It’s a little more than 7 years since I visited Benoit Germain in Chorey-lès-Beaune, and for the combination of great weather, great wines and Benoit’s shining personality, it was my favourite visit of the year. In some ways Bertrand de Villaine today reminds me a little of Benoit, but Benoit was more ebullient. It was simply incomprehensible to this casual visitor that behind that façade was somebody so wracked with doubt and depression. Only a couple of months later he took his own life – the memory of my last visit resonates every time I pick up a bottle.

The domaine’s plots across the Beaune hillsides were very highly regarded by other winemakers, mainly today they lie with Jadot and Remoissenet – as I heard it, sold by Benoit’s wife – though the rest of the family apparently wanted to keep ownership, preferring to put the vines out to fermage – long-term (15+ years) rents. It was a very complicated end for someone who, to the casual visitor like me, seemed so uncomplicated…

​1995 Château de Chorey / Jacques Germain, Beaune 1er Les Teurons
My nose is a little blocked today, but this is so clearly fresh and dark-red pure fruited – no leather or spice in this 1995. Wide and fresh with lovely fruit, still a little rasp of tannin in the finish – but only if you really search for it. The oak of its youth is no longer visible. This is remarkably elegant now for such a poorly reputed vintage. I’ve been ‘out of’ this vintage for a while, but clearly I will have to open more 1995s, because this is excellent. For what it is, just about perfect today – thank-you Benoit.
Rebuy – Yes

1993 Pierre Boillot, Volnay 1er Santentots
This domaine/vines now being exploited by François Mikulski – this clearly the backend of the era where it wasn’t thought necessary to actually write ‘1er Cru’. The cork is shorter than yesterday’s Lafarge, but better as it wasn’t spongy and crumbly – and both bottles were bought at the same time from the same retailer!
This wine is totally in the sweet spot; yesterday’s Lafarge could be accused of being a bit leathery in style, but this one still has a depth of fruit, fabulous texture, great line and such an impressive concentration – not one part of that detracting from this wine’s open and delicious presentation. Simply a very fine wine – even in the context of 1993! Fabulous!
Rebuy – Yes

1993 Lafarge, Volnay Vendanges Selectionée
A spongy cork that didn’t come out in one piece – rather two – but the second part came out cleanly. Bought direct from this merchant a long time ago! The nose is decadently sweet, tending to soy with dark, macerating plum below. Mouth-filling, a little leather and silk but really a multi-dimensional wine that finishes with a long, slow wave of intense, delicious flavour. I’m torn – on its own this could be enough for lunch!
Rebuy – Yes

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1993 Jayer-Gilles, Nuits St.Georges Les Hautes Poirets
A great, long, cork – my thanks for that!
Deep colour – not too old-looking either. The nose is deep, almost exciting dirty, reeking of undergrowth, stems and old wood – despite how that may sound, it was fabulous – time (and air) brought more silk and elegance to the aromas. Wide, fresh, super intensity but with nothing sharp – almost a crescendo of perfumed, cushioned, dark-cherry, flavours. For a villages, simply fabulous!
Rebuy – Yes

1998 Camus, Chambertin
A far less impressive cork, but it’s done the job.
A really elegant and finely floral perfume – a great invitation to drink. Silky fruit, with plenty of volume in the mouth – good freshness and intensity. Lovely wine with an elegantly endearing quality and subtly delicious finishing complexity. Just a super wine with less impact but more of everything else versus the Jayer-Gilles – seamless elegance – you won’t find the tannins of the vintage, here they are nothing more than a distant memory…
Rebuy – Yes

2015 Daniel Buland, Chiroubles
Ooh – so deep, silky dark fruit – now that’s an invitation! On the palate this is almost syrup texture, wide, supple concentrated wine – enough balancing freshness. Delicious wine – it made a great sauce reduction from the last 3rd of the bottle too!
Rebuy – Yes

Then a big selection of wines ready for Saturday evening – in the end I didn’t open the Meursault Charmes or the Chambertin as there was still St.Aubin and Bourgogne to finish:

First was the magnum Alex Gambal’s 2002 St.Aubin 1er Murgers des Dents du Chien – fine textured and the first two glasses were delicious, fresh and still relatively young wine of fine clarity – later glasses had an occasional suggestion of cork-taint – but the sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s not variety – very annoying and never definitive, at least not without a second magnum to hand! The second wine was the greatest showing of Pascal Lachaux’s 2004 Clos St.Denis, always delicious despite some previous showings with a trace of pyrazine – this day, this wine was mature and absolutely super – can a 2004 be better? This was joint wine of the night – bravo – and my last from a case of 6. As our menu changed course, then came the magnum of 2010 Camille Giroud Bourgogne Cuvée L this a blend of the lees of all the red cuvées of that vintage – grand crus included – an extra 6 months of settling needed due to those lees. Great texture, you and easy, despite lovely depth of flavour – of-course compared to the Clos St.Denis. We finished with the Marcel Deiss grand cru riesling Altenberg de Bergheim VT from 1994. The cork was glued in and was removed in hundreds of pieces – filtered the wine was fine – fresh, sweet, deliciously complex stuff – great. My last bottle of this wasn’t so great, but this and the Clos St.Denis were easily the wines of the night…

Tasted Friday 17 November in Ladoix…
Back row: Charles-Édouard Drouhin, François Berthenet, David Cachat, François Ambroise.
Front row: Alice Rion, Chloé Chevalier, Claude Nadeau.

A little post-2017 Trophy tasting, afternoon de-stressing with ex-laureats of the GJPV Trophy:

​2016 Thierry Drouin, Macon-Vergisson La Roche
10.5 ha domaine, 5 generations making wine. 0.25 hectares, elevage in barrels for 7-8 months about 5% new.
Bright, open, brilliant, fine, pure and complex nose. Wide, great volume, layers of pretty flavour. Delicious wine, long too…

2015 Thierry Drouin, Pouilly-Fuisse En Buland
A little high these vines to be in the dossier for 1er crus
A vibrant nose, crystalline with a base of vanilla oak – but better use of oak than many. Bright, wide, really an intensity of flavour, but retaining good balance. I love the finish here – excellent…

2016 Jean-Pierre Berthenet, Montagny Les Coères
All barrel elevage, none new, some in 450 litre barrels. The domaine had some frost in their higher vines, but not here – they have 20 ha of vines.
A nice fresh nose, sherbet style. Big, super texture, citrus and floral, minerals too. Bravo!

2015 Jean-Pierre Berthenet, Montagny 1er Bonneveaux
Only in demi-muids and then in tank.
Bright fresh, some vibrant lime fruit here. Mineral, wide, ripe lime again, lovely width and deliciousness.

2015 Ambroise, Côte de Nuits Villages Blanc
Two barrels – both new – vines next to the Clos de la Marechale
A nice ripe and fresh fruit, but with a heavy accent of oak. Beautiful line and freshness, seriously mineral, a little ripe lime here too, mouth-watering, but too much oak in the finish today.

2015 Ambroise, St.Romain
30% new oak, 400 l barrels.
Fine, fresh, very faintly saline. A bright, quite dense core, but very pretty finishing flavour..

2015 Cachat-Oquidant, Beaune Saint Desiree
Just below Clos des Mouches – 14 was hailed, 16 was frosted. Two new barrels.
Good freshness, more than a little twist of oak. Silky nice depth, layered flavour. Nice fruit but battling the oak today… long finishing

2015 Domaine Chevalier, Ladoix Bois de Mont
Two lieu dits combined. Just before domaine d’Ardhuy
Vibrant fruit, fresh almost a 2016 freshness. Wide, lovely depth of texture and flavour… delicious…

2015 Domaine Chevalier, Aloxe-Corton
More floral, good red fruit. More astringence of tannin, fresh in character, fresh fruit too – again, ripe but very pinot fruit. More patience needed here, but lovely..

2015 Armelle et Bernard Rion, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Chaumes
50-60% new barrels.
Vibrant, perfumed wine. Wide, lovely texture, some oak flavour but not too much, a spicy flavour too, great fruit, floral notes in the finish too. Excellent, plenty of finishing tannin…

2013 Armelle et Bernard Rion, Clos de Vougeot
Ooh, vibrant fruit, deep, a freshness and energy here. A frame of tannin around lovely depth of flavour, excellent. Long, and still a baby…

2005 Cachat-Oquidant, Ladoix La Madonne
A nice depth of aroma, some sous bous, growing freshness. Lots of concentration and impact too, structured but at a stage where it is starting to melt over the palate…

2003 Cachat-Oquidant, Corton Clos des Vergennes
4 generations in the family… recently planted a part in white
Almost menthol, herby, some reductive notes – complex. Big, lots of ripeness and concentration. This is tasting really good – I guess 09, because of the ripe fruit – I’m surprised it’s as old as 2003!

The second bottle from this ‘mixed-case’ of David’s last vintage before selling-up to Yann Charlopin.

​2012 David Clark, Vosne-Romanée
The 2012 Côte de Nuits Villages is currently quite an acid-forward wine. This also started in modest fashion too – I was starting to have some concerns about David’s 2012s. But this is a wine that needs air, so, almost certainly, it needs time too. It grows into the glass, seemingly adding weight and even a little fat. In the end the nose has a fresh-fruited Vosne style, but in the mouth it becomes mouth-filling and adds ‘presence.’ It’s young, intense wine. In the end this a high-quality wine with a very good, if very young finish. It’s long too. I might still try this vintage’s Morey, but the Côte de Nuits Villages and this Vosne I will let sleep for at least another 2-3 years…
Rebuy – Yes

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2012 Alex Gambal, St.Aubin 1er Murgers des Dents du Chien
This has finally shed a large part of its oak padding – there’s still a little on the nose, and finish is a little more creme brulee than there is St.Aubin, but in the middle it is both poised, concentrated, pure and a little saline – just a very moreish wine – to the extent that two very consistent bottles met their end this weekend.
Rebuy – Yes

2017 Beaujolais Nouveau VV Jean Loron
A massive wine, almost syrup in its concentrated style and smelling like candy-floss top. Not only was it drinking great – despite being aged an extra week(!) – it also fulfilled a secondary purpose with aplomb – replacing the Port in our sauce reduction for our reh (deer) perfectly. Yum!
Rebuy – Yes

No, they haven’t planted a new cepage in Marsannay!

It’s great to taste different styles to keep your horizons open. Inspired by ami-du-vin Jean-François Guyard of vinifera-mundi.ch – and largely of wines from his own cellar – we got together on Wednesday evening with the same group of Marsannay vignerons as this tasting [subscribers] earlier this year. Laurent Fournier hosted us, Isabelle Collotte fed us, and Martin Bart, Bernard Bouvier and Sylvain Pataille helped with the drinking!

No notes from me, but you can check the bottles above – we had a lot of fun – despite that I had to spit as I was heading back to my bed in Beaune!