2016 Red Burgundy
The red harvest volume in 2016 was significantly below that of the the 5-year average of the vintages 2011-2015 – only the volumes of 2003 and 1991 of (relatively) recent memory can compare. Essentially that means that the oft-quoted 5 year-average is currently something of a meaningless statistic –… Read More
Jessiaume – 2016
Tasted in Santenay with William Waterkeyn and Megan McClune, 07 November 2017. Domaine Jessiaume 10 Rue de la Gare 21590 Santenay Tel: +33 3 80 20 60 03 www.jessiaume.com The renaissance of Santenay wine began a little over 25 years ago, and if you… Read More
des Croix – 2016
Tasted in Beaune with David Croix, 07 November, 2017. Domaine des Croix 2 Rue Colbert 21200 Beaune Tel: +33 3 80 22 41 81 David Croix on 2017: “In 2017 we went in every vineyard to do some leaf plucking, and where we thought we should,… Read More
a merry, merry-go-round (or wine-criticism eating iteself…)
I’ve heard that it’s not done to critique other writers, but I think it’s a subject which, in itself, can be approached in a proper manner. So, Burgundy crtics ahoy… William Kelly who quite recently joined Decanter to write (mainly) about Burgundy is the new appointee in… Read More
the mid-weeklies…
A few mid-week lubrications, including some more from 1996 – but first a little something from David Clark: 2008 David Clark, Côte de Nuits Villages Dark coloured. A nose of fresh, crunchy dark-red fruit – very inviting. There’s plenty of acidity here, but delivered in a style that… Read More
A Vintage Viewpoint…(2016, 2015, 2014)
2016 In one whole year, only 8 hours determined 90% of the commentary about the vintage and 75% of the vintage yields. The night of the 26-27 April delivered temperatures of between -3°C and -5°C. Not only was this not forecast, it was colder than 99% of the winter… Read More
Louis Max – 2015
Tasted in Nuits St.Georges with Jean Francois Joliette, cellar-master Sophie Doche and David Duband, 18 November 2016. Maison Louis Max 6 Rue de Chaux 21700 Nuits-Saint-Georges Tel: +33 3 80 62 43 01 www.louismax.com David Duband on 2016: “It wasn’t worth treating the… Read More
2hl/ha? it ain’t half hot mum!
Beaune, 21h00 tonight This morning really reminded me of 2015 – getting the gardening done before 10am – before the temperatures got too high. Late afternoon Beaune sweltered in 37°C – long live aircon I say, having travelled 4 hours from Bern! Despite this week’s similarity to 2015,… Read More
Minerality?
All tasted in Chablis, 20 March 2016, with Grégory Viennois, David Croix and Stéphane Derenoncourt. Or as my hosts described this tasting: Limestone and Minerality – the language of the soil. Honestly, I don’t think I learned very much about minerality in this presentation, hosted by Domaine Laroche in… Read More