It was a saying that I picked up on yesterday, and thought ‘why not?!‘

2014 Château des Bachelards, Fleurie
DIAM⁵ sealed.
Still a young colour – with hints of purple. The nose – now that’s super – very fine cherry-style fruit but there’s more, a graphite-style of minerality too that sometimes hints of cigar tobacco – very pure and not the faintest suggestion of the development that I’m seeing in many 15s, 16s and even some 2017s already! Not a wine of big impact but certainly one with width to the flavour and a growing intensity to that flavour too. Oh – did I mention that it’s a delicious flavour? And growing a little of that graphite complexity in the floral-accented finish too. A pure but complex baby wine – you can keep it for years – even the nose seems to become more perfumed in the glass. Great Fleurie – yes it does exist!
Rebuy – Yes

Two wines, 20 years apart…

2018 Savigny-lès-Beaune Clos des Godeaux
Diam⁵-sealed.
A wine with a tight-ish, quite modest, yet inviting nose. This moves well over the palate with both citrus and mineral – then the impression of a little oak flavour in the finish – I’d probably wait another 6-12 months so that it fades more into the background. It has a super finish though. Excellent.
Rebuy – Yes

1998 Hudelot-Noellat, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Suchots
The cork comes out in one piece – wine-saturated through about 40% of its length.
Oh-yes! Now that’s a very attractive nose indeed – wide, complex, very Vosne and such a great invitation. Clean, wide, deliciously flavoured – not even a suggestion of the terrible young tannins of the vintage. Graceful wine, without lacking depth or energy and clearly beautifully made – a quarter of the bottle was left in the fridge, only to be rescued 4 days later – and not a hint of brett, oxidation or other unwelcome guests – less precise for sure but still completely drinkable. Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2010 Jean-Claude Boisset, Auxey-Duresses Les Crais
I’d quite forgotten I had these – two were found while ‘rooting’ for other stuff. The cork is a good one.
Hmm – now that’s quite a deep colour – that said, it’s one of those that inexplicably lightens in colour with more aeration(?) The nose has butterscotch and a suggestion of caramel, deep fruit but no citrus zing, though slowly becomes a little floral. Beautiful shape in the mouth; there’s the butterscotch flavour too, but the clarity and lightness of fine acidity and minerality make this excellent. Certainly some age, but despite the colour there’s no hint of oxidation. Not a big finish, but a fine and mouthwatering one. This is excellent – and I would also say ‘ready!’
Rebuy – Yes

2005 Antonin Guyon, Chambolle-Musigny Clos du Village
Monopole – but a different one to that of Felettig – pff! Burgundy! A spongy, pliable cork – but with no ingress of wine and it comes out in one piece.
For the first couple of minutes, there’s a funky depth to this nose – but not enough to disguise the excitement. With air this is gorgeously perfumed – cliché Chambolle-Musigny – so floral and so attractive – yes! In the mouth, full of energy – but no fat – ingraining flavour and super energy. This is a wine that you could easily enjoy for 10 more years – I hope to do exactly that – but today it is simply top-class villages – you’d be happy with a grand cru showing like this. I instantly ordered a case of 12 (remember those?) of this when I tasted it from barrel – I thought quite expensive at the time – about €220 – but I’m more than happy with the result.
Rebuy – Oh yes!

The Pouilly was delivered after my last report went online – so a note for you here.

2018 Ferraud, Pouilly-Fuissé L’Entreroches
A decent cork used as a seal – not domaine branded.
The nose starts with a little reduction, possibly oak – but backed with a decent freshness. Some time in the glass and the reductive element is gone and the citrus, faintly saline, is centre-stage. I like the cut, the line, of this wine, it’s incisive and very well balanced. There’s a little richness at the end of the palate where there’s also a little more visible, mineral, structure – but the perfumed flavour is excellent. This will benefit from a little patience, but it remains a very good wine from a very good Pouilly-Fuissé vintage.
Rebuy – Yes

2017 Maison la Chapelle, Irancy
A good Trescases cork – Gregory doesn’t much like the industrial concept/ethos of DIAM.
Lots of colour – in 2017 the Irancys with so much colour usually got that from their césar – but there’s none of that in here. Ouch, I don’t remember this when tasted a couple of years ago, but here’s an almost painful depth of pyrazine aroma – it’s fully visible in the flavours too. I really didn’t like my first glass. Aeration massively diminishes the component and the wine becomes quite enjoyable. Decant for sure if you are sensitive to pyrazines.
Rebuy – No