The Bienvenues noss shows creamy, dense, very wide and complex aromas – wow. In the mouth there is fat and concentration, yet there are nicely clean flavours, delicay and balance – thanks to fine acidity. The finish is very long but majors on barrel components right now. Simply super.
As a contrast to the Bienvenues, the Bâtard has deeper but much tighter aromas. In the mouth likewise, it’s hiding it’s complexity. If there is one area where this pulls rank, it is the intensity of the mid-plate, but overall this is showing in a very tight way so gives an ‘easy win’ to the Bienvenues for drinking today.
The 07 is just a little soft-focus due to the fresh oak showing on all aspects of the wine; nose, palate and finish but it is ripe and creamy with just a hint of astringency – should be a lovely, precocious drink but personally I’d wait 1+ years for less barrel influence – not too much to learn about Cazetiers at this age.
The 99 was fresh, full and ripe – started with a hint of mustiness on the nose but that soon disappeared – good intensity and length. This really surprised me as other 99’s I’ve had from the producer have been dull and unfocused. Still an astringent edge to decent teannins. Young, and whilst far from a great Cazetiers, it is verily a tasty beverage.
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is rather deep, showing macerating dark-skinned cherry and just the faintest of dark oak is perfectly melded to it. After 10 minutes it smelled quite reduced, but another 10 minutes on it was clear. In the mouth there’s deep fruit and of understated intensity too – again the last accent is dark oak, but it’s not much and it’s a young wine. The acidity is good, and frankly the only negative is the slight spritz for the first 30 minutes it was open – after that it got better and better. The tannin is buried and the length is very good. I remember it not being not so cheap, but the quality is self evident.
(Half-bottle) Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose needs 5 minutes in the glass, but then it sparkles with lovely red berry fruit, though after an hour it’s closed down a lot, leaving only sullen darker elements and faint chocolate. Very smooth texture, decent enough acidity, lovely breadth of fruit across the tongue and just an added dash of creamy oak flavour on the finish. The tannins are currently buried; this is very sophisticated for a villages Gevrey that I might wish had an extra edge of acidity, but I’m being really picky!
From bought grapes. Deeper in colour than yesterday’s Beaune. The nose starts a little diffuse and coarse – seems affected by CO2 – 10 minutes brings cohesion, deep spicy fruit and a trace of smoky coffee – actually it keeps getting better and better. Very nice. The palate starts very grainy – dissolved gas for sure. With 30 minutes of air you get much friendlier texture, slightly forward acidity but an impressive width as the flavour flows into a good finish. Versus the Beaune you miss a little tension and gras – this is also more expensive; a) your paying more for the name and b) it’s more expensive than the same bottling from e.g. Bouchard Père. It’s good and I enjoyed it, but it doesn’t show the same level of value.
Medium colour. Width but little depth on the nose – just a twist of oak early on, followed by nice soft red fruit and a slowly intensifying redcurrant. On the tongue it’s soft, no Pommard rusticity, tight, reasonably concentrated though not obviously intense. Understated length, lingering with mouth-watering acidity.
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