Last Saturday I took this bottle of Oroncio Pouilly-Fume Les Palefreniers 2008 over to ACC's for lunch. It went down well. It's quite unusual, a sauvignon blanc given the full Burgundy treatment, and is rich and grapefruity and generally rather wonderful and delicious. I ordered it nearly 3 years ago at the Maison Romane dinner (here) and am very happy with it!
Then, on Sunday evening, to celebrate G's successful trip away, we had this 2008 Vosne-Romanee Aux Reas from Alain Guyard. I bought a case of this some time ago and noticed it was in two six-packs so thought it was time to see how it was getting on, and indeed I think it's starting to drink now. It was perhaps on the light side for a Vosne but none the worse for that.
As it was a bank holiday Monday, I made a terrine and we pushed the boat out with a bottle of 2006 Meursault 1er cru Gouttes d'Or from Moret-Nomine. I snapped this up in a recent bin-end sale from the Burgundy Portfolio and had slightly wondered if it might be over the hill, but no, it was fabulous! Big, rich and nutty, all the things I like about Meursault. It's certainly drinking now but there is no particular rush and I'm sure getting through the other 5 bottles won't pose any sort of problem.
Then, on Thursday, a last-minute arrangement was made for ACC to join us for dinner with a selection of goodies which had been presented to a certain restaurant earlier in the day. Who were we to turn down such an invitation? This proved a fascinating tasting as it enabled us to see how certain things are getting on and generally congratulate ourselves on previous purchases.
Starting with the whites, we tried a 2014 Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine Celine & Frederic Gueguen, who are based in Chablis. Although this wasn't a Chablis, G and I both thought it shared a similarity in style. It was quite brisk, with good minerality, and made a refreshing aperitif. although perhaps on the young side. While on the subject of Chablis, it was terrible to hear about the hailstorm which hit many of the vineyards a few days ago, just before the harvest, and our thoughts go out to the growers affected.
We moved on to the 2010 Meursault from Vincent Perrin, which is always an enjoyable drop, with good typicity. G and I are more familiar with the 2008 vintage which we think may be slightly heftier, but then 2008 was a great vintage for white burgundy. Guess they can't be like that all the time.
Then came a real show-stopper, this 2011 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru En Remilly from Domaine Bouard-Bonnefoy. Comparisons were made to Batard-Montrachet. It had benefited from judicious use of oak and just generally came across as expensive and ambitious with a lovely weight and richness. I'm delighted to see that I have some of the 2012 in my cellar! We thought the 2011 was drinking now but might benefit from another year, which suggests that waiting five years is the way forward for these wines.
Of the reds, first we tried a 2011 Monthelie 1er cru Les Riottes from Florent Garaudet, which was very pure with juicy, clean fruit and showed that these wines need time to open up and reach their full potential. Then a 2010 Beaune 1er cru Les Reversees from Jean-Claude Rateau, which was a lovely, elegant expression of Beaune, but might be even better in a couple of years' time.
Finally, we tried this 2011 Morey-St-Denis from Domaine Audiffred. This was astonishing, with a nose of passionfruit, blackcurrant and possibly even mango. Normally I associate Morey with black forest gateau, but this was more like a tropical fruit pavlova. It was quite remarkable and we loved it.
Fascinating stuff and merci to ACC for sharing them with us!
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