Weekend in the country

A couple of weeks ago, D and I caught the train from Kings Cross to an undisclosed location in middle England where G's parents' house is located. We arrived in the early afternoon feeling quite ravenous but things looked up when G presented us with a glass of excellent, very dry pre-war sherry.

I was then called upon to assist with the double magnum of Rully 1959 which G bought at auction in a moment of madness some time ago.

There was some debate as to whether it was red or white. I believe the auctioneers had described it as red, but looking at the colour, that seemed unlikely. We all tasted it and agreed it was very interesting and then the rest may or may not have been used for cooking.

Fortunately G had put a reserve white aside to accompany our wild smoked salmon for lunch. This in fact belonged to me, as I have a stash in the cellar which is out of sight, out of mind, thereby providing me with the pleasure of rediscovering it from time to time. The white wine in question was a Puligny Montrachet 1er cru Les Perrieres 2011 from Domaine Bzikot, which was bought from the wine shop in Puligny back in the day. This was rich and full and went very well with the food. Pity it was only a bottle and not a double magnum.

After lunch, we went for a walk into the nearby village and then returned to the house where the local felines were circling ready for their evening meal.

It was the first beautiful day of the year, and we sat outside and drank this bottle of Dom Perignon 2002, which was drinking perfectly now and went very nicely with a cheese straw.

With our dinner, an admirable cassoulet made by G's father, we had this bottle of Chapelle-Chambertin 2005 from Bouchard, which apparently I got in a mystery mixed bag from the Wine Society some time ago. Before tasting it, I had my doubts, as I have yet to drink a 2005 red Burgundy which I considered to be ready, but this proved to be the exception. It was muscular and rich and it was actually drinking. Our favourite wine merchant subsequently told us that Bouchard's style is more forward than others, so we shouldn't extrapolate from this.

Alongside the Chapelle-Chambertin, we had this 1934 Mazis-Chambertin Maison Jules Regnier, which G got at auction. This was quite remarkable, really lovely old burgundy, with a glorious nose, lovely texture and long finish. We drank it over about 45 minutes and it showed no sign of fading. Then we drank the dregs too, it was that good.

We rounded off the evening with a glass of  Dow 1963 which was in impeccable condition unlike some G has recently had. It was middleweight and not too sweet. "An old lady, but an attractive one" said G, sounding like a dreadful gold-digger.

On Sunday morning, after a breakfast of bacon sandwiches and coffee, we walked to Hambleton bakery which passed a pleasant hour, although I was gutted that the woman in front of us in the queue snaffled the last sausage roll. If only we'd walked a little faster... One could not however argue with the pricing of the coconut macaroons - 30p each - and they made a very fine accompaniment to a mid-morning glass of madeira.

On our return it was time for an inspection of the cellar...

G still hasn't worked out what to do with this magnum of Kummel! I suggested serving it like aquavit with some smoked salmon. Other suggestions welcome.

For lunch, we had an amazing roast capon which I imagine will feed G's father for the rest of the year, along with this bottle of 1983 Chateau Latour. It was the second bottle of the pair which I bought in December, and this one seemed weightier than the first, although that could be because it was drunk by itself rather than alongside a vibrant young Californian cabernet sauvignon.

The final line-up - spot the odd one out!

All in all, this was a fascinating weekend and we ate and drank very well indeed. Thanks to G's father for hosting, to to D for his congenial company and above all to G for organising everything and sharing these extraordinary wines with us.

Lunch at mine, 11th May

And so normal service tentatively resumes.

I arrived back in London after a weekend away a couple of weeks ago, very much looking forward to having lunch with G and D who was over for one of his biannual visits. I wasn't disappointed.

We kicked off with a bottle of Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Folatieres 2008 from Domaine Bzikot, provided by G. This continues to be a great example of the genre and is drinking perfectly now. We had a bottle back in March when G voiced doubts, but he seems to be converted now.

Then it was on to the main event. D had informed us that he'd be bringing "a couple of reds". It turned out that he meant two different vintages of Chateau Lafite. I couldn't believe it!

In particular, a bottle of 1966 and a bottle of 1975. It would have been a privilege to drink either, let alone both!

We started with the 1975 which was drinking extremely well. It was very smooth and the tannins had softened. The finish was amazing and I got some heat which I eventually worked out reminded me of black pepper. There were also notes of liquorice, chocolate and leather. It was supple and complex, not majestic like Latour, but more feminine.

The 1966 had a more classic "claretty" nose - that cedar, lead pencil, cigar box thing going on. Again it was very smooth and was more classic all round. G thought it was richer than the 1975 and to me it felt like there was more cabernet sauvignon in the mix. Again, it had a great structure and finish. We loved the $29.95 price tag. Those were the days...

Here you can see the difference in the colour - the 1975 is on the right and the 1966 on the left.

If we had to choose between them, I have to admit the 1966 was my favourite, but it has a price differential to match. It was great to be able to compare them and both went very nicely with G's shepherd's pie.

With our cheese course, we had a bottle of 6 puttonyos Tokaji from 1996. This had a heady nose of dried apricots and figs, and extraordinary exotic, tropical fruits on the palate - pineapple and mango. It had a lovely gloopy mouthfeel. I enjoyed it very much.

Finally, we had some of G's latest acquisition, some old navy rum in a terrible wicker basket! My shoes are included in the photo to show the scale of the thing.

This rum dates back to the 1950s and has acquired the smooth characteristics of an old spirit, but is nevertheless immediately identifiable as rum. Like whisky, it benefits from the addition of a little water. An animated conversation ensued about the possibility of doing an old spirits tasting, which is a great idea.

Lunch lasted 6 hours, a new record, I think. Thanks very much to D for providing such amazing goodies from his cellar, and to G for the others and for doing the cooking.

Lunch at mine, Sunday 9th March

Last Sunday, ACC, Baron McG and G joined me for lunch. It was a beautiful weekend and felt like the start of spring as the weather was sunny and warm.

Proceedings commenced with a bottle of cremant de bourgogne from Domaine Felettig, and G produced an Israeli fig liqueur - which I'm glad to say he had been given, not paid good money for - to put in it. I think it was better without, but you have to try these things. The cremant went nicely with some pork scratchings from Turner & George (previously the East London Steak Co) who are firmly up there on my list along with the Ginger Pig. I hope everyone's teeth survived.

Then it was time for some serious food and drink. To start, we had this bottle of 2008 Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Les Folatieres from Domaine Bzikot. I thought it was wonderful, but G was less convinced and felt it lacked acidity. No accounting for taste.

To go with it, I had made this chicken, apricot and pistachio terrine the day before which was a great success even if I do say so myself!

Then we moved on to the reds. ACC kindly brought this village Beaune 2009 from Domaine Audiffred, which was as wonderful as one would expect. You can tell it's a Beaune made by someone who is based in Vosne, but that's fine by me. To go with it, we had a beef stew - I'd planned the menu before the weather suddenly changed...  

The piece de resistance was this 1973 Beaune Greves from Moillard which ACC and the Baron gave me for my birthday last year. This was amazingly good considering its age and the alleged poor vintage. It was very fine and still had it all going on. Thanks very much to both of you!

Finally, we had this Clos-Vougeot 1982 from Domaine Lamarche, which G picked up in a recent auction. It was noticeable that this had not lasted so well and had baked characteristics but nevertheless was very interesting to drink.

I failed to take further photos, but honourable mentions must be made of les fromages most of which came from Beillevaire - the Epoisses in particular was absolutely perfect, and of the excellent Charbonnel et Walker chocs which the Baron brought along, just the thing with a post-prandial espresso. All in all, it was a lovely occasion!

Lunch at Le Montrachet, Wednesday 11th Sept

On Thursday morning, we headed over to Puligny-Montrachet where ACC had an appointment with Madame Joly. Since G and I had visited her domaine as recently as January, we felt it would be too much of an imposition for us to tag along, so we killed an hour wandering round Puligny.

We checked out Le Pelugney (that is the correct spelling!), a new Belgian restaurant which looked quite good, actually. I was particularly interested in their "Crêpes maison flambées au Marc de Bourgogne". Across the square is the Olivier Leflaive restaurant, which had a creepy waxwork-type figure standing outside. I wasn't tempted to take a photo. The menu here didn't appeal and we were particularly disgusted by the offering of a "Duo" of cheeses which seemed unusually stingy for this part of the world - usually you get at least four!

After that, we made friends with an elderly tabby cat sitting on a mat outside its home in a very quiet back lane, which cheered me up immensely - normally we never see cats in Burgundy but on this trip we saw quite a few - and then we walked up to have a look at the vineyards before returning into the village to hit the wine shop.

Here we had a very enjoyable glass of Bourgogne Blanc 2011 from Bzikot while perusing the wine list. They literally went across the road to get it. It was interesting for me to try this, as I've been getting through large quantities of the 2008 vintage from this domaine. G bought a couple of premier crus, and after we left we suddenly thought maybe they hadn't included the two glasses of wine on the bill. It turned out that they had, but they were just three euros each! Not something that would be possible in Angleterre.

It was now time to head over the road to Le Montrachet where a table for lunch awaited us. The sommeliere gave me a wink which was possibly meant to be encouraging, as I was attempting to speak in bad French at the time, or could have been an allusion to the chaos caused on my last visit in May 2009 when I and the other female member of the party had to take matters into our own hands when it came to pouring the wine, and thereby created an international diplomatic incident.

While waiting for ACC to join us, G and I indulged in a kir, and when ACC arrived, he fancied a glass of cremant but it turned out that they don't do a cremant by the glass so he was forced to have champagne. We had the 28.50 euro menu which included lots of amuse-gueles including a little chicken nugget wrapped in filo and deep-fried which was possibly the most delicious thing I ate on the entire trip.

To drink, ACC suggested a bottle of St-Romain 2004 from Domaine Chassorney at 47 euros. I hadn't come across this domaine but he told us it was the real deal - biodynamic, unfiltered and cloudy. The sommeliere clearly approved of this choice. I managed to take a sneaky picture of it. It was like no other burgundy I've ever tasted; if anything, it reminded me of an old, dry Vouvray. Very interesting. We also discovered that "snacke" means in the form of a snake, and that Cafe Liegeois is a sort of coffee ice cream sundae - very nice indeed. The total bill, including a bottle of old friend 1er cru Auxey-Duresses from Roulot, came to 205.50 euros. We spotted that they had left ACC's glass of champagne off the bill and drew this to their attention but they said not to worry about it, which I thought was very decent.

By the time we'd finished, it was about 2.15 and time to head off to our next appointment when all I wanted to do was lie down on a park bench and sleep. Memo to self: next time I go to Le Montrachet, don't schedule anything immediately afterwards. Best lunch of the trip!

Epic trip to Burgundy, Sept 2013

Last Saturday G, ACC and I set off to Burgundy in our usual style i.e. a cork was gently eased out of a bottle of Pol Roger as the Eurostar drew out of St Pancras, much to the amazement/jealousy of fellow passengers. This was accompanied by some Roka Cheese Crispies, which didn't last long. There was a slight altercation when it turned out I'd forgotten to bring forks for our salad, but G manfully went to the buffet car and stole some plastic numbers so harmony was soon restored.

At last we got to Beaune station and found the heavens had opened. We made our soggy way to the local supermarket to stock up on essentials like pate, cheese and 200 bottles of Badoit, and then after multiple attempts managed to find a taxi. We were staying at a new place which was allegedly in the centre of Beaune, so it was quite surprising when the taxi hurtled out of the town centre and had practically made it into open countryside before drawing up at a very ordinary-looking house with a clothes-drier outside sporting several pairs of gentleman's socks. Nevertheless, this was the address we had been given.

A man inside overheard us talking and came out to see what was going on. It turned out that this was the home of madame who was renting us the gite and not the actual gite itself. Oops! Since our taxi had by now disappeared into the distance, the chap phoned madame, who was waiting for us at the gite, and she drove back to collect us. G and I got in the back of her car/van where there were no seats, so we had to crouch on the floor and hold on as best we could, while ACC had the benefit of the front seat. You know you're in Burgundy when stuff like this starts happening. G claims that his mackintosh will never be the same. Eventually we made it to a street we recognised and then turned off down an extremely narrow lane. I was very impressed by madame's precision driving - there was about a millimetre of clearance on each side.

It's still not entirely clear why she gave ACC her own address instead of the address of the gite, but we were happy because the gite was much closer to the town centre than the house with the socks had been. She showed us round, including unnecessarily detailed instructions on how to use the microwave, dishwasher etc., and explained at length the additional tariffs for towels, cleaning etc. I left the others to it at this point and went to get the luggage, managing to give myself concussion on the low ceiling of the utility room. Then it was time to go for dinner. Hurrah!

Usually we go to Caves Madeleine for our first dinner of the trip, but shockingly, it was fully booked, so Cheval Noir was our second choice. We walked through Beaune in the rain, G leading the pack and accelerating like Mo Farah as he spotted his destination. Getting out of the horrible rain and into the warmth and serene atmosphere of that place was one of the nicest experiences of the trip.

We sat at the same table as last time and had a wonderful kir to start with. Afterwards we debated whether it was only so good because it was the first of the trip. I guess we should have gone there again on the last day to test the hypothesis. Amuses-gueles quickly appeared and then a melon thing in a glass, with slivers of bacon in it. We had the 30 euro menu with extra cheese at a supplement of 9 euros. The highlight for me was the Norwegian trout with "espuma" potatoes - the wonderful fluffy, cheesy potatoes we had last time - while ACC had a piece of pork with loads of girolles. I really enjoyed my main course but was nevertheless jealous of his and started hinting that we needed to come back again later in the week, but to no avail. To drink, we had some white Auxey-Duresses and then some red Auxey-Duresses 2009 from Domaine Bzikot, both of which were very good. The bill was 200 euros for the three of us, and we had eaten and drunk very well. Once again, we felt Cheval Noir was on the verge of a Michelin star. Certainly the 30 euro menu is excellent value.

ACC wanted to go to "Route 66" on Place Carnot afterwards but it looked packed and we ended up in another cafe where we had a disappointing marc and then decided to go home and try out our very own cellar!

Chorey, Chorey everywhere

Madame had generously provided us with a bottle of 2006 Chorey-les-Beaune from the family estate. Obviously we were very excited to try this as we know from frequent missives from the Wine Society what a great vintage 2006 was for red Burgundy (#sarcasm). It was predictably revolting. We had a look round the cellar to see what else there was, but it was literally just bottles and bottles of this stuff. Quite sad really. Fortunately while at the supermarket G and I had taken the precaution of getting a bottle of Maranges 1er cru la Fussiere from Domaine Pagnotta, so at least we had something drinkable, even if on the rustic side.

In fact the cave itself was strangely spooky, with weird agricultural implements on the walls, and an odd stone semi-religious figure in a hole in the wall presiding over proceedings. On a subsequent evening, G closed the door which made it feel incredibly claustrophobic. Something out of a horror movie could have happened at any second. Imagine being imprisoned in there, with just 5000 bottles of revolting 2006 Chorey-les-Beaune to drink... It didn't bear thinking about. Fortunately this was not our fate, and we made it to bed soon after midnight, knowing that we didn't have to get up early the next morning.

Burgundy trip, New Year 2013 part two

On the Sunday, after some wonderful croissants for breakfast, we investigated the gîte's tape collection and discovered some funk music which set a cheery mood for the morning's activities, until something went wrong with the tape and it started making a sad droning noise and had to be turned off.

It was a beautiful sunny morning. I made some gougeres which we had warm from the oven, sitting outside on the terrace with a bottle of Bzikot's Bourgogne Blanc 2007 brought from home. ACC had suggested that we all pack some booze with us, as it was unclear what shopping opportunities there would be, and this turned out to be an excellent plan.

Before

Lunch involved this fantastic cheeseboard featuring a declassified Epoisses, a fruity Comté, a Brillat Savarin with a line of truffle down the middle, another cheese with a coating of the kind of grapes and stems they use to make marc, and some quince paste. The board didn't look like this for long!

After

To drink, we had some Dame de Montrose 2008 provided by Baron McG, and a bottle of Giboulot Beaune 2008 from me. A great contrast between Burgundy and claret. The Jacoulot on the left was the traditional "bottle of marc for the house".

After a leisurely afternoon reading the New Yorker, watching an episode of Alan Bennett's "Talking Heads" on ACC's laptop, and having a little snooze, we took a taxi back into Beaune to dine at la Ciboulette, one of the few restaurants in Beaune that's open on a Sunday evening. We received a warm welcome (ACC is a regular) and had the simplest set menu which was 19.5 euros a head for three courses. The cooking here isn't pretentious and there were none of the flourishes and extras that we'd had the previous evening, but for the price this was a total bargain.

To drink, we had a bottle of rose Cremant de Bourgogne, and then a 1er cru red Ladoix which we gave an 8. It didn't wow us, confirming that this village isn't really in the top echelons of Burgundy. The total bill for four of us was about 150 euros, once again exceptional value.

After dinner, we strolled into the town centre which was lit with tasteful Christmas lights but spookily deserted. Beaune is certainly not the place to go if you're looking for some wild nightlife.

Burgundy trip, New Year 2013 part one

Bonne Année tout le monde!

I returned last night from a trip to Burgundy full of interest and pleasure as always. This time there were four of us - G, ACC, Baron McG and myself - and we stayed in the gîte in Chorey-les-Beaune which is attached to Domaine Martin.

We got up bright and early on Saturday morning to catch the 7.30 Eurostar to Paris then it was a quick hop on the RER across Paris to the Gare de Lyon and the TGV down to Dijon. At Dijon, I found that the station has been renovated since my last visit but sadly this doesn't mean the facilities are better - the left luggage is closed at the weekends in winter. We therefore dragged our suitcases up the hill into the centre of Dijon, an activity lent a certain excitement by the fact that ACC's suitcase had a damaged handle and was liable to make a bid for freedom at any second. The citizens of Dijon could hear the convoy of four rumbling suitcases coming from several miles away and wisely gave us a wide berth.

It was almost 2.00 by this stage but we managed to squeak into the bustling Cafe Cosi by the market, which produced a fine steak and chips and we all cheered up enormously. After lunch, provisions were gathered from the market and the nearby Carrefour and a bottle of marc for the house was obtained from Nicolas, then it was back to the station (strangely also uphill) to catch the little regional train to Beaune. We arrived at 5.00 and were met by Alain le taxi who drove us in style to the gîte.

For dinner, we went back into Beaune and visited the Cheval Noir, which G and I were fans of when we visited Beaune for the first time in 2000, but hadn't visited since. It's been tarted up since then. We went for the Menu d'hiver à 36 Euros which for four courses was great value and included several additional little amuse-gueles at the beginning of the meal and petits fours at the end. I was impressed with the standard of the food which was presented beautifully and was heading towards a Michelin star. Highlights included a lobster bisque, a Roulé de lapin et pieds de cochon, and a cheese fondue-type thing referred to as Espuma de fromage des Moines de Cîteaux which was served in individual glasses-within-a-glass. Apparently mashed potato was involved somehow!

To drink, we had a 2009 white Beaune Clos St Désiré from R. Demougeot (40 euros) which was served a little on the cold side. Once it warmed up, it had some weight but a core of acidity to balance it. To follow, we had a 2008 red Auxey-Duresses from Domaine Bzikot (35 euros) which was just my thing, with lively red fruits on the nose. I see I liked it when we went to visit him three years ago too. The total bill was 219 euros for the four of us - very good value for such a great meal. I'll be back.

Our first Burgundy dinner over, we returned to Chorey, knowing that nothing had to be done the following day. To be continued...

Lunch at mine, Sunday 22nd July

On Sunday,  ACC and Baron McG joined me and G for another epic lunch. It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago so I was in the mood to indulge!

Getting things off to a good start

The Baron kindly brought along some delicious little parmesan biscuits which he had baked that morning, based on a recipe by Simon Hopkinson. Some of them had a daring sliver of red chilli on the top. The secret ingredient was mustard powder, which I must consider adding next time I make gougeres, as the combination of cheese and mustard is one that appeals very much. To go with this we had a bottle of Krug 1989 left over from one of G's recent wine dinners. It was mature, yeasty, full-bodied champagne and very enjoyable. Obviously it costs megabucks, so not one we're likely to have again in the near future.

Next up was a bottle of Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Les Folatieres 2007 from Bzikot. This had been sitting on my wine rack for some time waiting for a special occasion, and we had it with some smoked salmon from Hansen and Lydersen, who we had finally tracked down at Maltby Street the previous day, and some rye bread from the Nordic Bakery. The Puligny was a glorious golden colour. It took a little while to open up, was bigger than I expected and certainly ready to go.

Nom nom nom

On Friday night I'd been to the Ginger Pig and had fallen into the trap of losing all sense of perspective. This often seems to happen when I go to the Ginger Pig. Somehow, surrounded by enormous chunks of meat, one starts to think that a three rib roast is quite a normal size for four people and it's only when one finds out that it's actually five and a half kilos that one realises that perhaps it's actually quite a lot. But by then, of course, it's too late... actually that's not entirely fair as the butcher saw me wince and did ask if I wanted him to cut a bit off, but it looked so amazing that I decided to go for it as it was. We roasted it on Saturday to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's instructions and it came out looking like this. Confirmation that the bigger the piece of meat, the better the result.

Back to Sunday lunch - as it was the start of the recent heatwave, we served the beef cold along with a tomato tart from Marylebone farmers' market and some salad. The first red was our old friend Beaune Greves 1er cru 1999 from Yves Darviot, which needs to be drunk up fairly soon. This bottle was beautiful as ever. I have often raved about it in the past and it remains the pinnacle of price/quality ratio as far as I'm concerned. Just amazing.

Next up, with the cheese course, was a bottle of Vosne Romanee 1er cru Clos de Reas 1999 from Michel Gros, another old favourite and again one which did not disappoint. I read somewhere recently that ideally reds should be served at cellar temperature which is lower than room temperature, so we chilled both reds slightly, which was a good move and one to remember for future reference.

The Epoisses makes a bid for freedom!

A digression about the cheeses, which came from Pascal Beillevaire in Montpelier Street just off Knightsbridge. I've written before about how offputting I find La Fromagerie in Moxon Street, with its incredibly heavy shoulder-dislocating door to the cold cheese room and a general sense that somehow you're not worthy to be allowed in there. I don't think this is just me being paranoid as G has noticed it too. So I was expecting this Parisian cheese shop located in the area of the London mega-rich to be super-snooty.

Au contraire! When I visited on Friday evening, the assistant was friendly and quite happy for me to have a look round by myself. After I'd spent a few minutes mooching about, taking care not to swipe priceless cheeses off the shelves with my rucksack loaded with 5.5 kg of beef, I enlisted her help. We had a serious discussion regarding the components of the ideal cheeseboard - I knew I wanted some Epoisses, some Beaufort, some Bleu des Causses, and a goaty thing, but fancied one additional wild card cheese. She suggested a sheep's cheese - bien sûr! - and I got to taste a wonderful pungent and smoky example of the genre which was the missing link. I'm not sure what the name of it was but will find out next time I'm there. I also got an evil dried-up little goaty thing for G - this is chevre sec, which is sold by weight so this particular one cost about two quid. I'm now the proud owner of a Pascale Beillevaire loyalty card and received a "little present" in the form of a chocolate mousse. All in all, a delightful experience and I think it may become a weekly habit!

I failed to take any photos of pudding, but made the world famous Petits Pots (to a closely-guarded family recipe) which is also basically a chocolate mousse. To accompany this, we had this Mas Amiel 1975 provided by G. This is a sweet red wine from Maury, an area in the Roussillon, one of the few wines that goes well with chocolate. Which it certainly did!

Finally, the piece de resistance was provided by ACC - a kirsch and a poire william liqueur, both with some serious age on them.

Good example of the Inverse Law of Labels

We think the kirsch may have been made in 1950 as there's a punched out 50 on the label (just below the second M of Commerce). These two made a very enjoyable end to the occasion - another five hour special!

Tasting of 2009 Burgundies, 31st March

How on earth did that glass of water manage to crash the party?!

On Thursday I attended a tasting of 2009 burgundies at the offices of Edward Parker Wines hosted by ACC. They were mainly village-level but there was one premier cru and also a couple of Morgons. All these wines are very young and in many cases won't be ready for several years.

We tasted the following:

1. Chablis, Domaine Gilles & Nathalie Fevre. This was quite pale in colour, had a lovely elegant nose and richness on the palate but also the minerality typical of the Chablis region. ACC described it as "gastronomic chablis" - some smoked salmon with this one would really hit the spot. Very reasonable value at £105 for a case of twelve in bond.

2. Cote-de-Beaune "La Grande Chatelaine", Domaine Emmanuel Giboulot. I'm a big fan of this domaine as written about here so was looking forward to this. But there was something slightly weird going on on the nose and G thought it was not correct. I got hay and some earthiness - possibly a "hint of the farmyard". I found it very interesting and it had an amazing finish, but I've already bought a different 2009 white from Giboulot so I won't be getting this one.

3. Chassagne-Montrachet, Domaine Bachey-Legros. I hadn't come across this domaine before but this was an accomplished village level Chassagne with a streak of lemon down the middle and some honey.

4. Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Perrieres, Domaine Sylvain Bzikot. I'm also a big fan of this domaine as written about here but I hadn't tasted this wine before. ACC said that Sylvain makes one tenth as much of it as he makes of his Folatieres which has always been superb. It was difficult tasting a premier cru that's only a year old - it had a sensational nose but the structure had not yet come together. We thought this will be a future 10 and I couldn't resist going for a six pack at £215 (£425 per case) in bond. Not cheap but it's excellent value for what it is, especially compared to the competition.

5. 2009 Morgon, Domaine Boulon. I'd heard rave reviews about the 2009 beaujolais vintage and was not disappointed. This had a delightful nose with vibrant fruit. A lovely, light red good for weekday drinking. I went for a case at £90 in bond which I think will work out at around £10 a bottle by the time it comes in.

6. Morgon "Cuvee Pauline", Domaine Boulon. This is a special cuvee of Morgon, and plus serieux. It had a slightly darker colour and an intense nose of blackcurrants. This is the kind of Morgon that one should tuck away for 5 years - it's not an easy drinker like the previous wine. Apparently Pauline is the name of the grower's wife - aah. As you can see from the photo, this hasn't yet got a proper label and just had something delightfully hand-written. I went for a case of this too, at £125 for twelve in bond.

7. Hautes-Cotes-de-Nuits "Sous le Mont", Domaine Emmanuel Giboulot. This was quite a pale colour and had a wonderful fragrance of wild strawberries. It was delicate, elegant and pure - G said "pretty". ACC said it would go well with poached salmon and certainly it's not the kind of wine that would work with heavy red meat or game. At the moment it has relatively high acidity so it will need to be tucked away for 2-3 years. I loved it when we tasted it at the domaine back in January, so had already snapped some up during the en primeur offer (£95 for six or £180 for twelve in bond).

8. Gevrey-Chambertin "La Justice", Domaine Felettig. I've never been to this domaine but I do get through industrial quantities of their Vieux Marc so expectations were high. ACC told us that the textbook tasting note for Gevrey is liquorice on the nose and this was indeed the case. It was quite savoury and had rich, dark fruits. Really it is a wine for the winter and would be best drunk with a hearty game dish, and again, it needs at least a couple of years.

As a bonus bottle at the end ACC produced Felettig's 2007 Chambolle Clos le Village which was charming and elegant, as one would expect from the 2007 vintage and the village of Chambolle. This was more approachable than the Gevrey.

All in all, a really interesting tasting with something for everyone.