“A month ago I wrote that August and September were the all-important months in making the quality of a vintage. Well, August is almost done and to be honest, it has been grim – about 2ºC cooler, and already 40% wetter, than average. Thank goodness the forecast is perfect for at least the next week.”
Read the words of David Clark…
2006 Christophe Pacalet, Chiroubles
Medium-plus cherry-red. Beaujolais aromatics, but in the best sense – fruity but with a serious and quite dense core. Soft velvet across the tongue. Raised red fruits – a little plum – perfect acidity and a slightly savoury edge to the fruit-driven finish. Very tasty wine – of which I drank a little more than my usual share…
Rebuy – Yes
The thing about bottles like this is that they are only one thrid the price of most well-known producers’ villages wines from the Côtes – it’s clearly not pinot noir – at least it bears no relation at this age, but I’m seriously(-ish) considering whether I should replace a portion of my drinking (20%?) with BJ, I’d save plenty of cash…
Congratulations to China; they certainly had no cash/personnel resource issues for the Olympic Games, but that’s not the same as delivering, and they delivered! Sport was the clear winner – apart from Taekwondo maybe…
What about human rights? Well frankly ‘the west’s’ higher ground is very shaky from the self-interest vantage points of Iraq and Georgia, though I do tend to side with Dan Wetzel ripping into IOC president Jacques Rogge for his naïve criticism and targeting of Usain Bolt’s antics after winning his medals – I loved every minute of it – it seemed Usain’s (non-competitive) competitors did too. The wider issues remained under the table!
Lastly, what the hell was that dirty green bus all about – I liked the music, but then I’m ‘old’ 😉 It looks like the world is in for a culture shock in London 2012. I suppose that you also noticed that Boris seems to be perfecting an impression of a buffoon, that, or he thinks he looks like Winston Churchill (aged 75) with hand in pocket…
Chambolle still has many nice wines in 2006, but at the villages level, there is clearly not the density to be found from the 2005 vintage. That said, I continue to buy a number of tasty, balanced wines – one of these two made it into the basket, the other not.
I literally found this terrible on opening – an already open Potel-Aviron 05 Morgon Côte du Py was so much better on every level (at about 30% of the price) – a little (actually a lot of) patience helped considerably!
2006 Arlaud, Chambolle-Musigny
The colour is more red than cherry or purple. The first sniff did not impress – no focus, dirty oak, no fruit, in fact soupy. The flavours were not dissimilar, no chambolle, just sweet soupy oak – yuk! I try to be fair, so stoppered it up and left it in the refridgerator for 2 days: The nose has transformed; red fruit melded to caramel and a faint note of brioche. In the mouth there is also a tightening, some fat and more red fruit. A reasonable extra dimension of flavour in the mid-palate though the acidity needs a little more focus. If you have this, make sure you decant a few hours before or bury it in your cellar – either way it’s hard work!
Rebuy – No
2006 Lignier-Michelot, Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles-Vignes
Medium, medium-plus cherry-red colour. Right from the start the nose is wide width an impressive depth of dark fruit – few higher tones but some complexity lower down. Less fat than the Arlaud, but more focus from fine acidity. Lithe, with nice concentration and just a twist of slightly astringent, bitter-chocolate tannin. The flavour profile is good and long-lasting. Tasty wine.
Rebuy – Yes
And finally:
“The 2008 Burgundy harvest will be smaller than last year, following a poor fruit set and hailstorms in the region.
Although insiders say it is too early to judge the quality of the vintage, regional trade body, the BIVB, said fruit set had been adversely affected by a cold and wet spring. “
Of-course many growers will tell you this was a good thing as the yields were ‘naturally’ reduced and they have much smaller berries with a higher solids to juice ratio. With another month to go, there’s no point second-guessing…
And from Clive Coates
August 9th. 2008 : HAIL IN SOUTHERN BURGUNDY
“The southernmost part of the Mâconnais and the northern sector of the Beaujolais suffered a devastating hail-storm during the night of Thursday 7th. August. Reports circulate of hail stones as big as tennis balls, not only knocking of what would have been this year’s harvest, but badly damaging the green shoots as well. As it is this year’s canes which will provide the wood on which next year’s harvest will develop, this damage may well compromise the 2009 vintage. We saw this in 2004/2005.
The storm seems to have centered on Saint-Verand. Juliénas, Saint-Amour, Chénas and Moulin-à-Vent in the Beaujolais, and Leynes, Pruzilly, Chaintré, Fuissé and Vinzelles in the Mâconnais are the worst-affected villages.
The 2007’s of Henri Boillot – excellent as I expect them to be, at these prices I do not expect to buy more than a few ‘halves’ for testing…
VILLAGES BLANCS
MEURSAULT 2007 37,5cl 29.00 Swiss francs
MEURSAULT 2007 75cl 54.00
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET 2007 37,5cl 30.00
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET 2007 75cl 56.00PREMIERS CRUS BLANCS
MEURSAULT Les Charmes 2007 75cl 85.00
MEURSAULT Les Genevrières 2007 75cl 89.50
MEURSAULT Les Perrières 2007 75cl 95.00
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Perrières 2007 75cl 89.50
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Clos de La Mouchère 2007 37,5cl 47.00
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Clos de La Mouchère 2007 75cl 89.50
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Caillerets 2007 75cl 89.50
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Pucelles 2007 75cl 95.00GRANDS CRUS BLANCS
CORTON CHARLEMAGNE 2007 75cl 149.00
CRIOTS BATARD MONTRACHET 2007 75cl 215.00
BIENVENUES BATARD MONTRACHET 2007 75cl 249.00
BATARD MONTRACHET 2007 75cl 295.00
CHEVALIER-MONTRACHET 2007 75cl 368.00
MONTRACHET 2007 75cl 499.00PREMIERS CRUS ROUGES
BEAUNE Clos du Roi 2007 75cl 59.50
VOLNAY Les Fremiets 2007 75cl 75.00
VOLNAY Les Caillerets 2007 75cl 79.00
2006 Roulot, Bourgogne Aligoté
Maybe it was because I was just back from a 10 mile run, but this is/was a wonderfully refreshing drink. Soft and high-toned. Perfect balance and reasonably concentrated in the mouth – the acidity plays wonderfully across the tongue. On the negative side it’s rather simple for its price-tag – I think all the Roulot Bourgognes are priced above their quality level now, at least from European retailers – but it is a super summer drink.
Rebuy – Yes
This villages wine costs the same as the producer’s premier crus – why? – the words ‘vignes centenaire’ give the game away…
2005 Marchand-Grillot, Gevrey-Chambertin Champerrier
Medium, medium-plus colour. A somehow silky nose the starts with chocolate then higher-toned herbal aromatics over a tight red-fruit core. Good fat in the mouth and fine texture, the acidity works very well but there’s just a little spritz (which stayed for the whole 3 hours it was open) which gave the faint tannins a little extra texture. Persistent flavour – this really is a superb villages wine, less complex but currently more enveloping than the producer’s premier crus. Expensive but super.
Rebuy – Yes
Anyone care to suggest a list of wines made from 100 year-old (plus!) vines for a grand tasting in 2025?
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