Apparently it’s true…
Given the glass of Dubeouf 2006 Beaujolais Nouveau I just had, perhaps they should speed up the process!
Comments for this entry
bouchard p & f, 2002 aloxe
2002 Bouchard Père et Fils, Aloxe-Corton
Medium, medium-plus cherry-red colour. The nose starts very red, ripe and forward, slowly becoming more interesting – coffee and cinnamon edged. Fresh and sweet, the wine expands in the mouth – nicely lingering flavours. The tannin is very well covered. A very successful and super value wine – heartily recommended.
Rebuy – yes
françoise & denis clair, saint aubin 2004
These producers have invested in a very nice new ‘livery’ for their 2004’s – much more elegant than their niaive predecessors.
2004 F & D Clair, St.Aubin 1er Les Murgers des Dents de Chien
Medium yellow. The nose fresh, just a little savoury and spicy against that citrussy 2004 feel. Medium-intensity with very good acidity and a nice flow into the good finish. Again there’s a slightly savoury element to the palate too. Plenty of flesh here, rather than the taught, haughty aspect of many in 2004. Easy and tasty drinking – very good value at it’s pre-arrival price.
Rebuy – Yes
hotels and wine – a surprise
Tonight I deserve to eat and drink badly (actually I tend not to drink badly – I prefer to abstain!); I’m alone in a hotel and a colleague has given me the name of two good restaurants – the thing is (without a driver) I’m far too lazy to arrange taxis in each direction – that’s my main excuse, though the fact-is, I have more than enough work to do to fill each waking hour. So it’s time to take my ‘medicine’ and accept what the hotel is serving up!
My experience leads me to believe that hotels are (typically) worse than restaurants when it comes to wine. Middle-ranking restaurants often have wine sourced from one supplier – and usually very bad value wine at that. Hotels are even worse, even half-decent hotels typically keep wine-lists that appall. So tonight I shall spend in a Hotel Mercure (part of a very big chain), in that cultural hotspot – Zwolle! Who would have thought? Grand Cru Chablis from a good producer is a mere 25 Euro per bottle (I paid just 15 Euro for the half bottle!) and a very good village Vosne-Romanée (Bichot) is 32 Euro – seems rather churlish to say ‘they are only 2003’s’ – bravo Mercure, some merchants charge more!
2003 Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis Grand Cru Bougros
Medium yellow. The cooler the wine, the more mineral the aspect, but at the correct temperature, aromatically this is a more about honey than rocks, with just a faint savoury edge. The palate is soft and supple – ripe obviously – good texture and a medium-plus length. The vintage is doing the talking here, so this is not a great Bougros, but it is a great value wine enjoyed in a restaurant.
Rebuy – Maybe
pommard #18
Just to keep you on your toes, I though I should try and slip through another Pommard. Very good it was too!
2003 Louis Boillot, Pommard 1er Les Croix Noires
Medium-plus cherry-red. The nose is wide, eventually high-toned, complex and interesting – provided you keep it cool, otherwise it (like many 2003’s) becomes quite diffuse. Very well textured – there’s a lot of tannin, but it’s very well done, and very well covered. There was obviously plenty of oak at release, but there has been a very quick take-up and this is rather well made and impressive – a modern vernacular for sure, but very well done. Impressive juice!
Rebuy – Yes
Seems ‘the pour’ is still in Burgundy – this time enjoying ‘lunch‘
pierre gelin fixin clos napoleon 98
The last time I had one of these was at least 3 or 4 years ago, and probably a 1996 – but I do remember liking the wine! In September I took a ‘flyer’ and managed to land a reasonably priced case at auction; here’s the chance to see what kind of mistake I made!
1998 Pierre Gelin, Fixin 1er Clos Napoleon
Medium ruby-red colour. The nose starts very subdued, only slowly starts to take on a more tertiary, slightly alcoholic edge – eventually becomes quite interesting. The palate is well textured with super acidity and impressive mid-palate concentration – if it had any astringent tannin in its youth then it’s already melted. It’s ready now and I’m sure it will hold for a few years more, it’s just a little Gevrey in style and very well priced.
Rebuy – Maybe
Seems I didn’t do too badly after-all!
clos frantin vosne malconsorts 03
2003 Domaine du Clos Frantin, Vosne-Romanée 1er Malconsorts
Medium-plus cherry-red colour. A deeply ripe red-fruit nose; it flirts with being porty but just-about avoids this tragedy – though I’m concerned that with time it might fall from the tightrope it currently walks. The palate is soft and concentrated with a burst of tannin in the mid-palate, the finish slowly fades. The concentration and extract are self-evident and are well-judged, but it’s hard to find the complexity given the density of its current demenour. Clean and well made, one more stays in the cellar to see how this develops – clearly a 2003.
Rebuy – Maybe
antonin guyon 2002 aloxe
2002 Antonin Guyon, Aloxe-Corton 1er Les Fournières
A good medium-plus cherry-red colour. The nose starts full of minerals and sweet red cherry, slowly becomes a little higher-toned and diffuse, the remaining drops in the glass, however, have a quite lovely smell. The palate is quite intense and pure – red-fruity – quite fresh too. The tannins are quite mouth puckering and astringent, but you don’t notice so-much with food. This will probably always be a little acid-forward, but there’s plenty-enough fruit to wait 2-3 years for the tannin to melt a little.
Rebuy – Maybe
christies change gear for the hospices de beaune
It seemed to me that in 2005 the selling ‘machine’ of Christies (at theit first attempt) did not really get into full gear for the sale of the 2005’s; prices were average and the wines should be excellent – perhaps Christies needed to get into the swing of things.
This year, for the 2006’s, the reds will (typically) be inferior to 2005 – note that I don’t say bad, just not as good – and the whites will simply be a different style, very good, but not necessarily ‘better’ than either 2004 or 2005. Despite this, the prices for the whites reached amazing heights vs the last two years and the reds were ‘in-line’ with the prices for 2005.
Two things to say: first, the pricing no longer (did it ever?) reflects the vintage quality – at least vis-a-vis other vintages – and second, let’s not get too concerned about it, because this is anyway a charity event. Clearly though, Christies were this year much more efficient at bringing private buyers to the table – perhaps this heralds a slow marginalisation of the négociants – at least as buyers – who knows(?) Perhaps not when I see that Maison Albert Bichot (alone) bought 104 barrels on behalf of themselves and long-standing clients.
Two reports follow; the first from the Decanter site here, and the more detailed and particularly recomended report from Jancis’ site here.