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vines for sale in pommard
There you go a ‘snäpchen’ – nicely sited ‘name’ vines overlooking the village of Pommard.
Okay, not entirely cheap at €186,000, but you get almost 0.3 hectares – who would complain? I do, however, note that said vines are available only after the 2015 harvest, I didn’t know that you could also buy vines en-primeur…!
02 henri latour et fils auxey-duresses 1er grands champs
I think ‘background-info’ so important, don’t you? So just for the record, this was drunk, lightly chilled (it didn’t stay chilled in the glass) after mowing my grass in 32°C temperatures yesterday evening. It was just what I needed!
2002 Henri Latour et Fils, Auxey-Duresses 1er Grands Champs
Medium, medium-plus ruby-red. The nose has a dense core, but is generally hard to get at for over an hour – after, it has some savoury hints, faint estery top-notes but stronger and almost good red fruit in the middle. In the mouth there’s good balance – perhaps a little ‘thin’ in the mid-palate, but just now that’s a 2002 thing, it’s definitely not just this wine. Despite that, there’s a nice cushioned texture and a reasonable finish. Decent intensity in the mid-palate. This is a value wine and was enjoyed.
Rebuy – Yes
chézeaux/ponsot 2007 clos st.denis (très) vieilles vignes
Profile: des Chézeaux2007 Chézeaux/Ponsot, Clos St.Denis Vieilles Vignes
These are now over 100 year-old vines, the label says ‘vieilles vignes’, but the cork, (like the label on the Ponsot botting) says très vieilles vignes’. Medium, medium-plus colour. For quite a while after opening, the aromatics are rather diffuse offering almost a little blood-orange fruit, slowly it takes on a little focus with a dark, if not black cherry-fruit, still a little ‘lifted’ though intense and eventually very pretty violet floral notes – the longer it is open the more intense it becomes, perhaps a little raisined fruit hiding in the depths. Right from the start, this is intense and fresh – reminds me of a great white wine where the intensity and acidity make it hard for you to keep it in your mouth. If you’re prepared to fight with that intensity you will find very little overt tannin yet a certain silkiness, and there’s an understated but considerable length. At a similar stage (September last year) the 2006 was also rather difficult to judge, maybe that’s why Laurent Ponsot waits longer to release his wines, likewise this impresses in so many areas without quite delivering a ‘whole performance’ – today! I’m confident enough that the balance and intensity will bestow a long life to this wine, eventually to blossom.
Rebuy – Yes
the last bottle now leaving…
I agree with Scott – such a brilliant idea!
trouble at’mill…
With apologies to Lancastrians, Decanter reveals that the producers are revolting…
Currently it’s a storm in a teacup; if there are eventually to be vast lakes of Beaujolais sourced Bourgogne Blanc, it will still have to fight with vast lakes of the ‘Real McCoy’ at the supermarket price-points – though perhaps the Beajolais have more experience in the sub €2 per litre positions…
The average producer who tries to make a good product should have no fear – it’s not possible to make a good product at the wholesale prices for bulk business – their clientelle are a different clientelle and are unlikely to be diverted. Only bulk farmers might be outraged – but then no-one reading this page will anyway feel much connection to them.
California’s Newest Cult Pinot Noir
Thomas Rivers Brown and his wife and business partner Genevieve Marie Walsh have quietly developed one of California’s most honored Pinot Noir labels: Rivers-Marie. Although Brown crafts wine for at least twelve other wineries where the focus is Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel, Rivers-Marie produces small lots of Pinot Noir from three vineyard sources in the true Sonoma Coast, specifically the Occidental-Freestone area. Summa Vineyard is a 6-acre site owned by Scott and Joan Zeller, Occidental Ridge Vineyard is owned by Richard and Darla Radcliffe, and the Willow Creek Vineyard is owned by Raleigh and Patricia Wilson-Juckett. Total production for Rivers-Marie was 650 cases in 2007 and 1,200 cases in 2008. There are 4,000 people on the waiting list hopelessly biding their time for a spot on the mailing list. Managing allocations is more difficult for Brown than crafting than wines! The secondary market is the only source for most mortals.
Unlike many cult wine producers in California, Rivers-Marie keeps prices sensible, ranging from $25 to $60 for the five 2007 Pinot Noir bottlings (Sonoma Coast, Willow Creek Vineyard, Occidental Ridge Vineyard, Summa Vineyard, and Summa Vineyard Old Vines). No one is California is making more striking, more perfectly balanced and age worthy Pinot Noirs than Rivers Marie. The wines represent the culmination of the long-touted tantalizing potential for Pinot Noir in the true Sonoma Coast.
Yields on the Sonoma Coast in many vintages are marginal and barely financially viable. Summa Vineyard yields about three-quarters of a ton per acre and some of the old vines yield significantly less. At Rivers-Marie, the grapes are hand picked and sorted, 100% de-stemmed and given an extended cold soak of up to 10 days. Aging is carried out on full lees for 10 months and the wines are bottled without fining or filtration.
2007 Rivers-Marie Occidental Ridge Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 14.4% alc., 180 cases, $45. Dijon clones 115 and 777. Aged in 40% new French oak. Complex aromatic profile of dark stone fruits, crushed berries, sage, green garden and smoke. Rich and perfectly ripe black raspberry fruit with an underpinning of earth, oak and orange peel. Thick and robust, yet perfectly balanced with complimentary tannins and acidity. The aromatic and fruity finish is haunting. A thoroughbred that challenges the Summa Old Vines for superiority.
2007 Rivers-Marie Summa Old Vines Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 13.4% alc., 100 cases, $60. Aged in 100% new French oak. Flaboyant aromas of cherries and berries with a magical and penetrating Asian spice scent that smells like the most erotic pheromone in the world. Unbelievably delicious sappy cherry and berry fruit with wisps of sassafras, cola and exotic spices. The velvety texture is enough to bring you to your knees. An incredible wine that defies adequate description. Suffice it to say that this is a winegasm – one of those Pinot Noirs with such powerful charisma, that it drives men to do practically anything to get another bottle.
hail-watch…
From: La Ferme de la Ruchotte
Yesterday evening there was a tremendous storm following a hot day of about 30°C. It seems from reports in so-far, that the Côte d’Or pretty-much escaped with a mere 50 millimetres of rain in about 12 hours.
Less lucky as you can see from the linked photo, was Bligny-sur-Ouche, which I think would be classified as Hautes Côtes de Beaune – if they still have some grapes!
Now those things have really got to hurt. Never-mind their grapes, do you think any of their cows survived?
bouchard père et fils 2005 chablis bougros
You may remember that one of my trio of William Fevres (yesterday) was corked. Of-course that put a momentary panic into the supply situation and I grabbed this from the cellar and put it in the freezer for that quick chill. Just a little later I remembered that I had a Pierre Morey 2006 Meursault Perrières in the fridge (it was silky, silky and very, very long – that’s as much as I remember!), so panic over.
Of-course well into your third (good) bottle, you are (okay, I am!) inclined to become absent-minded! Back to the Bougros; well, 24 hours at -18°C didn’t break the glass, but the cork is held in by only a millimetre-or-so of frozen grand cru Chablis. No harm done I expect…
2005 Bouchard Père et Fils, Chablis Bougros
Pale yellow. A round nose that’s just fresh enough, has a little brioche and subdued but smooth and seemingly ripe fruit below. Maybe it’s just a little fatter, richer that I consider perfect for GC Chablis, but it has the requisite mineral core and a late-arriving mouth-watering finish. Sweetly intense and quite pretty. The purchase price was a bargain and I’d buy more at the price – about half the current Fevre Bougros price!
Rebuy – Yes