1993 Vaudoisey-Creusefond, Pommard 1er Epenots
Hmm, the nose is not the most attractive thing – yet wait 30 minutes and aeration seems to remove a musty, oxidative element, and we start to sing along with an engaging sous-bois and sleek sweetness. In the mouth this retains some power and is more reflective of the later than the initial nose. I would even decant this – it tastes quite good, but only if you give it some time.
Rebuy – Maybe

2015 Olivier Leflaive, St.Aubin 1er En Rmilly
OOF! This has an overt nose, with faint saline elements and much less faint, attractive citrus notes. The palate is even more powerful, flexing muscle, but with bundles of energy and silky citrus flavours. Definitely a winner!
Rebuy – Yes

2006 Camille Giroud, Volnay 1er Taillepieds
Lots of leafy sous bois, a certain attractive sweetness too. In the mouth this retains a little tannin, but it’s just a modest anecdote versus the complex, unfolding flavour. This is drinking very well already. Lovely wine.
Rebuy – Yes

What a great pair these last two wines!

2015 Olivier Leflaive, Bourgogne Chardonnay Oncle Vincent
Made only from domaine vines in the commune of Puligny.
Lovely depth of aroma here, a certain freshness attached. Fine weight and complexity with a lovely texture and plenty of freshness. A clean, modestly mineral and simply delicious wine.
Rebuy – Yes

2005 Gaston & Pierre Ravaut, Ladoix 1er Le Bois Roussot
Hmm – deep fruit to fall into – this nose is very open and inviting. It’s just great in the mouth too – muscular yet with fine texture, and with a beautiful balance that bring everything perfectly together. A very fruit-driven wine – I would say still a young wine, but impeccable balanced and completely delicious.
Rebuy – Yes

2015 H&G Buisson, Meursault Les Climats de Marguerite
Ooh – that’s nice – a little Meursault spice and plenty of welcoming notes. In the mouth this is fresh yet luxurious, über-tasty wine, I have almost no notes as we drank it so fast! Bravo!
Rebuy – Yes

2006 Julien Duport, Côte de Brouilly Boucheratte
A very deep nose, some flowers and a suggestion of oak – but an impression of weight. Yes, really a big wine, and a young one – you still have to chew the contents! Darkly fruited and still rather massive – impressive stuff, but return in 5(+) more years.
Rebuy – Yes

2012 Comte Liger-Belair, Vosne-Romanée La Colombière
I’m pretty sure I’m to blame with two weeks storage at nearly 30° back in 2015, but virtually all my bottles from this case have a rather deep and reductive aromatic. In the mouth there is beautiful texture but still a little of the reductive flavour. I’m slowly working my way through the case… 🙁

2015 Jomain, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Les Combettes
A lovely sweetly oaked nose, but more importantly sweet yellow citrus too. Large-scale in the mouth, but with fine acidity. There is richness but also a little minerality. The package is big, but impressively tasty!
Rebuy – Yes

2014 Dubreuil-Fontaine, Pernand-Vergelesses Clos Berthet
Hmm – vs the Jomain, this is a more structured, faintly phenolic, faintly reduced, mineral nose – really inviting but a world apart. In the mouth this has agrume and minerality – seemingly more structured, but with mouth-watering flavour. If anything, it starts with some austerity, but it gets better and better the longer it is open. More obviously young than the Puligny, but fine. Open at least an hour before drinking, or decant (or both!)
Rebuy – Yes

2014 Françoise André, Beaune 1er Les Reversées
Both aromatically, and in the mouth, this is a real honey. The aromas and flavour are layered and have real depth – top 1er cru performance. Dak-red fruit that is simply delicious. Really a fabulous wine!
Rebuy – Yes

2013 Armelle et Bernard Rion, Chambolle-Musigny Les Echezeaux
Hmm. The nose has a few Chambolle floral traits, but also a darker depth that seems more balsamic. The palate is much more interesting – good depth of flavour, a little more overt structure than the Beaune and a good freshness. This tastes quite good, but aromatically it could be better.
Rebuy – No

Time to catch up on some wines!

2008 Prince Florent de Merode, Ladoix Les Chaillots
This wine always hovered between very good or modestly disappointing when young, but all the recent bottles have been very tasty indeed – at least for the price of a modest Bourgogne – in fact this wine has always managed to over-deliver for its price-point and currently it is REALLY over-delivering. This would have been a fabulous buy in 2015 if it had still existed!
Rebuy – Yes

2014 Jerome Galeyrand, Côte de Nuits Villages Les Retraits
This is the name of climat in Comblanchien, and this was the first vintage for this wine – with an individual label. “Pinot from another time” says Jerôme, “The owner of the vineyard is in his 80s but it was his father that planted these vines, almost certainly the first planting here post-phylloxera.” Ripe, a dark-red fruited and interesting nose – seemingly with a fine texture. In the mouth this is layered and like the nose, has really great texture – just a lick of structure – fine and long flavour. This could easily fool you into thinking it’s a premier cru. Simply lovely wine – indeed delicious!
Rebuy – Yes

I’ve been quite occupied with report writing for the last couple of weeks – but December’s is coming on well – so I’m taking a break to type something that’s over 2 weeks-old. The 50th birthday of a friend, held in Beaune. Plenty of wine, all served blind – it was also the last day before my virus hit – I was a doubly lucky boy!

White wine 1. Aromatic freshness with some weight behind. In the mouth this has quite some ripe, round fruit. Silky, long and mineral in the finish – lovely. Tasty wine that might benefit from a lick more of acidity, I guess 2011. But very nice:
2010 Jacqueson Rully 1er La Pucelle (Magnum)

White wine 2. Finer with more aromatic freshness, depth and a little toast. Cool, complex, faintly saline with long, long flavour and super intensity. Perfectly fresh – Bravo. I guessed 2007 Puligny.
2005 Chavy-Chouet, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Folatières (Magnum)

White wine 3. (Decanted) Despite an older colour, this has the freshest nose, with a lovely yellow citrus. In the mouth it’s bright, fresh, intense – clearly some age here – a hint of salted-toffee in the brilliant length finish. Just a top wine with a beautiful shape. I guessed 2004 Charlemagne.
2004 JM Pillot, Chevalier-Montrachet (Magnum)

Red wine 1. Round, quite a floral nose adding a little herb. Fine dark-red fruit, oaky impression but mineral with good drive through the middle and an even tastier mid-length finish. Some modest maturity here but I have no reference points. I guess maybe something Swiss (Oops!)
2009 Jean-Marc Bouley, Pommard Petits Noizons

Red wine 2. More sous bois, maybe a little whole-cluster on this nose. In the mouth there’s much more energy, complexity, good intensity and less impression of oak. I like this very much – there is super dimension of flavour. Excellent. I guess that it’s Gevrey and a grand cru.
2006 Hudelot-Noellat, Clos de Vougeot

Red wine 3. A warm nose of sous-bois. Ooh – this is super-silky, intense yet wide with a flavour of sweet plum. Long and I think this lovely. I guess 1991 from Morey St.Denis.
1999 Cocquard-Loison-Fleurot, Clos de la Roche

Red wine 4. A deep nose with some sous-bois and herb – slowly a faint oak too – over time, much less faint. Supple, great texture but there is still some young tannin. Fresh dark fruit. Gevrey? the oak seems young, the nose a little older – so I guess 2009.
2007 Denis Mortet, Gevrey-Chambertin En Champs

Red wine 5. A modest but wide and complex nose that gains in intensity – some depth of sous-bois here. Big in the mouth, with great intensity, depth of flavour and a little wood flavour – but long! Still some tannin in the finish here, a super-long finish. Great wine. I guess 1999 and grand cru.
1991 Albert Morot, Beaune Teurons (Magnum!)

Red wine 6. Deep colour. A big, bright, floral nose with really great dark fruit – though a little extracted perhaps. Supple, quite young flavour with just a modest texture of tannin. Young, long, super and very drinkable, indeed delicious. I guess 2009.
2009 Sylvain Pataille, Marsannay Clos du Roy

Red wine 7. The nose is deep and showing more maturity – yet fresh and fine too.Lots of flavour dimension and energy here – still some tannin too. Faintly salted in the finish. Tasty wine but I think I’ve stopped guessing (or at least writing my guesses!) by now!
2005 Camus, Charmes-Chmabertin!

Red wine 8. Ohh, here is an oldie – I’m going to guess straight away that it’s a 1966 (our host is 50!). The colour is pale and the nose is of a warm smoke. There’s plenty of acidity here and an orange zest impression. A narrow but still attractive (not to everyone!) wine.For what it turns out to be, it’s in great shape!
1966 Valentin Bouchotte, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Hautes-Jarrons

A fun evening, great people and a great selection of wines!

I’m sitting at home today with a virus, but I have to be thankfull for its timing, because Saturday was a great night of wines with friends – more from that (maybe) tomorrow. My nose chose to close only on Sunday night! And provided my nose re-opens in time for next Monday’s return to Beaune for my last week of tastings, I’ll count my lucky stars!

This was a lovely group of wines from the modest to the virtual cult!

The 2014 Louis Max, Mercurey Clos de la Marche is drinking better than any villages Mercurey has the right to just now – everybody loved it – well done! Then there was the 2014 Gravité by Anne-Marie & Jean-Marc Vincent, a cuvée of selected old vines – complex, with plenty muscle, energy and great texture – really a special wine.

Then came the 1985 Bertagna, Vougeot 1er Clos de la Perrière– this was a very good old wine, but with emphasis on the old. This particular bottle was tasty but on the way down – quite a contrast to the last that I opened which was from every single aspect, a beauty to behold. Versus that last bottle, this mustered no more than 5/10!

My last wine, I describe as a cult wine, but only because almost nobody gets to buy them – the domaine has only 4 climats – 3 are 1er cru and one villages, and all in Chassagne – oh and they extend over just 1.2 hectares! The 2013 Lamy-Caillat, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Champs Gains exudes quality right from my piercing of the wax-topped bottle with the corkscrew, to draining the last of its complex but beautifully and balanced and weighted flavour. This was really top-quality Chassagne – not padded by wood or other make-up. Really a super bottle. I can’t wait to pay a visit…

It’s not without peril this wine-tasting thing.

Yesterday was a modest day from the perspective of ‘number of tastings’ – I had just four appointments, one in the morning and three in the afternoon. But it was far from a modest quantity of samples:
Tasting #1 – 31 wines
Tasting #2 – 31 wines
Tasting #3 – 38 wines
And tasting number 4? Well, there was no number 4 – I had to cancel it. I was feeling quite alcoholically light-headed at the end of tasting number 3. Of-course I was spitting, not drinking, and I’ve done 100 wines before without this effect – but 2015s have more alcohol than most vintages, so I guess that may have been a contributing factor.

But there are various factors to consider; firstly I probably should have driven anywhere – though I did drive 2 minutes to Beaune’s Grand Frais – or rather its bakery – to take on some stomach ballast. I felt much better after. But I really wouldn’t have done a professional job at rendezvous number 4, and certainly shouldn’t drive after yet another 20 wines.

So how do those reviewers who make 8-12 visits per day a) drive safely and b) not suffer from alcohol-related medical issues?

Still, the excess of major Côte d’Or tastings finishes for me in a couple of weeks. Then, after a short tasting holiday, I’ll be doing the same again in Chablis in January and then in Beaujolais in February 🙂

“Just!”

Of-course it was something of a week of spoiling ourselves – almost exclusively in the company of Marko de Morey and his wife, celebrating his 60th birthday. I’m not the biggest fan of conspicuous ‘trophy bottle’ pictures, but they are made to be drunk – and drunk they were 🙂
 

The 1990 Veuve-Cliquot was a much more oxidised style than is my preference, but was fresh and certainly complex, though for me personally, I stop short of saying ‘yum!’ The 2002 Albert Grivault Meursault Clos des Perrières followed, and that was a wine in great shape – a hint fat but layered complexity and super length. A really excellent bottle, and – yum! Then there was the 1993 Domaine Faiveley, Mazis-Chambertin, A surprisingly supple and easy wine – considering that it was a) 1993, b) Mazis-Chambertin and c) Faiveley that we were drinking, it was amazingly unstructured grand cru wine. The cork was almost completely soaked through with wine – perhaps this was the reason. Nice wine, but nothing of a), b) and c)…

Our second sitting began with the Taittinger, already a few years from release, and this was very tasty wine indeed. There followed our major disappointment – dark brown and totally oxidised 2001 Lafon, Meursault-Perrières – totally undrinkable – and before anyone asks, it was bought on release and removed from professional storage only 2 weeks before opening. The 2003 René Engel, Echézeaux was, however, very drinkable indeed – full, warm, not much tannin to speak of – a lush, ripe, opulent wine that shows the vintage far more than the domaine’s Grands Echézeaux of the same vintage. Lunch the next day allowed also the 2011 Clos Frantin, Vosne-Romanée Malconsorts – rather modest of nose but it rolls over the palate with ever-wider flavour and fine interest – a really good wine.

Our last sitting, and our ‘piece de resistance‘ began with 2001 Pierre Morey, Bâtard-Montrachet. If Marko had any trepidation following the performance of our last 2001, he didn’t show it – and neither did the wine! It’s still a very toasty-oaked nose and still with a trace of reduction – presumably the oak contributing to the dark colour, but there was clearly no oxidative aromas or flavours. The palate started great and just kept getting better – despite the oak, Super wine. and I’d say still a youngster. the 2007 Pierre-Yves Colin-Mory, Puligny-Champs Gains was light coloured, super fresh and beautifully penetrating. Perfect, young 2007 – I love 2007s when they are like this! PYCM was followed by the 1998 Roumier, Bonnes-Mares – simply a magical wine and probably the best I have drunk this year. The nose was dark-fruited, precise and with more than a hint of graphite-style minerality. In the mouth it was fresh, darkly-fruited wine of rare clarity and energy – simply fabulous. It was almost embarrassing how quickly the 4 of us drained the bottle! To finish, Jean-Nicolas’s 1998 Méo-Camuzet, Vosne-Cros Parantoux was a super drink, but one that struggled to hold its head high after the Bonnes-Mares; the nose was faintly lactic/bretty. The palate was much redder-fruited, riper-fruited, and whilst it had a very nice complexity in isolation, when paired with the BM, it seemed broad-brush and couldn’t begin to compare to the thrilling clarity of that wine. Probably we should have taken them in the reverse order – and yes, it was also bought on release and kept in storage like the Meursault-Perrières and Bonnes-Mares – but hey! I’m still not complaining 🙂

My first tasting in the post-Trump era was chez @gdangerville – I am now imbued with hope for the future…

— 🅱️ill nanson (@billnanson) November 9, 2016