It’s a while since I met up with Marc, so we decided to open a couple of ‘lunchtime’ bottles together.

I started at 7:30am by slowly easing out the cork from a 1972 Domaine du Clos Frantin Grands-Echézeaux – it smelled mighty fine. I popped in a stopper and then left it in a cool place for lunchtime. Marc’s approach was different, but just as effective: the 2005 Bouchard Pere Clos de Bèze was simply popped and poured. 80% of the way through the proceedings Marc suggested an interesting counterpoint – a 2004 Schubert Block B NZ pinot noir from the Wairapara.

1972 Clos Frantin, Grands-Echézeaux
A slightly porty fruit quickly, but not entirely gives way to beef, almonds, width and warmth – impressive and very complex. The acidity just has a hint of balsamic character, so probably best not to leave this for another 30+ years, but there is width and dimension on the perfectly textured mid-palate and it’s very long. This was savoured over about 3+ hours and it never faded. Super.

2005 Bouchard Pere er Fils, Chambertin Clos de Bèze
A precociously forward nose – it hits you before your nose even reaches into the glass. Ignoring the complex, spicy oak character – and there is a lot of it – the core of the nose is a trip through red, down to black fruit, lower down it is a mineral, coal-like effect. Very high quality indeed. Eventually it takes on coffee, chocolate and a subtle creamyness. This is just a little tighter and with less fireworks than last time, it’s lost a little of the buttery texture (a good thing!), but the frame and proportions of the wine are awesome. Perfect balance, mineral, multi-dimensional and long. It’s drinking fine now, but this will be more and more stunning as it develops – what price one of these when it nears its 40th birthday!

2004 Schubert, Block B Pinot Noir
An interesting counterpoint – gorgeously bright and enticing medium cherry-red colour. The nose is the weak part – it offers a lot of grassy, pyrazine type notes – a little coffee slowly adds to the mix. In the mouth this is rather good, particularly when you consider the company it is keeping today, there is density, good intensity of fresh fruit and very fine balance, there’s almost no tannin to find. There isn’t the complexity or length of the previous wines, but there are no ‘holes’. In its own right, this is a super drink.

Rebuy – Yes to all 3!

I already pcked my ‘house white‘ for 2010, but this is close in quality yet with a big advantage – it’s 60% of the cost. Hmm, next year could be tough!

2008 Louis Jadot, Bourgogne Chardonnay
This starts with that faintly sherbet note you often find on wines with less punch from the more marginal villages – think St.Romain. There’s a little faint oak note note that helps fill-out the aromas at the bottom and eventually a much more favourable core of yellow fruit. Above average intensity for the label, very fine acidity – then a surprise – a deep and clear extra dimension of flavour in the mid-palate; a little wood-derived vanilla cream; it’s a warm, Côte de Beaune type of flavour that would still – even at this regional level – distinguish the bottle from, for instance Chablis. The finish is a little more mineral and also holds-on reasonably well. This is very successful indeed.
Rebuy – Yes

There are plenty of reports, predominantly from the US, that Fourrier’s 2001s have their problems – in particular they seem to becoming more and more volatile. Well here’s one that I anyway didn’t like when I first tasted it (way back in 2004). But that bottle was reductive in character, rather than volatile – this (surprisingly), turned out rather nice…

2001 Fourrier, Vougeot 1er Les Petits Vougeots Vieilles Vignes
Medium ruby-red colour, still a hint of cherry-red. There’s a little herb and an undercurrent of red fruit – everything is quite tidy. In the mouth this is barely medium-bodied, very slightly acid-forward (but that’s its age) but smooth overall. A little tight, but not unrewarding. Actually far better than my first bottle of this some years ago…
Rebuy – Yes

A surprisingly drinkable wine, if in a vintage style that doesn’t appeal (to me…)

2003 Marc Colin, St.Aubin 1er en Remilly
Medium-plus golden colour. The nose is slightly tropical, and certainly ripe. In the mouth there is a roundness of shape and okay acidity – the mid-palate flavour has a good extra dimension that goes long in the finish. Just missing a little energy, but smuch better than I expected!
Rebuy – No

Ignoring for a second 2004, 1995 is the red vintage from recent memory that disappoints me the most – this wine is something of a poster-child for the vintage – it’s just not as good now as it was 5 years ago. The slightly hard personality is becoming more and more reminiscent of the 1994 vintage. Plenty of time left for an improvement I suppose…

1995 Dujac, Morey St.Denis
Medium ruby-red colour with a faint browning at the rim. The nose is sweet and rather stemmy, there’s a faint beefy note that has me flirting with the notion of brett, and some mixed herbs. In the mouth the wine starts narrow, slowly opening over tongue. The acidity is a little sharp and metallic in flavour, it makes you forget to look for tannin, which whilst understated, is still a little blocky. Reasonable length and some sweetness, but today, no love.
Rebuy – No

Not that cheap, but a very good wine:

2006 Bouchard Père et Fils, Monthélie 1er Clos les Champs Fulliot
This is a ‘domaine’ wine. Medium-plus cherry-red colour. There’s width and interest on this perfumed, high-toned nose – very pretty indeed, almost in a Volnay style. The texture has a slightly gravelly tannin as its base, but the balance is very, very good. There’s some faint licorice flavours in the finish from what is otherwise a red-fruit dominated performance. Oh and it’s quite a good finish too.
Rebuy – Yes

2000 Antonin Guyon, Corton-Charlemagne
Medium-plus golden colour. Despite the colour, there is no trace of oxidation here, rather it is forward but well integrated sweet brioche oak, behind is a good, freshly mineral base. Concentrated, silkily, waxily smooth texture. The acidity is understated and the flavours are a mix of the mineral and savoury. Very mineral finish that is also very long. This should be at it’s best in another 4 or 5 years, but it did rather on day1 – day two was even better!
Rebuy – Yes

A couple of weekend bottles. Somebody else’s house and glassware made for puzzling performances from both of these wines – in both cases totally unlike the last bottles I tasted:

2007 Mischief & Mayhem, Puligny-Montrachet
Wow this bursts with toasty-ness, brioche and just about everything but fruit. There is concentration and acidity but no togetherness. The sweet fruit across the tongue held it together, but it seemed quite peculiar.
2004 Pascal Lachaux, Clos St.Denis
Hmm, whilst the 04 character is very, very tiny (like before), the aromas are rather diffuse and slightly stemmy. In the mouth there is some balance, but the texture and concentration of the last bottle seems largely absent…

I was bemused – perhaps it was the piercing Muscat we started with!