Enjoyment tinged with disappointment: Two top wines, if I hadn’t seen the labels I would have enjoyed them very much, but I did – one in retrospect was disappointing:
1999 Clos de Tart
Medium, medium-plus ruby-red core edging to a salmon pink. A nose of minerals edged with soft red fruit and the faintest trace of vanilla. The palate is wide but not fat, plenty of dry and grainy tannin and a real impression of expansion. Very long – again in a mineral rather than fruity sense. A young and impressive wine of quite some potential. Rebuy – Yes
2000 Domaine Leflaive, Chevalier-Montrachet
Not so much full-on oak on the nose as many grand crus from Leflaive, but plenty of toasty bread, tight fruit and eventually higher alcoholic notes. In the mouth my first impression is disappointment; soft, rather unfocused but good acidity. The wine then wakes a little with an impressive burst of complexity on the mid-palate that holds into a long – if rather oak driven – finish. It’s long and has some undoubted complexity but maybe I’ve caught it on a bad day as there’s no real focus or spark. Rebuy – Maybe
Maybe – because it’s a very good wine, but if this bottle is representative, then it’s not as good as it should be!

(getting bored yet?) the first of two premiers of the same name, but wildly different, if still disappointing results:
1999 Ambroise, Pommard 1er La Refène
Medium, medium-plus ruby red with just a little amber at the rim. The nose is spicy from oak that for a while hides the estery-edged fruit. The nose never really improves, remaining relatively diffuse and never bringing any components into focus. The palate is much more interesting; well-covered tannins, warm and ripe red fruit, complex with a medium-plus intensity finish. Let-down by the nose, but good in parts.
Rebuy – No

Wine #11 of my pre-Christmas Pommards is the first that is not from a single lieu-dit. This vintage was a wide-ranging blend of Perrières, Levrière, Croix Blanche and en Chaffaud – just starts to give you some idea of the reach of the bigger négoce.

1999 Bouchard Père et Fils, Pommard
Medium-plus ruby-red. The nose is wide with a black tinge to the fruit and the beginings of a savoury note at its base – the fruit slowly comes more to the fore, becoming sweeter and fresher. In the mouth the fruit is also rather black and has a really nice purity on the mid-palate. This fruit is currently a little over-shadowed by the grainy, slightly astringent and certainly a little rustic tannin – which I feel could be a little riper. Very good persistence for a village. In terms of the complete package, this is a relative bargain in this vintage – still very young. Rebuy – Yes

#10 (already!) of my pre-Christmas Pommard odyssey. It’s the first time I’ve seen this Leroy bottling and within this series it is, perhaps, the most impressive wine yet, relative to it’s appellation:
2000 Domaine Leroy, Pommard Trois Follots
Medium, medium-plus ruby-red. That characteristic Leroy nose (how do they do that?) of well integrated oak set against wild red fruit, almost confiture and rose petals. The fruit is red-coloured and like the other 2000’s quite tannin-forward. It’s as long as the JM Boillot Jarollières 1er cru, riper but less complex. You are left with a smooth coating on your teeth as a reminder.
It’s not really possible to criticise such an accomplished villages wine – really excellent.
Rebuy – Maybe

#9 of my pre-Christmas Pommard odyssey
2000 J-M Boillot, Pommard 1er Jarollières
Medium, medium-plus ruby-red colour. The fruit on the nose is just as sweet as the previous Rossignol, but it’s darker coloured at the edge with a red core, faint coffee too – very fetching! Less ripe palate than the Rossignol – almost mouth-puckering by comparison with a higher level of tannin. This is, however, very complex in the mid-palate and longer too.
Rebuy – Maybe

The good news of the day is that my en-primeur purchases have just been delivered – though it seems odd timing given that I’ve drunk so much 04 already this year:

• 2004 Bouchard P & F, Volnay 1er Cuvée Carnot
• 2004 D & F Clair, St.Aubin 1er Dents de Chien
• 2004 Jadot, Beaune 1er Clos des Ursules
• 2004 JF Mugnier, Musigny
• 2004 M & P Rion, Chambolle 1er Charmes
• 2004 M & P Rion, Nuits 1er, Les Argillières

I wonder if that was their (Rion’s) plot that the horse was ploughing last Friday(?) Anyway, even better news; my mixed 18 bottles also arrived – so plenty to do between now and the end of the year – I might not even need to buy any more wine this year!

#8 of my pre-Christmas Pommard odyssey
2000 Nicolas Rossignol, Pommard 1er Les Jarollières
Medium ruby-red. The nose is an interesting mix of high-toned floral elements over an intitially diffuse base of sweet fruit – then I got something more like rubber – others said shitake mushroom! Lovely ripe fruit on the palate, still forward tannin and a mineral aspect at the centre. The finish is medium length for a 1er Cru. Aromaticly this is a super wine, but becomes just a little anonymous from there-on.
Rebuy – Maybe

Wine #7 of my pre-Christmas Pommard odyssey
2003 Domaine Leroy, Pommard Les Vignots
Deep cherry-red – only slighty paler than the 03 Dugat-Py. The nose is rounder and more forward than the D-P, just a little reduced at the start but there’s lots of disparate complexity. Somehow the palate is also less ‘together’ than the D-P; it’s fresher, got more tannin and lots of coffee-bean in the mouth – significantly more apparent complexity but like the nose, little apparent cohesion. Longer than the D-P; if all the parts come together this could be a very, very good wine.
Rebuy – Maybe

#6 of my pre-Christmas Pommard odyssey
2003 Dugat-Py, Pommard Le Levrière
Deep cherry-red. High tones over a dense fruit core; initially a little diffuse this tightens and gives a chocolate edge. Very, very impressive concentration with just about enough acidity to carry it and its sandy textured tannins into the finish – those tannins are well-covered by the extract. Medium-plus length, this is very-well crafted – it is immaculately dressed though today it’s hard to communicate with. A very impressive if one-dimensional wine today.
Rebuy – Maybe