Nostalgia alert: Ah, remember when these little puppies could be had for under £300 – no, not per bottle – per dozen! It seems it’s 3 years since I last popped one of these, so…

2003 Fourrier, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos St.Jacques
The cork slides out a little more easily than I would prefer but it’s in-tact and the wine is fine.
Many 2003s have been in a kind of stasis, a plateau, of pre-maturity for nearly 10 years now but this wine is finally starting to show a little development; the colour is not one of youth and for the first time I’m getting a little age-related dried leaf plus soil and spice on the nose. That said, the dried leaves are still quite modest given the impressive weight of this ripe cherry fruit and even a floral accent with aeration – and it’s still quite a primary fruit too. For the vintage, I like the shape of this – not facile and round – here is a decent structure on which to pin the fruit. The tannins are modestly grained but ‘present’ – so not an ultra-elegant CSJ as this wine was in 2002. Overall, a mouthful of heart-warming and tasty flavour that is finally starting to show a little added, age-related, complexity – really a wine that’s far too easy to drink too!
Rebuy – Yes at the old pricing!

1999 Nicolas Potel, Volnay Vieilles-Vignes
The colour is starting to show some age and is certainly not clean and bright. The nose starts with a small whiff of brett but it’s borderline and seemingly reasonably volatile – it soon disappears from the glass – what remains is a very attractive blend of creamy iron and flowers – eventually a little tobacco/leather too. Lots of mouth-filling volume and fresh energy here – this is still a structural wine but one of mouth-watering sweetness that offsets some slight tannic bitters. Open, giving, still rather young but offering clarity to its many flavours. Bravo villages and just really getting into its stride, I think. The 97 of this was well thought of, indeed I bought plenty myself, but in comparison to this wine, that 1997 was always a little stolid. This has all you could wish for, for its label…
Rebuy – Yes

2017 Verret, Côtes d’Auxerre Chardonnay Les Gaudiers
Chardonnay planted around Saint-Bris, cork sealed.
This is a a good wine of both aromatic and flavour freshness that I would automatically assume comes from ‘northern’ Burgundy. It’s not astoundingly good wine per se, but tasty and an absolute bargain for a Burgundy. There’s clarity and minerality to this flavour that makes it much more than an anonymously good chardonnay.
Rebuy – Maybe

2017 Poulette, Nuits St.Georges Les Vallerots
Yes. it’s a shame, but Nuits seems so out of fashion these days…
Medium-plus colour. The nose is airy and red-fruited – it’s quite an invitation. Not a deep, concentrated, structural Nuits, this – rather a wine of red-fruited energy and completely delicious flavour – there’s a joie de vivre here that is very Beaujolais in style – a wine that is drunk at an impressive pace – except that the bottle is too soon empty. Great, easier styled, villages Nuits – bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2019 Saint Marc, Santenay Saint Jean Blanc
Whilst there’s a little oaky padding to the aromas, I have to say that this is very well done – it’s a good invitation to drink. In the mouth this has a nicely mouth-watering, almost saline minerality it’s completely delicious despite the visibility of the barrels here too. There’s more than good concentration though I’d keep this a year or two in cellar to lessen the visibility of the oak – no problem as DIAM-sealed – but this is a really super villages Santenay Blanc…
Rebuy – Yes