Let’s stick with Chambolle – here another 2007, but this time a 1er cru…

2007 Patrice Rion, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Charmes
Whilst there’s a strong whiff of oak-spice, this has a lovely, interesting and layered nose – nice. In the mouth this is far from overblown – a good line of fine fruit flavour – unfortunately for this wine, the finish is quite oaky, indeed it’s borderline harsh. I have more in the cellar so obviously hope that this comes around – apart from the harshness it reminds me of Comte Liger-Belair – but on the current showing I wouldn’t be a buyer…
Rebuy – Maybe

2004 Lignier-Michelot, Chambolle-Musigny Gammaires
A merchant wine from Lignier-Michelot. As in many, but not all, 2004s ‘the character’ is taking on a deeper, slightly mushroomy bloom – my tasting partner instantly says peanuts (they know nothing of burgundy wine or the vintage) – and you know(?) that’s the first time I’ve noted what other people suggest about peanuts, it really does have a peanut element. In the mouth the character is discreet and this wine has good energy and flavour. I wouldn’t buy any more for the cellar, but I can drink and quite enjoy it.
Rebuy – No

Yet another reason that Denis might not have time for me later in the year! The Bachelet’s storage, save for shipping to Switzerland in April/May was direct IB from en-primeur purchase, followed by my own passive cellar for the last 10 years, which very slowly cycles between 13-19°C depending on the highs or lows of the seasons.

1999 Denis Bachelet, Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles-Vignes
Ouf – that’s strong! The nose that is, and of brett too – it’s not just strong, it’s a big shame. In the mouth this has quite fine flavour, but it’s nae-on impossible to enjoy a wine without actually sniffing said wine. I know that with brett, every bottle is likely to be different, but it seems I should drink these up ‘just in case…’
Rebuy – No

2007 Lignier-Michelot, Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles-Vignes
Hmm – this is a very butch nose, large-scaled, just a little oaky and round, but really not a pretty thing. In the mouth this is also large-scaled, but with darkly-sweet fruit and some real interest in the mouth. From a flavour perspective, whilst good, it’s less good than the Bachelet and whilst the aromas are far from tempting, I can forgive that as potentially just a ‘phase.’ Overall, whilst the flavour is not bad, it’s currently a poor advert for Chambolle.
Rebuy – No

Regarding the Bachelet, maybe there’s something to be said for the quality of modern, ‘light’ filtration. Anyway, I was driven to try a glass of Lambrini after those – I hereby confirm that it was only the one glass…

Is a tasting-note better in a bite-sized twitter aside?

Mercurey, so often so-la-la or over-extracted/wooded but this is brilliant, crunchy raspberry + textured weight. Yum! pic.twitter.com/vtiZvxENwh

— 🅱️ill nanson (@billnanson) August 16, 2015

No, that’s not a new appellation, rather my choice of drinks the last days!

This first wine drank so well, I may forced into pulling out my last bottles of the 93 and the 90!
1995 Maison Leroy, Bourgogne
Medium colour, a little salmon rather than brown. The smell has a little cigar and a faintly stewed red fruit – but fresh, sleek and inviting it is. In the mouth there’s not that much width, but the flavour is fine, pure and leaves a texture of silk on the tongue. This drinks better and better as the time passes. Almost an ageless wine, which probably won’t ever be better than this, but I don’t expect it to slide either. Yum!
Rebuy – Yes

I simply adored this when first tasted – so much so that I had to buy a couple of bottles. The first bottle was corked (but replaced) the second bottle was disappointingly tight aged about 2. This bottle, however, shows what I saw from barrel. It would only get better if we could trust it not to oxidise!
2006 Nicolas Potel, Criots Bâtard-Montrachet
The colour seems a little golden on pouring, but the cork smells fine, and with 5 minutes in the glass, it’s more of a deep yellow than gold. The nose starts a little tight, but slowly fills-out with perfume and a slowly growing struck match note. In the mouth, this is big, silkily textured and delivers a heft of perfumed flavour. The struck match of the nose can be seen in the finishing flavours too. There are really layers of flavour here and they cling to your tongue like glue – probably because this wine is moderately acid-lite. Yet it is beguiling and über-drinkable. In fact this bottle lasted no more than a couple of hours – it was devoured with joy!
Rebuy – Yes

2010 Gilles Bouton, St.Aubin 1er En Remilly
From the first sniff – yum! Toasted bread and a nicely direct, if slightly cushioned. This is a little cushioned in the mouth too, with a lovely driving citrus fruit but the fresh, stony flavour widens in the mouth. A big fresh and intense mid-palate brings joy – there’s not much more I could wish for. Lovely…
Rebuy – Yes

2006 Antonin Guyon, Pernand-Vergelesses
What a lovely wine. Fresh, with pretty red fruit – no lack of depth and a fine sucrosity. This drank very well, and quite quickly too!
Rebuy – Yes

2002 Fourrier, Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles-Vigne
A deeper, fuller nose, but one that really need to unwind before it challenged the more inviting Pernand. In the mouth too, this has more evident concentration and seems a hint more plush. With time in the glass this unwinds, becoming ever-more tasty and complex. A wine that demands more of your attention than the previous wine – which you will prefer probably has more to do with context. Very good!
Rebuy – Yes

These were very will priced, about €20 or less, way back when. Let’s say in 2004/2005…

2002 Pascal Chevigny, Vosne-Romanée
Opened too cold – from the fridge – but it will warm in my glass. The nose starts very closed, but ever-so slowly it opens with a modest but charming vosne-style nose – all is in order. In the mouth there’s a slight lack of acid balance whilst cold, but as the wine warms it expands more over the palate and seems to have much finer poise. The flavour is lovely, a nice ingraining sucrosity to the fruit and lively but lovely balance. This is absolutely perfect right now, indeed excellent, so much so that I’m now tempted to attack my remaining single bottle!
Rebuy – Yes

1996 Thomas-Moillard, Corton Clos du Roi
Deeply coloured. Ooh – diving into the aromas from the high-board. A faint graphite and deep, dark half plum/damson fruit that’s partly sweet-baked. Direct line of fresh flavour – much as I remember – but today there’s more padding and more weight of buffering flavour than 5+ years ago. The nose is becoming more rounded and complex. If you wish to hold this wine in your mouth, and despite the silk texture, the acid-intensity will slowly begin to assail your tongue – but why would you? Sharp wine, but becoming less dangerous with time. I think this still has plenty of upside, but I really enjoyed this over two nights…
Rebuy – Yes

1998 François Lamarche, Echézeaux
A fresh, intense nose with a very good fruit flavour but it quickly becomes ever-more herbal – borderline unpleasant. Plenty of modest rasp from the tannin – but the grain is clearly fading. A bit of bitter herb in the finish too – eventually a noticeable TCA flavour in the finish – hmm, a shame, corked.
Rebuy – who knows…

2001 Bouchard Père et Fils, Echézeaux
A deep, seemingly silky nose, yet still rather tight – slowly a very nice fruit note seeps through. Large in the mouth, more mineral than the 98, there’s growing intensity too. Much, much finer tannin – very obviously younger too. Real depth of flavour here – lovely, just an edge of salinity in the finish too. The last drops in the glass have a discreet tobacco note…
Rebuy – Yes

What’s the old saying? – Buy in haste, repent at leisure – for a long time I had thoughts along those lines about this wine.

Of-course time is often a healer, and that seems to be the case even for Fixin in the most astringent (tannins) of vintages:

1998 Pierre Gelin, Fixin 1er Clos Napoleon
There’s one thing I still don’t like about this wine – the nose has a lactic note, one that I doubt will ever get better, but behind is a pretty strawberry fruit that implies ripeness, and for the first time I can ever remember, there’s a generosity about the aromas. In the mouth it’s still quite a big wine, but the sandpaper astringency is long gone, indeed it’s now a rather controlled and balanced structure. Good flavour and a pretty complexity. No shirking violet this, but from now-on, I think I can start harvesting some of the bottles from this case.
Rebuy – Maybe