A name that should be on more lips – I have consistently found outstanding wines at this domaine…

2017 Yves Boyer-Martenot, Meursault-Perrières
A bottle from the cellar that has long ‘winked’ at me – today is its day…
Midway between lemon-yellow and gold coloured – plenty of colour. A fresh and intense nose, starting a little chalky but slowly filling the glass with weight and a little lemon pie and much more subtle crême-brulee. Hmm, taught, direct and, yes, mineral! This finish is beautifully long, accented with more secondary notes from the barrel. Racy when first from the fridge, more layered and ‘larger’ with air and warmth in the glass. Beautifully long wine, even the final glass on day 2 !!
Rebuy – Yes

2012 David Clark, Vosne-Romanée
The last bottle of this had a great-looking cork but was indeed corked! This has an equally great-looking cork – but isn’t corked – hooray!
Plenty of colour and not with any overt age. The nose is not so large but has fine, dark, Vosne-spiced depth – a lovely invitation. Ooh – here is scale and velvet texture – a big, layered wine that’s still showing some baby-structure. Full of flavour, lightly smoked, a more traditional level of sweetness versus just about every vintage since 2015. I’m drinking it at least 5 years too soon – luckily I bought a case of 12 – David’s last vintage, and he did the bottling earlier than usual as he was selling up. We lost a talented winemaker. A properly excellent, young wine …
Rebuy – Yes

It’s for charity – so:

Dear friends,

We wanted to contribute to the restoration of the ‘Définitoire’ at Cîteaux Abbey by donating a Jeroboam of 2019 La Genelotte Meursault-Blagny 1er cru — along with its handmade wooden case crafted from oak from our forests (of course!) — to the charity auction organized by the Fondation du Patrimoine and the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. As you know, Blagny is a former Cîteaux monastery, and we therefore feel a special connection to this heritage.

The auction is currently open through September 19.

We invite you to check out our Lot 34 and, if you’d like, to participate or simply share this message with your friends and on social media.

Our hope is that the lot we have donated will contribute in the best possible way to this fundraising effort and that, thanks to everyone’s support, Burgundy wine enthusiasts will be able to directly contribute to the preservation of this exceptional heritage.

Domaine COMTESSE de CHÉRISEY

1985 La Cave du Dauphin, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos St.Jacques
I bought a ‘lot’ of these older bottles in an auction about 20 years ago – none have been ‘great,’ but this was one of the best! Of course an old, saturated cork – but with my new Pulltex, it extracted in one piece.
Still plenty of colour and clarity. A nose that’s soft and torrefied with an occasional flash of something balsamic. Silky, soft but with some unexpected, extra, mid-palate impact – in fact a big wave of extra flavour. Part elegant part rustic but actually still very drinkable. I think a second glass might be called for… This was actually very enjoyable !!
Rebuy – Maybe

I think Amélie Berthaut was already exerting some influence at the (Berthaut) domaine at this time – but not quite enough to make this great 😉

2015 des Chézeaux, Gevrey-Chambertin
More than one vineyard location and always a step down from the Gevrey village ‘Clos des Chézeaux’
Following a very impressive 2018 Chambolle 1er, here is less colour and also a less impactful nose – a slightly powdery red fruit aromatic with a small accent of sweetness but nothing to suggest a 2015. Lovely across the palate. There’s some floral energy to this fruit too – perfumed wine but with a bit of structural backbone. The finishing flavour is modest in presence but still holding that small perfume. Really quite attractive an hour after opening – a bit less so at the start. Almost a rebuy 🙂
Rebuy – Maybe

For me, the most ‘faulty’ village in this hot year – most Chambolles were very dark coloured, half of them stewed, bretty and sometimes volatile – this one passed the test !!

2018 Digioia-Royer, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Groseilles
Deeply coloured, but still transparent. A nose of deep, dark berries and a little graphite. Large in scale and with vibrantly energetic flavour. This is so long and intense, it’s really quite something! That long flavour is only half good today, the fruit is clean – and silky too – but there’s an accompanying edge that’s mineral and a little harder, potentially a little reductive. This latter part will take 2-3 years to resolve – or maybe it will improve in the glass? Yes it does, but only modestly. This wine drank well over 3 days – it has great stability !! So very 2018, which some of you will love, and others not. I’d much rather have something ‘classic’ but this still offers delicious drinking…
Rebuy – Yes with much reflection…

And a new corkscrew?

I’ve been using a Pulltex for over 10 years now – apart from some broken corks, it works well.

Now Pulltex have this intriguing new model – a Durand style – but for the cost of a of a Temu knockoff! Maybe it’s just a Pulltex knockoff !!

I need more time to improve my operational efficiency with it, before I deploy it on old corks – but for €23 (Athenaeum, Beaune) it seems like it could be a winner. My (current) ham-fistendness means it’s hard to offer critique at this stage, only that the worm when it comes out of the bottom of the cork, ejects a small piece of the cork into the wine – at least for this bottle’s young, robust cork…