1986 Henri Rebourseau, Mazis-Chambertin
Seemingly there remain 3-4 halves from this c.2007 auction purchase of a case of half-bottles. Cutting the capsule reveals a wealth of Penicillium mould – you can imagine a family of spiders living in it – so it was clearly disappointing that only a modest touch with the ah-so ‘corkscrew’ sent the cork and its spider’s nest falling into the bottle – tsk! My handy plastic beaker (decanter) to the rescue!
The nose has a little beef-stock, brett and a balsamic oxidative style – not quite repellent but hardly an invitation. The flavour surprised – positively: Open, nicely balanced, layered and finishing mineral and even showing a little extra menthol complexity – maybe that was the spiders! The nose never cleaned up but also didn’t get worse. The flavour sufficiently good/interesting for me to take a second glass – and for a half-bottle, that’s most of the bottle. A Curate’s Egg of a wine.
Rebuy – Clearly Not!

2019 Camille & Laurent Schaller, Chablis
Here’s a nice width of lemony, saline aroma. In the mouth, there’s a bit of flesh and ripe citrus but there’s also lovely energy and a nicely Chablis style. Completely delicious wine that disappears from the glass at an alarming rate! The last glasses on day two were seemingly a little riper but the wine had lost none of its drinkability…
Rebuy – Yes

1996 Germain, Château de Chorey, Beaune 1er Teurons
A rubbish cork, breaking in half but at least the second part just about avoided disintegration.
The nose starts unimpressively with a little brett and beef-stock – or similar – air improves the situation, but it’s not a night and day change. In the mouth, this is so incisive yet without being acidic – fresh, wide, über-complex and with a sneakily long, lovely, lovely finish – half a great wine – but the nose really doesn’t cut it. With brett every bottle will be different, it’s just the luck of the draw…
Rebuy – No

Every year when I taste the Chablis at Domaine Jean Collet, I also buy a little cremant, and usually in magnum. There’s a, non-size-related, advantage to buying in magnum too – at least this year:

Their base wine for the latest available cuvée is from 2018 – all Petit Chablis with 5g dosage, malo done, 1.5 hectares worth, harvested 3 weeks before the Petit Chablis. But if you are buying in magnum, these bottles are still based on the 2015 vintage, and like any NV Champagne, the do get better and better with a little cellar time. That is definitely the case here. This (large) bottle was absolutely delicious – much more-so than the slightly more angular wine (today) from 2018. I recommend it very highly…

This is why I buy a little each year 🙂

2017 Jean-Claude Boisset, Meursault Limozin
Almost a textured depth of aroma – certainly cushioned – modestly oaked and of ripe but not exotic fruit. In the mouth, this is nicely fresh starting, even a little mineral. There’s structure but also softness – probably because there’s still some visible oak in the finish. But the finish is wide, interesting and persistent – nicely structural and mineral here. This started a bit anonymously but finished with plenty of character. Give it a couple more years in the cellar if you’re confident with cork, but it’s a very good, almost excellent wine.
Rebuy – Yes

2009 Pavillon, Volnay 1er Santenots
This nose starts deep and fruity – seemingly still with some vanilla too – but very little air is needed and the vanilla is gone – wider, complex, inviting, starting to fill with secondary aromas – tobacco for instance – that’s great! Concentrated wine, with a saline-accented line of flavour, but wide and complex and delicious too. Still quite a baby and also still finishing with some lip-smacking oaky bitters. A tremendous wine though, almost bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

Of-course, due to my laziness, there have been others in the last weeks – just a few words about each as I didn’t record anything:

2018 Dampt Frères, Chablis 1er Montée de Tonnerre
Easy, decently concentrated, very tasty wine – only the merest impression of ‘Chablis’ – but considering the cost of ‘Bourgogne Blanc’ this remains a very worthy option.

2014 des Chézeaux / Berthaut-Gerbet, Gevrey-Chambertin
Amélie Berthaut’s second vintage – already here is both aromatic class and a lovely, balanced, flavour. Young, delicious wine. I’m very happy to have a few more of these – and her 1er cru Gevreys too.

2018 Alain Geoffroy, Chablis 1er Fourchaume
Round, rich, some fat, but decently balanced, very tasty wine. I wouldn’t have guessed Chablis though…

2011 Camille Giroud, Volnay 1er Caillerets
Modestly coloured. The nose while complex, disappoints me – so much vanilla is still visible here. Beautifully balanced, medium-bodied wine of proper Caillerets clarity – yet – the palate still suffused with vanilla notes. I’ve one or two more – given my lack of empathy with vanilla, I’ll be waiting another 5 years, I think…

2016 Jean-Claude & Romain Bessin, Chablis Valmur
I don’t have many more of these, but this is a grand vin and one of my wines of the 2016 vintage. It beautifully blends power and a direct flavour with a suave texture and an undoubted structure – with zero hard edges. There’s a real Chablis feel to the wine despite its obvious concentration and the finish is simply put, special. Proper great Chablis – still a baby – but bravo
Rebuy – Oh Yes

2006 Comte Liger-Belair, Echézeaux
Louis-Michel’s first vintage. I think that this is probably my last bottle – I hope to be proven wrong one day with a cellar find…
That’s a lovely nose but it starts out rather timid – aerating works some magic with a really inviting floral perfume over a plummy spice. Medium impact but of beautifully silky texture – just a few millimetres of cushioning. The oak that I remember is now gone, largely the tannin too, but not the minerality of the finish. This was always a wine of modest impact but ultra-sophistication and I’d say still lacking any real expressions of maturity – but who cares – gorgeous and bravo!
Rebuy – Yes – at the old price…

Thursday night can be classed as the start of the weekend – no?

2014 Bouchard Père et Fils, Meursault
DIAM⁵-sealed
A young colour. The nose starts with a slightly savoury, almost saline reduction – it’s a baby – with air the aromas go deep with a ripe but still fresh fruit. Vibrantly flavoured wine of beautiful fresh balance and fine texture but there’s concentration here too – the finishing line of flavour is really super – such an engaging pure intensity. Great villages, from a great vintage in equally great, still young, shape…
Rebuy – You bet!

2017 Boursot, Gevrey-Chambertin
This starts with a forward, comfortably textured nose of ripe – but not too ripe – fruit and a creamy vanilla oak – a bit too much of the latter, today at any rate. I only took one glass on the first night – a good decision – the oak is seemingly quite volatile as on day two it has reduced to a faint accent. The wine, like most Côte de Nuits in 2017 is amply concentrated and very forward/attractive. Deliciously layered, pure fruited, easy wine. Very enjoyable indeed but for the sake of my dislike for vanilla, I wouldn’t open another for 2 years.
Rebuy – Maybe

1999 Denis Bachelet, Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles-Vignes
The cork comes out no problem, though sniffing the wet end implies a problem – not TCA, rather with brett, let’s see…
Ouch, that stinks – DNPIM! In the glass as it aerates it smells marginally less bad with time – against my better judgement I take a sip – that’s actually not bad(!) – I can hardly taste the brett. Fresh, nice energy and dimension of flavour – that’s super – but the wine still stinks! If you wait long enough – a minimum of 25-30 minutes – the brett aroma is almost gone and now you have something really very nice. Of course, once you refill the glass, you are back to square-one so will have to wait another 30 minutes – that’s like a dry February!
Rebuy – No
Fortunately, this was my last bottle of a 6-pack; clearly this was no outliner…

Marie-Elodie Zighera Confuron’s wines

A mix of wines tasted at home, and three tasted in Beaujolais without the winemaker – hence no separate report – so starting with Clos de Mez:

2018 Clos de Mez, Fleurie La Dot
Plenty of colour but less overt than the Bachelard wines (where I was tasting). An open width of aroma – partly floral – rather inviting. Fine drive and good freshness – there’s energy here – the concentration is not so overt but it’s still there. Subtly framed with tannin but über-fine-grained. The finish has plenty of dimension and complexity too. Really excellent…

2017 Clos de Mez, Morgon Château Gaillard
Here is a little less colour. An open nose – floral above but with a width and depth of rounder, spiced, red fruit. Mouth-filling, growing with an extra intensity in the finish before slowly fading. The tannin is more forward here but with zero visible grain. Wider at the end. Very different shape to the wine – the vintage and the place. Another simply excellent wine.

And while tasting with Anne-Sophie Dubois:

2019 Sylvain Martel – Domaine Cabissou, Julienas Bessay
Partner of Anne-Sophie, these vines high on the hill with some clay but lots of blue-stone – ‘You notice straight away in the cuverie there’s a different side to this wine – not an easy parcel to work – we do everything with a Troye.’
A weight of aroma but freshness too, faintly herbed. More incisive freshness versus the previous Fleuries. Super mouth-watering style, slowly melting over the palate in fine style – that’s a lovely wine…

Finally at home, 4 top wines from the north and south of ‘Burgundy:’

2017 Gilbert Picq, Chablis Vidécorse
A deep nose of mildly textured ripe lemon – just the merest suggestion of salinity. Nicely incisive with a fine acidity – there’s a mineral concentration here – with accents from the citrus too. The finish has a very fine intensity – that’s really very long too. A wine that started round but became tauter and added tension as it became more aerated. Really excellent young Chablis!
Rebuy – Yes

2019 Raphael Chopin, Beaujolais Funambule
Actually this is a declassified Beaujolais Villages made with no added sulfur.
The nose is forward and rewardingly pure-fruited. I’m really enjoying the depth and texture of this wine – such a delicious, succulent fruit too – indeed quite sweet fruit but finishing deliciously juicy – bravo again!
Rebuy – Yes

2018 Domaine Monternot – Les Jumeaux, Beaujolais Villages Fruit et Terroir
Deep colour. The nose is fresh and excitingly deep-fruited – modestly spiced too. A super blend of energy and succulent dark fruit – extending beautifully into the finish. Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2010 Jean-Paul et Benoit Droin, Chablis 1er Vaillons
A baby – a reductive agrume nose here, becoming more waxy. A fine width of freshness. Slowly starting to show more mature notes in the middle. Finishing great – and oh-so complex. A top wine – and the longer it’s open, the fresher and less mature it seems to become. Simply great wine for today.
Rebuy – Yes

Plus a few images from Beaujolais last week. This week is a ‘typing week’ at home – back to Beaujolais for my second of three weeks, next week!

Poncié

Fleurie

Fleurie Les Labourons

Poncié

I often joke with winemakers that I’ve an ‘English palate’ i.e. I drink wine too young or too old – at least compared to them! For the latter category, how about 25 years for (an almost ready) villages and 8 years for a Côteaux Bourguignons? Actually, I’m still drinking some super Roty 2010 CB – though it had a Passetougrains label at that time…

1995 Grivot, Nuits St.Georges Les Lavières
Still very much a hit or a miss vintage. Grivot’s 1995 Nuits 1ers are drinking very well now, but this wine – which I could still enjoy – is still somewhat short of ‘charming.’ This nose is timid but clean – the palate still a little burly in that typical 1995 style. I’m sure I’ve 3 or 4 more of these, so no rush!
Rebuy – No because life is too short…

2012 Henry Fessy, Côteaux Bourguignons
A DIAM⁵ seal, the underside of which is full of dark, tartrate crystal – that’s the first time I remember seeing that on a DIAM! This wine, given the source, is almost certainly 100% gamay, and I think was bottled/labelled to celebrate the ne AOC of Côteaux Bourguignons
The nose is clean and young – there’s no real development here – indeed it’s sweetly inviting. The palate carries the merest suggestion of oak but is also super-silky. Strongly dark-red fruited. I find this disarmingly delicious. Great bang for the buck!
Rebuy – Yes

2012 Dampt Frères, Chablis Les Preuses
From magnum
Ohh, that’s a nose of chalky but inviting depth. Clean lines, freshness, padded citrus and than such an unfolding, wonderful, finish. A wine that drank superbly for two days – no problem! A great price and a great wine. Still a baby, but with none of the modest austerity I found in other 1er and grand cru 2012s this week.
Rebuy – Yes