lovely. The palate is, relative to the nose, ‘merely’ good. There is slightly forward acidity coupled to red cherry-fruit that leaves me with the impression that it could have done with half a degree more ripeness – that said it makes for an interesting and ‘edgy’ personality. This reminds me a little of some 2001s in their youth – no bad thing that. I enjoyed it, but can’t decide whether it would be better to drink now or wait 7-10 years. On reflection I would wait – there are other wines that offer a rounder performance today.
Rebuy – Yes

I’ve always considered Christian Clerget an up and down performer. I’ve had great bottles of his Chambolle 1er Charmes and his villages Chambolle too, but equally I’ve had dreary bottles of both. Lert’s see how this stacks up:

2006 Christian Clerget, Chambolle-Musigny
Medium, medium-plus colour, yet relatively deep for a villages Chambolle. Soft, but well-defined red fruit over a denser base – there’s a faint caramel edge that disappears as the wine warms in glass, some focus is also lost. Interesting; there’s a dense, concentrated, rather extracted core to the wine which has the merest trace of bitterness that makes the acidity seem a little bright – yet is mineral too. There is good texture from very faintly astringent but finely grained tannin. Relatively long finishing with an extra depth an dimension that normally indicates 1er cru juice. It’s not yet perfectly balanced, but it has plenty of character – keep it cool and it’s a winner!
Rebuy – Yes

2006 Alain Jeanniard, Gevrey-Chambertin
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose and indeed the flavours show some reduction so I made a quick double-decant, within 10 minutes all was fixed. Not so obviously Gevrey, but there’s nice red cherry with some darker fruit and savoury hints – eventually a lovely redcurrant impression. Balanced acidity and decent depth of flavour. There is some tannin that’s accented with a faint astringency and a decent length. It’s tasty, so if you get a good price it’s worth buying, but their 06 Morey VV is on a higher level.
Rebuy – Yes