1996 Hospices de Beaune Corton Charlotte Dumay – Prosper Maufoux
Hmm, a miserly cork – about 45mm worth – I expect better from my half-bottles!
I had 4 bottles of this remaining from a whole case bought many years ago for a good price in Switzerland – but I’ve never seen anything even vaguely hinting at maturity, or overt drinkability come to think about it. Let’s see how it is, now that it’s more than 20 years old!
There’s a hint of smoke, and an almost vibrant quality of red, macerating, semi-mature fruit. Fresh and narrow starting in the mouth, but opening out very quickly. There’s the 1996 acidity, but it’s balanced. Broad waves of flavour that extend even wider as your mouth waters with just enough sweetness to make this a tasty thing. I’d say that, for the first time, this wine has transitioned from ‘impressive but too young’ to some semblance of enjoyable drinkability – very good!
Rebuy – Yes

1992 Comtes Lafon, Monthelie 1er Les Duresses
The last bottle was corked, but this is fine – unfortunately it’s my last.
A wide, fresh and open nose with a depth of faintly spiced raspberry. The palate starts narrow – and like the nose, fresh. After a fine set of 1997 grand crus over the last few days this seems rather meager but slowly the wine opens, still with a little tannin holding on. A nice line of flavour that slowly melts in a mouth-watering finish with just enough sweetness. A very good wine for a modest, 25 year-old vintage! Yum!
Rebuy – Yes

Some great wines – nearly all 1997s – but that’s the start for a write-up about the 1997 reds – 20 years on – to be published in my September report. But there was a lovely Ampeau too!

1995 Robert Ampeau, Meursault 1er La Piece Sous la Bois
The nose is deep and slightly toasty, perhaps even still a suggestion of reduction together with an attractive sweetness. The finishing notes have a similar salty sweetness. Wide, melting flavor – not incisive, not mineral – or hardly – but simply delicious wine that I’d never have guessed to be a 1995. Very yum!
Rebuy – Yes

A little harvest (if not wine!) pause, with friends who were visiting, in Pommard.

2013 Gilles Bouton, St.Aubin 1er En Remilly
Starting a little toasty – slightly reductive – becoming more open and prettier with air. Good line and even a little minerality here. A modest but tasty wine with a little finishing sweetness. Tasty.
Rebuy – Maybe

2012 Alex Gambal, Corton-Charlemagne
Ooh! Now this has a super nose with a profound bass line and very attractive top nose – this is exceptionally inviting. Volume, power, growing intensity and waves of stony fruit that (only) slowly fade into the distance. This has opened and relaxed versus the last time I had it. Simply top-notch Corton-Charlemagne and very yum!
Rebuy – Yes

2002 Nicolas Potel, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Gaudichots
My second bottle from this case – the first had some kind of problem so I had my fingers crossed for this – but it’s super. It really is in that ‘middle-age’ where the palate and aromas are a little pinched, but both are beautifully complex, focused and show excellent clarity. Really a brilliant wine in the making, yet at 15 years old it is still such a baby, but a beautiful one.
Rebuy – Yes

2013 Alain Geoffroy, Chablis 1er Vau-Ligneau
A modest depth of colour.The nose is fresh but also deep and tropical – certainly a little botrytis here. Mouth-filling, fine, sweet, indeed melting acidity – that’s classic Chablis – the sweet pineapple and slightly oily texture is a little less Chablis. Just fabulously delicious wine, yet, not quite what you might expect from the label. Many 2013s are becoming a little over-developed – but not this one, not yet. Non-standard, but delicious.
Rebuy – Maybe

1998 Thomas-Moillard, Bonnes-Mares
I pulled this out of the case at the same time as their 1996 Corton Clos du Roi – hence, I wasn’t exactly salivating at the prospect of this one – but it’s a winner! A deep colour, plenty of sediment at the bottom of the bottle too. The nose is directly deep, loam and sous-bois with a blood red fruit – almost iron in tandem, becoming slowly sweeter too. The palate is modestly rustic and muscular in the typical slightly extracted TM vernacular, but the mid-palate and finish are pure grand cru – weighted waves of long finishing, absorbing flavour. TM always seemed to better in difficult vintages vs good vintages – the 99s always seemed too extracted by comparison – this 98 (and their 98 Romanée St.Vivant) never showing the astringence of 90% of young burgundy in that vintage. The flavour is deep, a little raisin, and like nose, a lot of bloody-red fruit, not super sweet like most modern vintages but entirely ‘classic.’. Long with a little bitters, long, long. This wine has never been elegant but has always been absorbing, muscular and impressive – I suppose proper Bonnes-Mares!
Rebuy – Yes

2008 L&A Lignier, Morey St.Denis 1er Cuvée Romain Lignier
I’m hazy which climats are in here, I seem to remember Les Faconnières, Les Chenevery and maybe La Riotte too in 2008 – but I’m less sure on the latter one – still I do remember that this was a blend of 50-100 year-old vines.
A deep, fresh, almost sprizy but attractive nose on first pouring. A little more time in the glass brings more composure and even a pretty accent of sweet florals but with no loss of deep Morey fruit. Lots of volume in the mouth, almost plush before the acid takes the lead, but this brings both freshness and energy – width too. There’s still a little tannin and young, mouth-watering flavour, borderline mouth-puckeringly fresh to start but nigh-on perfect with food – take note. Such a baby this wine – but a delicious one. Cleaner and finer than the Bonnes-Mares, with just a little less grunt but super stuff. Really excellent but not for acid-adverse drinkers!
Rebuy – Yes

2015 Louis Chenu, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Aux Clous
Ooh – what an aromatic wine! The nose actually tightens with a little aeration, but the palate just gets broader and longer. The nose reaches equilibrium with a macerating cherry – but soft, without a sharp acid edge. In the mouth it’s as aromatic as the nose started with an exceptionally floral accent to (again) broad cherry fruit – it seems a little short to start but keeps getting better and better – but this time with more definition and focus to the cherry thanks to the beautiful acidity. Weight, beautiful silky texture and a compote of fruit and flowers. You can find more academic Savigny, but never one more hedonistic. To luxuriate in – such a beautiful thing!
Rebuy – Yes

1996 Domaine Thomas-Moillard, Corton Clos du Roi
This was a virile, impressive, painfully young wine when first purchased – but it was always a thrilling ride. Today it’s as virile and acid-pointed as it ever was, it also seems to have a thicker, more viscous texture and concentration too. The problem with this wine, though, is that what was once painful but fun, is today mainly just painful. There’s more than a little flavour development, but there’s no engagement today. I don’t hold out a lot of hope for the remaining three, or-so, bottles, but it’s not a bad conversation piece! It is what it is…
Rebuy – No

The last wine I opened was a great wine for the vintage – 2007. But there are decent vintages and great vintages. This ‘mere’ villages wine from the very epicentre of greatness in the great 2005 vintage is easily the better of that 2007 today – despite the rarity of that wine…

I feel slightly ashamed that I haven’t revisited Antonin Guyon in Savigny since collecting this case of 12 – I thought it was a standout in the their range of 2005s – though I had the feeling that I was overpaying – that case cost something like €220 – how times have changed!

2005 Antonin Guyon, Chambolle-Musigny Clos du Village
The strong depth of colour is beginning to take on a little maturity – but only a little. What a big, encompassing, nose – one that starts with spice, tobacco and leather – quickly shedding most of those references, leaving a powerful and earthy, almost fecund red fruit – yes! Mouth-filling – so much volume of flavour from the get-go (unlike the Clos St.Denis that slowly widened and widened) – there is still a lick of fine tannin here, lots of intensity, and a mouth-watering finish of modest bitters and fruit that just clings and clings. That 2007 had a little more class in the finish, but this wine brings more joy in every single remaining dimension. A delicious, still young, bundle of joy. One-third of the bottle made it through to day 2 – it was tighter, the fruit a little more monolithic, but still with a fine finishing intensity – so drink up on day one!
Rebuy – Yes In a shot!

2010 Nicolas Rossignol, Savigny les Beaune 1er Aux Fourneaux
The last Bourgogne was deep and structured with a little oak – yet drank very quickly. This wine simply ticks all the boxes, and the bottle is empty quicker than you expect. Quite a deep colour. The nose is wide, with a faint accent of spice to fine red fruit – lots of attractive precision here. Red fruited again in the mouth, with very smooth texture, energetic yet with an inner sucrosity and absolute deliciousness that belies a Savigny label. A wide panorama of flavour in the finish. Simply first-class stuff – bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2007 des Chezeaux/Ponsot, Clos St.Denis Vieilles-Vignes
The cork – and yes it is cork, this was the last vintage before changing to the ‘plastic’ Ardea seals – is branded Clos St.Denis Tres Vieilles Vignes like the labels of Laurent Ponsot. The bottle is simply labelled as Vieilles-Vignes (as always for Chezeaux), the bulk (presumably) of this parcel remains on the vines planted in 1905.
The nose sometimes offers glimpses of excitement, but generally offers a wide and easy complexity of fruit and herb over quite limited depth. In the mouth this is simply wow – but you have wait for it! The wine starts narrow, quickly growing in intensity and massively growing in width – the long wave of fine-balanced flavour in the finish is simply of the highest class – what comes before is fine if less remarkable – that’s the vintage talking. Half a very great wine – so really a great 2007.
Rebuy – Yes

It was a hot weekend – 27-30°C – so you might expect a couple of ice-cold bottles of Dr Loosen’s 2015 Riesling were (somehow) consumed too 🙂