2005 Joseph Voillot, Volnay 1er Fremiets
Medium colour. A deep, soft, faintly chocoloate covered fruit greets your nose – wide and quite impressive. Fresh, lithe and showing a very nice and subtle extra dimension in the mid-palate that flows into the finish. Background tannins are well covered and finely grained. This is very, very nice.
Rebuy – Yes

That’s enough Voillot for now!

2005 Joseph Voillot, Volnay 1er Vieilles Vignes
Medium colour – a little darker than Voillot’s Brouillards. The nose has some inelegant powdery fruit and hints of sulfur, faint black shades and occasional glimpses of lovely pure fruit. It needs a lot of time – in fact overnight – and the nose cleans up considerably, turning quite black. In the mouth it’s fresh and slowly mouth-watering with just a little more tannic texture than the previous premier crus. The flavour profile is almost good but on day one reflects the less interesting parts of the nose – but improves, though comes across a little diluted in the mid-palate. It may put on weight with time, but I won’t be along for the ride.
Rebuy – No

2005 Tollot-Beaut, Chorey-lès-Beaune
Quite deeply coloured. The nose is deep, broad and significantly oaked – but it’s rather impressive and fun too relative to the price and appellation. Directly after the Voillot Rugiens there is similar density but nothing close to the clarity, focus or intensity – but then we’re at 40% of the sticker price. Fun and tasty, also very good value – just don’t line it up with anything too flashy.
Rebuy – Yes

I think it’s a measure of the 2005 vintage and the early slumbering of many cuvées from this vintage that, of the three bottles of Joseph Voillot 05’s that I’ve opened, my enjoyment has been inversely proportional to the Burghound scores. Below is a 92-95 monster – NOT – it’s understated, very well made and ‘okay’ but no fireworks. I’ve bought more Brouillards though, and will try the ‘basic’ Volnay 1er Vieilles Vignes and a 1er Fremiets at the weekend.
2005 Joseph Voillot, Pommard 1er Rugiens
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.
Rebuy – Yes

Domaine Robert-Denogent is a domaine whose wines I’d never tasted. Given that they also lie outside the ‘true’ Côte d’Or – way out in Pouilly-Fuissé – I’ve never felt the need to travel that far afield. But a couple of weeks ago I had the chance to taste, and the wines were really excellent – even more-so when factoring in the value versus a Puligny or Meursault. I started without my pen, but the wines were so good I had to find it, hence, the notes gradually get longer!

2005 Robert-Denogent, Mâcon-Fuissé Les Taches
Very impressed by the length here – this is very nice.
Rebuy – Yes
2005 Robert-Denogent, Mâcon-Solutré Clos des Bertillonnes
Slightly more tropical nose – gives a similar impression on the palate too. It’s soft, but also intense and with super acidity.
Rebuy – Maybe
2005 Robert-Denogent, Pouilly-Fuissé La Croix
Less tropical – starts much more mineral and then widens out into a wide vista of ripe fruit.
Rebuy – Yes
2005 Robert-Denogent, Pouilly-Fuissé Les Reisses
This seems very concentrated and intense. I like this very much and there’s a super length.
Rebuy – Yes
2005 Robert-Denogent, Pouilly-Fuissé ‘Claude Denogent’
There’s just a hint of cream on the nose. In the mouth it’s very impressive with a creamy width and an expressive length.
Rebuy – Yes
2005 Robert-Denogent, Pouilly-Fuissé Les Carrons
On the nose this also has the cream, but there’s an extra dimension too – lovely. Quite big in the mouth, though the ‘hit’ of concentration comes quite late. Before that ‘hit’ I might have wanted a little more freshness, but the mouthwatering finish knocked my socks off – very, very good.
Rebuy – Yes

2005 Joseph Voillot, Volnay 1er Les Champans
Medium and a bit depth of colour. The nose is deeply red with an impression of soft oak in the background. It’s a narrow entry, right through into the finish where it suddenly widens and shows a lovely length of flavour. The fruit is a mix of beautifully melded cherry and raspberry, the tannin must be in there somewhere but the impression is just the smooth ride to the finish. Compelling, but less interesting and open today than the Brouillards despite a little more density.
Rebuy – Yes

2005 Barthod, Bourgogne Rouge
Medium, medium-plus cherry-red. Slightly volatile and high-toned, but these notes mainly disappear with swirling to leave a deeper, cream-edged base – it’s then quite impressive. Fresh in the mouth, dense and slightly furry with very good fruit that follows through into the finish. Very impressive – average 2004 villages quality here – but I’d still mainly drink over the next 2-3 years.
Rebuy – Yes

PS Unlike the Chambolle, this wine still shows a high level of value…

2005 Tollot-Beaut, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Champ-Chevrey
Medium, medium-plus cherry-red. Wide, sweet and interesting on the rather yummy nose. There’s plenty of grainy tannin, but it doesn’t overwhelm the lovely fruit background that slides slowly into a good, less obviously creamy and oak inflected finish than the 1er Lavières. I almost always like this cuvée and here’s another to add to the list!
Rebuy – Yes