Recent reds report - Cote de Beaune

Things have been looking up here - am just back from a few days in Norfolk with my family, during which the news broke that the US travel ban is being lifted in November. It feels like a cloud has lifted and soon I'll be on my way back to Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, a report on some reds from the Cote de Beaune, descending from north to south. 

Here we have a Ladoix 1er cru Les Basses Mourottes 2014 from Gaston & Pierre Ravaut. It was quite dark in colour with a pale rim. We enjoyed the nose, which was full of dark things from underneath a hedgerow - truffle, mushrooms, blackcurrant and what G described as "elderly sheep dropping" although I'm unsure whether he was speaking from experience. It was all very interesting. On the palate, it was a little light on fruit and a bit rustic, but nevertheless I recorded that I seemed to have drunk it without noticing, so it was clearly quite enjoyable. We felt it was fully mature and needed no more time, and gave it an 8.

This Pommard 1er cru Fremiers 2012 from Nicolas Rossignol was the first of two recent Pommards. It was a nice garnet colour and had a lovely nose of summer fruit tart. There were some chunky tannins on the palate, or "matiere" as G described it - reminiscent of plum skins and cocoa. Somehow we doubted it was 13% as claimed. We felt it was a posh wine, exuding quality and I described it as a good wine to take to a dinner party, as it would be bound to impress. We thought it needed another 5 years to reach its full potential, and gave it a low 9 but with the potential to go higher. I note that the domaine is based in Volnay, and indeed it did have a certain similarity to Perrin's wines. It was quite pricey at £83. 

Then we have this Pommard 1er cru Clos les Arvelets 2014 from Mark Haisma. This had an engaging fruity, sweet nose with some nice raspberries going on. It was silky with lots of fruit on the midpalate and some chocolatey tannins on the finish. I sometimes find Pommard a bit heavy and brooding but occasionally I find one which really ticks my boxes (Maison Romane's Argilliere being the prime example) and this was almost in that category, with more finesse than some. "A lighter way to enjoy Pommard" as G put it. The 2014s seem to be giving us a lot of pleasure at the moment, and we felt this was drinking perfectly now. It was a solid 9, but then again it did cost £85.

Moving on down the map, we come to Santenay. This was a 1er cru le Beaurepaire 2017 from Jean-Marc Vincent. It was an attractive ruby colour but had a slightly dumb nose. On the palate, it was juicy and fresh, and a little bit croquant. We thought it was designed to be drunk young, and wasn't a particularly serious wine, unlike say the Santenays from Choupette which need more time to come round. On the other hand it was only £36. We thought it was a quintessential 8.

A quick detour to the west takes us to Maranges, which always brings back happy memories of the somewhat dilapidated maison de maitre we found on a property website a few years ago, with a lovely view over the vineyards. This was a Maranges 1er cru Le Croix Moines 2016 from Camille Giroud. Got to love that font, which is even on the cork! It looked glossy and inviting, with massive legs, and a really fabulous heady nose which reminded me of black cherry clafoutis. On the palate it was congruent and for me it still had black cherries while G got bramble. It went really well with our crispy duck and pancakes, and positively evaporated. We felt it was completely ready to drink and gave it a 9. At £33, it was fantastic value. 

Finally, we venture down to Mercurey where we had three examples of the genre recently. This Mercurey 1er cru Clos L'Eveque 2014 came from Romain Chapuis, whose low sulphur wines are a particular favourite of mine. This was glossy and looked young, and had a wonderful nose of wild strawberries which G described as feral. I loved it. It was relatively lightweight with immediate charm and good acidity, but didn't really feel like a premier cru, more a vin de plaisir. We gave it a high 7.

The other two Mercureys both came from P&M Jacqueson, with their immediately-recognisable squiggly font. First we have the 1er cru "Les Champs Martin" 2015. This had a fruity nose and was juicy and croquant, delicious lightweight pinot, with a slight hint of wine gums. It was crying out for a baguette and a bit of cheese and pate. I found it very enjoyable and we thought it was the sort of wine that would do well in hot vintages. We gave it a solid 8.

Finally, here we have the 1er cru Les Velley 2016. This had orchard fruit on the nose, but was richer and heavier on the palate, with quite a lot of oomph, and was fresh medium-weight pinot. It was slightly tart on the finish in an enjoyably mouthwatering way. I might have thought it was a Santenay if I'd been tasting it blind. We also gave it a solid 8 and my opinion of this domaine continues to be very favourable. I think we've been finding that Mercurey and perhaps also Rully deliver considerable pleasure at a not exorbitant price, and are perhaps coming into their own with the hotter weather in recent years. 

As always many thanks to G for supplying these and keeping the Premier Cru Project on the road! I'm happy to report that a modicum of social life is on the agenda in the near future, with D visiting from the Finger Lakes next week and several exciting tastings lined up. Bring it on!

Recent reds

Feeling a bit more cheerful here at AduV Towers with things starting to open up in London now and a sense that things might get back to normal soon. It was great to see ACC and the Baron in real life last Saturday after five months, and I'm looking forward to seeing other friends soon and getting back to tastings, lunches and dinners like the good old days!

Meanwhile, G has been keeping me company and we've drunk some pretty good stuff over the past few weeks. Today's report is on the reds only, in descending date order.

We recently acquired some halves of En Gregoire 2012 from Emmanuel Giboulot, and G located the 2018 vintage of the same wine in bottle, so naturally a vertical tasting ensued!

They were a fairly similar colour but the 2012 had a slightly paler rim. The 2018 had a pretty nose with exuberant ripe fruit, and was big and juicy with notes of black cherry. It came in at 13% and certainly ticked my boxes. Young, but why wait? The 2012 had more sous bois and was a little earthy - less fruity, more serious. It was only 12%. But there was a close resemblance between the two, indicating a strong sense of terroir. It was hard to say which we preferred. I think for G the 2012 was a narrow win, and for me the immediate deliciousness of the 2018 had it. 

The other night we had this Rully 1er cru Preaux from P&M Jacqueson. I had some trouble deciphering the curly font on the label! It was a pretty colour and looked young and fruity. The nose was fresh and pretty although G detected "an enticing whiff of rot", and the wine was light, succulent and delicious with stone fruit. It was quite high-toned and mouthwatering, and the word "croquant" sprang to mind - there was a kind of plum skin note. For me, it was the kind of wine that would be delicious at lunchtime with a baguette and some pate. It was perhaps a little on the frivolous side but there's nothing wrong with that. We gave it a 9. I see that we've actually had white wines from Jacqueson before (2007 vintage!) and thought they were pretty good. Definitely a domaine to look out for especially as Rully is relatively good value compared to more prestigious villages. 

There follow a trio which we had at my place where I failed to take photos. I've been getting better at making notes lately, but apparently not at remembering to take photos. 

The first was old favourite Terres Burgondes 2011 from Giboulot. This had a lovely nose of tinned strawberries and was congruent, sensual and pretty. It had some interesting notes of forest floor and wild fruit. Not too serious, obtained at an advantageous price (thanks ACC!) and very much my kind of thing. If it had been a premier cru, we'd have given it a 9. 

Back in mid-April we had some Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Morgeots 2011 from Domaine de la Choupette. This had a glorious nose of black and red cherries and was elegant with blackcurrant on the palate. It was rich upfront but lighter on the midpalate and finish. It went well with our venison fillet, and we gave it an 8. Not quite as good as the 2010, but I always love red Chassagne.

Another recent acquisition was Ladoix 2010 from Domaine Parent. This was very much in the style of the domaine and if I'd been tasting it blind, I might have thought it was a Pommard. It was powerful, polished and rich with a long finish of black cherries. "Quite a serious wine from a minor village" was G's verdict. It definitely needed some red meat to go with it. 

I did remember to take a pic of this Chambolle-Musigny Clos le Village 2010, or at least the bottle. The wine was glossy and 90% opaque with a pale rim. On the nose we got mixed forest fruits - blackcurrant, raspberry and redcurrant. G also detected a note of orange peel. On the palate, there were some chocolatey tannins, blackberry and blackcurrant. It was perhaps not altogether typical of Chambolle and reminded me more of a Morey. I gave it two and half hours in the decanter and it was drinking now but we thought it would be good for another five years. I have another five bottles so that shouldn't be a problem. 

One night at G's we had this Pommard les Croix Noires 1er cru 2009 from Domaine de Courcel. This had been decanted for three and a half hours and was a lovely garnet colour, a little brown at the rim. I found the nose a little brooding. On the palate, there were some dusty tannins which resolved to reveal some lovely ripe blackcurrant and finally some raspberries. It went well with steak, which helped to buffer the tannins. We thought this was starting to drink, but would be good for another decade, and gave it an 8 with the potential to become a 9 in time. Not a wine one would seek out in a bad vintage.

Finally, the oldest of the bunch: this Morey-Saint-Denis 1er cru Les Ruchots 1996 from Domaine Arlaud. It looked mature and had a fascinating nose of tinned strawberry, sous bois, dark chocolate and cherry. On the palate it was extraordinary, there was so much going on. An immediate 10 pointer, happy days! It had lovely berries, was very complete and harmonious, and had a long finish which changed all the time and delivered little bursts of fruit. It was magnificent wine, old school burgundy as it ought to be, not one to be rushed. G told me that 1996 was a good vintage but also quite tough. This was approaching the end of its drinking window, so I'm glad we had it when we did. One of those wines that reminds us why we love Burgundy. 

Dinner at mine, 4th July

Last night, ACC and Baron McG came round for dinner at my place. G and I had revised the menu several times due to a massive heatwave earlier in the week - my garret penthouse flat tends to get quite hot at this time of year so I didn't want the oven blazing away all day. G had braved Borough Market very early to avoid the battalions of yummy mummies with double buggies (apparently the first one was sighted on the horizon just as he was leaving at 9.15) and had procured a variety of goodies for us, while I focused on important matters like playlist creation. As the hour of arrival approached, I had to restrain G from opening the aperitif too early.

This was a particularly enormous magnum of Laurent Perrier champagne, which G got at auction recently and judging by the other lots it was in with, thinks dates back to the mid-80s. It was so big it wouldn't fit in his fridge and it took considerable efforts to get it and a spare into mine. We then had the thorny question of how to keep it cool once open, as it wouldn't go in vertically. Between us we had the genius idea of using the slow cooker as an impromptu ice bucket, which worked very well.

The fizz was a beautiful golden colour and, to our relief, it was fine. In was old and rich and everything you want in a mature champagne - ACC described it as "seamless". It also went well with our starter of pate on toast. As my grill is out of action, G made the toast downstairs in his flat and brought it up to mine in a Planet Organic brown paper bag, which reminded some of us of a restaurant in Nuits-St-Georges where they used to serve the bread warm in a little paper bag. Maybe we need to start a supperclub.

Next up was this Meursault 1er cru Genevrieres 2006 from Bouzereau. I'm a big fan of the wines of this domaine, which we visited several years ago, but they're normally out of my price range so I was happy to pick up three bottles of this Meursault at an advantageous price at auction recently. G and I had already had one to make sure it was all right. It certainly was, and we think this bottle was even better. "Nectar!" say my over-excited notes. It was classic Meursault, big, fat and rich, but still with good acidity, and Baron McG detected caramel. It was fully mature and drinking very well now but the remaining bottle should be drunk soon. Next weekend, perhaps?

With this, G served some cold sea trout baked earlier in the day with ginger, lemon zest and sherry, along with a herbaceous salad, broadly following Nigel Slater's recipe here.

There was then a pause in the proceedings while we necked some of this Monthelie 2012 from Florent Garaudet, which ACC had brought back from his recent travels. This was already drinking well and I found it pleasingly savoury with a great finish.

Then, with the cheese course, we drank this Ladoix 1er cru Les Joyeuses 1986 from Caves des Paulands, which ACC had picked up in Beaune. There's always a risk with a bottle this old but the level was very good and it was still going strong after all this time. We had it slightly chilled and was piquant, with some black cherry going on. A rare find for the Premier Cru Project, as it was one we hadn't had before!

Then we moved on to this Banyuls 2010 Les Clos de Paulilles from Cazes provided by the Baron, who had picked it up at the estate while on a recent holiday. It reminded me of panettone on the nose, and was dense and intense, like fruit cake in a glass, but also with a certain chocolatiness. The Baron told us that the estate is right next to the Mediterranean, and that the wine is aged in glass demi-johns outside for 30 months. It's 17% alcohol. I can't say I've drunk a lot of Banyuls but this one seemed distinctly superior and went down very easily.

We rounded off with a glass of vieux Marc de Bourgogne from L'Heritier-Guyot. This was one of my finds in Antic Wines in Lyon, and although there was no obvious vintage on it, the chap there told us it was from 1950. He also pointed out that it was a litre bottle, and at that point I was sold. G and I motored through it very quickly when we got back from Lyon but left enough for this occasion. It seems that L'Heritier-Guyot are now primarily makers of cassis, so this is a little piece of history, and it's a very nice drop of old marc.

It was now 11.00 and G turned off the playlist allegedly to avoid complaints from the neighbours, but more probably to prevent any singing. It had been a lovely evening and various future plans were hatched which I hope will see the light of day in due course. Thanks to G for the food and the fizz, and to ACC and the Baron for your wines and company. Until next time!

Domaine Chaudat, Tuesday 10th Sept

On Tuesday morning, ACC had an appointment in Monthelie while G and I opted for a lazy morning and a spot of shopping. This included a trip to the fromagerie on Place Carnot, Alain Hess.

Here we bought some Bonnat chocolate, as I'm exploring the world of serious dark chocolate, along with an excellent saucisson aux noisettes, and some Comte (cut using the laser-guided cheese-cutter). G hilariously inadvertently asked for some "Flagey Echezeaux" which is our nickname for the little goaty thing on a stick that looks like a flagpole, but didn't mean much to the woman behind the counter. I still don't know what they're actually called!

After lunch at the gite, Julien picked us up and took us to Corgoloin, for our appointment at Domaine Chaudat. I don't think any of us had been to Corgoloin before - it's not a Burgundy wine village as such, but is between Ladoix and Nuits-St-Georges.

This small domaine is run by Madame Odile Chaudat. ACC was scouting it out as a new possibility, so hadn't met her before. I particularly enjoyed the 2012s - the Bourgogne Aligote, which I found charming (not always the case with aligote), the Cote de Nuits blanc which had a lovely mouthfeel, richness and acidity, and the red Ladoix which had a heavenly nose and was very elegant and typique of Ladoix. All in all, quite a find, with some nice goodies off the beaten track.

Afterwards we had some time to kill before our ride was due so I took some photos of the vineyards which had apple trees growing in them. The rural idyll.

Stuff out of storage, at last!

I've been buying wine in bond for several years now and have accumulated some treasures which, for reasons too boring to go into here, I've not been able to get at for some time. Last week at long last EHD confirmed that they had my stash and I can now have it delivered with a mere 48 hours notice. G and I sprang into action, reviewed my spreadsheet and picked a couple of items which we felt were ready to go.

First was this 2005 Bourgogne Rouge from Hudelot-Noellat, which I was encouraged to buy by ACC several years ago. It was wonderful to come home to find this had arrived, and to open the box and find 12 of this beauty inside. I couldn't wait to try it. The domaine is based in Chambolle-Musigny and the alcohol level is apparently just 12%. We gave it an hour and a half in the decanter and  found it soft, charming and pretty. It was a baby Chambolle for a fraction of the cost, drinking beautifully now and with a fabulous finish. "Essence of pinot noir" say my notes.

Second was this 2007 Ladoix 1er cru "Les Grechons" from Domaine Nudant. I remember visiting this domaine a few years ago where after a strenuous walk from Chorey in single file along the D974 with lorries whizzing past a few inches away, we had a tasting where we were joined by a random couple of retired Brits clad in some kind of knitted fancy dress costume.

It seems that this experience didn't put me off, as I bought a six-pack of this afterwards. It's a lovely golden colour with a nose of vanilla and cream. Very classy, precise and elegant white burgundy, with the kind of finish that means you have to really slow down as it would be sacrilege to guzzle. We've had it twice now, and the second bottle was slightly richer than the first but both times it scored a 9 on the Premier Cru Project scale. Again it's drinking really well now which is a relief as I was worried it might have peaked already. I'm already down to my last four so don't anticipate any problem getting through it...

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.

The Burgundy Portfolio 2010 en primeur tasting

On Tuesday night I attended this wine-tasting which was held in a convenient location close to Green Park tube. This was particularly exciting since some winemakers had come over to show their wines in person. It had been going since lunchtime and I got there at about 6.30 to find a buzzy, cheerful room and lots of people enjoying themselves. Many leading wine critics of their generation were there - OBL, Baron McG, Oz Clarke. Rumour had it that Jancis herself had whizzed round earlier and I was later presented with photographic confirmation. Excellent!

At the first table, HPK was presiding over a mixed bag of white wines. Two particularly stood out for me. First, the Chablis premier cru Montmains from La Maison Romane, of Prosper the horse fame. This had a really enticing nose and was the first big tick of the evening. The second was the "Ali Boit Boit et les 40 Buveurs" (ho ho!) produced by Agnes Paquet, who I note refers to herself as a "viticultrice" on her website, fab. I love her wines generally and this was something very different - a Prosecco-style fizz in a bottle with a crown cap, 50/50 chardonnay and aligote, and just 8% alcohol. Someone I spoke to said it reminded them of cider and I could see why - it was very effervescent and medium-dry. Just the thing to drink cold at lunchtime in the park on a hot summer's day, and good value too.

I was very happy to see Vincent Perrin - I've never forgotten time he prevented us from getting hypothermia by letting us sit in his kitchen - and apparently he'd flown in from Guadeloupe especially. I tasted my way through the range of five wines he was showing. The Bourgougne Rouge was  its usual light style - I scribbled "very fresh lunchtime style" which I see is exactly the same as I've always said about it, and am  glad I bought a case of the 2009 last year. Then there were three Volnays in ascending order, from a village wine "En Vaut", to the premier cru Sous la Carelle de la Chapelle, up to the monopole premier cru Les Gigottes. Again, these were elegant and stylish but difficult hard to taste now as they need time. I asked Vincent how long he would keep them for and he said 3-4 years. Then finally I tried the Pommard Chanlins which is a village wine. This vineyard is on the border with Volnay and right next to a premier cru vineyard (Rugiens). It was a much darker colour than the Volnays, and generally richer and bigger, but still elegant. In the past, I've tended to taste Perrin's wines just after tasting the monster Pommards made by Anne Parent. His is rather lighter in style than hers, but this year, I couldn't resist going for some.

At the next table was recent discovery Ludovic Belin with a range of wines mainly from Pernand-Vergelesses and Corton. I hadn't tried any of his wines before. First up was the Pernand-Vergelesses "Belles Filles" Blanc. It was slightly awkward asking Ludovic, a cheeky-looking young chap, for some of this, but fortunately I was in conversation with someone who spoke French so I was able to tag along behind her. My record-keeping at this stage of the evening was not all that it could have been, and I appear to have placed both a tick and a question mark next to this one. I think this means that my initial impression was favourable, but then when I came on to the next one, I thought that was even better. This was the Pernand-Vergelesses premier cru Sous Fretilles. The quality here was excellent and what was perhaps most surprising was that it was already very nice to drink and one wouldn't have to stash it away for too many years. Then there was the white grand cru Corton - lovely to try but sadly out of my price range this year.

On to the reds... first was the red Pernand-Vergelesses "Belles Filles" which had a wonderful nose of cherry stones and at £100 for 6, was very good value, given that some Bourgognes are now creeping up to £160 for 12 en primeur! There was also a premier cru Savigny-les-Beaune Les Lavieres which I think may have been the best Savigny I've ever tried, and the grand cru Corton-Renardes which again was lovely, and I'm still thinking about possibly getting some - at £220 for 6, again this seems like exceptional value.

Finally I moved round to ACC's table where he was presenting a variety of reds. As usual the Santenay and Chassagnes from Domaine de la Choupette went down very well, and Anne Parent's Ladoix and Pommard 1er cru Chaponnieres also stood out for me. I have to admit I was flagging by this stage, as there were about 40 wines altogether and I'm not used to tasting so many at once! Lightweight, etc.etc. ACC will probably be too modest to report this on his own excellent blog, but just before leaving, Oz Clarke said that he was "nibbling round the edges and there's some good stuff at the edges". An excellent summary of what the Burgundy Portfolio is all about - finding people making stuff in tiny quantities, so often nobody has heard of them, but which is still high quality.

I only realised at the end of the evening that these wines were all from the Cote de Beaune, which I suppose confirms that I'm a Cote de Beaune girl at heart - I love the purity and elegance, although I do also love the bigger dark fruits of the wines from the Cote de Nuits. With brilliant timing, the full en primeur offer has just appeared here on the Burgundy Portfolio website, so I can spend the rest of the day pondering what else to go for this year.

Finally (fanfare please) this is my 100th post on this blog! Thanks to my readers, whoever you are. I know some of you but am often intrigued to see that someone in e.g. Russia has been having a look! As long as the Chinese don't find out about Burgundy, we should be ok... On to the next 100 and there's lots to look forward to with the annual Madeira dinner, lunch at mine, and a Swiss Pinot Noir Society dinner all coming up in the next few days. So much for "Janupause"!

Dinner with Anne Parent, 25th Nov

I'm a huge fan of Anne Parent and her wines and have had the privilege of visiting her domaine in Pommard three times (I wrote about the last time, which was in January, here). So it was incredibly exciting to find that ACC had managed to get her to come over for a special dinner which was held at the Savile Club on Thursday.

I arrived with my brother and sister-in-law and we were shown into the posh lobby area (G is outraged at this description and says this room is called the sandpit - I'm not quite sure why as there was no sand in evidence) where people were mingling. We were immediately given a glass of the Bourgogne Blanc 2008 which was showing very well - it had that floral nose which I'm starting to associate with 2008 whites but also quite a firm backbone. At one point a waiter came over with a tray of gougeres which was very exciting but sadly that was the first and last time we saw them. They weren't as good as mine anyway...

After this, the dinner commenced and we found ourselves on the top table with Anne Parent herself (!) amongst others. ACC did a brief introduction and then Anne gave a speech where she explained that Burgundy is not complicated at all as it only has two grapes, chardonnay and pinot noir (I managed not to heckle and mention aligote and gamay), and just four levels of wine (bourgogne, village, premier cru and grand cru) and just four regions (Chablis, the Cote de Nuits, the Cote de Beaune, the Cote Chalonnaise and Maconnais - although this is five so clearly I've gone wrong somewhere). And only about 1,000 wine growers. The general gist was that it is very, very simple to understand Burgundy. This was very much tongue-in-cheek.

Anne went on to talk about the role of the winemaker. She believes that there is no such thing as a bad vintage, only a bad winemaker. Her family have been making wine since the mid-17th century and she herself is twelfth generation. You could hear the room collectively going "Bloody hell!" when she said this. Then she made the point that in certain other wine regions (e.g. some insignificant place beginning with B on the other side of France ho ho) they can change the proportions of the grapes to suit the vintage, but in Burgundy they're not allowed to do that - there aren't any other grapes to fall back on - so it's very important to do proper sorting.

I began to reminisce about the first time I visited her domaine in September 2006 in the middle of the harvest. It was early on a Saturday morning and in the courtyard we saw a stable-type building with the doors open. Inside there was a dining table fully laid with tablecloth and lovely cutlery and glassware, all ready for the workers' lunch later on. It looked like a Michelin-starred restaurant. That's how well she treats the people doing her harvest - we were very jealous!

Then we got cracking with the serious wines. With a hop, skip and a jump we climbed the giddy heights from bourgogne blanc right up to white Corton grand cru 2005. This is my desert island white Burgundy but I've only ever had cask samples, of the 2007 and 2008 vintages. G had never had it before and so the pressure was on as I boast about having had it at every opportunity. Fortunately the 2005 was wonderful. It's a relatively a pale colour, with a very classic white burg nose and on the palate it's rich yet elegant and has a finish that basically goes on until you can't wait any longer to have another sip. It's extremely accomplished and very much at the beginning of its life. For me there is no doubt that this wine gets 10/10 and needless to say, the next morning I made damn sure I got a couple of bottles which I will tuck away for 2013, hurrah!

Then it was onto the reds. As you can see from the picture of decadence at the top of this post, we had three reds simultaneously with the main course, which was great as it enabled us to compare them easily. The Savile came up with Riedel glasses (Anne gave a nod of approval when this was mentioned) and put little coloured stickers on the bottoms of each glass so that we didn't forget which was which halfway through proceedings - very thoughtful.

We had:

Pommard La Croix Blanche 2008

Pommard 1er cru Les Epenots 2004

Corton Les Renardes 2001

and with the cheese, Ladoix 2007.

Going back to Anne's crystal-clear classification, the Croix Blanche is a village-level Pommard. It's a lieu-dit i.e. the wine is made from the grapes from a specific vineyard. La Croix Blanche isn't a premier cru vineyard but it's right next to Les Grands Epenots, which is. I've tasted this wine several times and bought some of the 2007 vintage. I think of it as being an excellent Sunday lunch wine and as an "entry-level" Pommard it's hard to beat - it also costs significantly less than the premier crus. The 2008 vintage went down an absolute treat and I was surprised at how it was drinking so well so young. It had a delicious jammy fruit and was very approachable.

Next up was the clash of the titans (Titans Will Clash) - Pommard 1er cru Les Epenots v. Corton grand cru Les Renardes. This has always been a great dilemma for me as they are both superb and tres serieux. Anne has said in the past that if the village of Pommard had a grand cru, which it doesn't, it would be Les Epenots. I think this is a combination of grapes from Les Grands Epenots and Les Petits Epenots but hopefully somebody will correct me if I've got that wrong. This was tres Pommard - muscular and firm and well-structured. Essentially quite butch I guess, like an action movie hero. The Corton was softer and more sensual with a sort of mystique. I have to admit the Corton usually wins for me, although I love the Pommard too.

Finally, with the cheese course, we had the Ladoix 2007. You hardly ever see Ladoix in the UK which ACC attributes to the fact that we Brits don't know how to pronounce it. Therefore it's somewhat overlooked and can offer good value. I also know, having traipsed along the main road from Chorey to Ladoix back in January, that it's the next village along from Aloxe-Corton. So here you have Corton, with its grand crus, and a few feet away you have a village nobody has heard of. One of the reasons I love Burgundy! The Ladoix was more rustic than the other wines, but being from the 2007 vintage had that early-drinking charm. I note that we had it for lunch on 6th June but whereas G was not wowed by it on that occasion, on this evening he thought it went well with the cheeses - NB the English cheeses as Anne made a point of saying.

The wine and conversation continued to flow into the small hours and a good time was had by all. A fantastic evening! I'm just glad I didn't have to do the washing up...

Sunday lunch, 6th June

Last Sunday we went over to the Roti in South Kensington for lunch, an establishment which focuses, wisely in my view, on roast chicken. It's under new ownership but I was pleased to see that the fundamentals remained the same - in particular the fact that they do a great deal on corkage.

We were celebrating G's birthday so ACC brought along a couple of fine bottles and G brought along a couple he'd found in Paris. I didn't bring anything but I did pick up the bill.

First up was a bottle of white Cote de Beaune, La Grande Chatelaine 2006 from Giboulot. G got this in Paris and was understandably excited, as Gibbers is top notch booze. I've had the privilege to visit the domaine in Beaune, with ACC and it was one of the best tastings I've been to. He's passionate about his wines, which are biodynamic and made in tiny quantities - there's a sense that they're his babies (similar to Anne Parent) and they have an incredible purity to them. We've only been put off because they're relatively expensive, which is understandable, and being biodynamic you need to decant at least an hour before drinking which is somewhat inconvenient if you come home in need of something NOW after a hard day at the office. But I'm getting to the stage now where I'd rather splash out on something wonderful than have more of something pedestrian.

G's second bottle was a red Santenay from Jean-Claude Belland, Clos des Gravieres 1er cru 2003. ACC told us that Berrys used to sell Belland's stuff, so the fact that G got this in Monoprix did not count against it. It was impressive for a Santenay - not a highly regarded appellation - and a reminder to self that I like the 2003s now (I didn't like them at first but am prepared to admit I was wrong)!

ACC then produced the 2007 Ladoix from Domaine Parent. I was favourably impressed - I liked the jammy fruit - and could be tempted to get some of this in due course.

Finally, ACC wheeled out this Bonnezaux which is a sweet wine from the Loire from Domaine des Gagneries, 1999. He told us that he got this at a very favourable price some years ago and we were privileged to drink the last bottle. Smashing stuff, with good acidity. We didn't have pudding in the end (despite the attractive menu) and it didn't matter as this wine was fine by itself. We agreed that it was a better lunchtime wine than a Sauternes would have been. I haven't had much Bonnezaux but this was a reminder that it's a style I find very appealing.

After this we wandered down the road to the gelateria and then made our way to Carluccios for a digestif (grappa for G, Frangelico for me, and a dodgy Italian brandy for ACC). An great end to an excellent lunch!

Dinner at ACC Towers

Last night we went round to ACC's for dinner. I took two bottles of Ladoix, a red and a white, both from Capitain-Gagnerot, which I brought back from Burgundy in January. Ladoix is one of those Burgundies you don't see much of in the UK, which may well be due to pronunciation problems - not many restaurants are going to risk putting it on their list. But Ladoix is the next village along from Aloxe-Corton, and white Ladoix in particular can be very refined and something of a little secret to those in the know.

ACC did the honours with the corkscrew and noted the interesting cork substitute, a strange plastic number. Apparently Olivier Leflaive use something similar. I brought them both home to take a photo. I love the fact that they use different colours for the red and the white!


We kicked off with the white, a premier cru Les Hautes Mourottes 2005. There wasn't much happening on the nose and on the palate it was quite full with some honey and nuttiness, but after that I struggled to find anything much to say about it. G thought it was lacking in acidity. All in all, somewhat disappointing at 27 euros. We gave it a 7 in the end.

Next up was the red, 1er cru Bois Roussot 2006. This had what ACC described as a "rustic" nose, and he was quite correct - it had cheerful red fruits but not a great deal of subtlety. The same went for the palate. I rather liked it, and thought it went well with the coarse pate and brioche we had as a starter, but it was simply not the quality you'd expect from premier cru Burgundy, and again at 27 euros deeply disappointing. Another 7. Still it was good to get a couple of obscure vineyards ticked off and I'll be deeply suspicious of that particular shop in future.


ACC then produced a village Mercurey 1988 from Jean Henry. It's always very exciting to drink something this old, and it was lovely, mature, raisiny burgundy. We suspected that some gamay might have joined the pinot noir in the mix, purely by accident of course. Henry makes some beaujolais too so it's easy to see how this could happen, yes. It accompanied a slow-cooked beef and portobello mushroom dish which was very fine indeed, as were the roast potatoes and garlic, and broccoli with toasted almonds. Blogtastic indeed!


With pudding, which was pears in amaretto and ice cream, we had a Coteaux du Layon 2003. This did not smell particularly sweet on the nose, and on the palate was very well-balanced with good acidity. It was an excellent combination.


In the middle of proceedings we pored over the latest copy of Bourgogne Aujourdhui which ACC had brought back from his most recent trip, and in particular a map of the vineyard Clos de Vougeot showing who owns which vines. Fascinating stuff and a reminder of the size of the Burgundian holdings - in some cases the map literally showed someone owning a single row of vines - compared to the way thing work in Bordeaux. Give me the peasant farmer over the international multi-conglomerate any day.


Finally, the long-anticipated "green stuff" we had been promised, which turned out to be this remarkable bottle of something called Genepi des Alpes. We think it dated back to the 60s, with a terrible label depicting a quaint mountain scene. The contents were very sweet and herbaceous and reminiscent of yellow chartreuse. This isn't normally my kind of thing, but even I was able to enjoy it. We discussed the father of a friend who has a "Licence to Distill" and apparently makes wine out of edelweiss flowers. I'd like to try that some time. It also emerged that Anne Parent makes a marc de bourgogne so this is something we must definitely get hold of!

On the way home, what appeared to be a Bananarama tribute band got on our bus, but it may just have been a hallucination resulting from the liqueur. Fab evening, ACC.

Red burgundy tasting

On Wednesday I went to the red burgundy tasting at Edward Parker Wines HQ in Battersea, which complemented the white burg tasting a couple of weeks ago. It was well-attended and it was good to see some familiar faces including my brother and sister-in-law. Once again the tasting offered wines from 2007 and earlier which are drinking now, in order to give a picture of what their 2008 en primeur equivalents might be like in a few years' time.

First up was a red Mercurey from Domaine Pagnotta who are based in Chagny. I've had a fair bit of this wine and generally find it to be relatively light and perfectly pleasant but not thrilling. G who arrived late expressed an unfavourable opinion and I wonder if his glass came from a different bottle from mine, as I've noticed some bottle variation before now.

After that we had a Bourgogne Rouge La Chapelle from Domaine Nudant who are based in Ladoix. I'm a big fan of this wine and have some sitting on my wine rack as we speak, but it is only a Bourgogne Rouge and has an elegant, understated light style. It was overshadowed on Wednesday by the blockbusters that were to follow.

The Chambolle-Musigny from Domaine Henri Felettig was a real crowd-pleaser. It was soft and charming and just utterly delicious. I already knew that G rated Felettig highly as he got to visit the domaine last year, but on Wednesday everyone agreed that this was a fabulous wine. Their Vosne-Romanee, a blend of grapes from three different premier cru vineyards, was also very fine but clearly not ready yet and therefore not as delicious (yet) as the Chambolle.

Then came a Santenay from Domaine de la Choupette. This is another domaine which I missed out on visiting last year but from all accounts are lovely to work with and their wines are very approachable and succulent, and well-priced. They are definitely on my "buy every year" list.

After that we tried two wines from Domaine Alain Guyard. The Vosne-Romanee Aux Reas 2006 was an absolute corker. It had everything you want from a cote de nuits red - power, finesse, elegance, lovely fruit. Just wonderful. ACC had been raving about it when we were in Burgundy in January and now I could see why. Again everyone loved it and I've promised my sister-in-law that we'll have some at Christmas one year, it's that kind of wine. Not everyday drinking! Resist that thought!

We also had the Gevrey-Chambertin 2005 from Guyard but next to the Vosne, it paled in comparison. Next up was the Savigny-les-Beaune 2004 from Domaine Michel Martin which was respectable, but not a showstopper, and not quite as exciting as its white equivalent which was arguably the wine of the evening at the whites tasting. After that, we had the Ladoix 2004 from Anne Parent, which had savoury black fruits (G said tar), is almost the same price as the Savigny and which I'd go for every time.

Finally we had two unexpected treats, a Bourgogne Rouge from Pacquet, which is a recent find and which will probably come into its own in the summer, and a white Meursault 1er cru Les Gouttes d'Or from Moret-Nomine, which was delicious and the style of big fat Meursault that I adore, but very young. Fortunately G has bought half a case so I didn't have to!

All in all, a very impressive range of red burgundies at all levels, with several absolute gems. I really think this was one of the best wine-tastings ACC has ever done, a real treat for a pinotphile. It says something that I am able to write all this from memory, as I left my tasting notes behind!

White burgundy tasting

Last night ACC held a tasting of the white wines of Burgundy, mainly 2007s from producers whose 2008s have just become available, so that we could see what they were like with some age on them. It was a stand-up tasting and good to see some of the usual crowd there!

We kicked off with the 2007 Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine Parent which was a beautiful golden colour and went down a treat. It was quite rich for a humble BB and I'm delighted that I have a case stashed away somewhere, and have a case of the 2008 reserved for me - at £115 a case this is a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned.

Then onto the 2008 Bourgogne Blanc from Bzikot and the 2007 Puligny. The '08 BB was lovely! It had quite a floral nose (I'm glad to see looking at my notes from our visit in Jan, I said the same thing) and was very elegant. I'm seriously tempted - at £120 a case it's very good value. The 2007 Puligny was very good but is twice the price and I'm not sure it's twice as good. Anyway, I already have a bottle, hurrah!

After than came a couple of Chablis from Dom. Nathalie & Gilles Fevre who are related to the more famous William Fevre, for those keeping up at the back. (What's the plural of Chablis?) I'd had the 1er cru Fourchaume-Vaulorent before and been impressed by it, and this time I got to try the Grand Cru Les Preuses beside it. Have to admit the premier cru was more my cup of tea, but coming back to the grand cru later I felt it had come on a bit. None of the wines was decanted beforehand, so perhaps it just needed some more air.

On the second table we tried the white Savigny-les-Beaune 2007 from Domaine Michel Martin, made by the chap who owns the gite in Chorey. I've tasted there a couple of times and M. Martin is a genial sort of bloke and always has a twinkle in his eye when he produces this wine, as it's made from pinot beurot, a local term for pinot gris, which is of course totally illegal as at village level, white burg has to be chardonnay. I'll probably get him arrested by the grape police for writing this! Anyway, the Savigny was lovely as always, and AM was particularly impressed with it, not having had it before. Tchah! Where has he been? I've already had several bottles of this wine and like it very much, but probably won't bother getting it en primeur as I prefer just to pick up a bottle here and there when the urge strikes. (I think G has some too so might as well help him drink it before getting more.)

Next was the Ladoix 1er cru Les Grechons from Nudant which was elegant but didn't wow me. I already have some of the 2007 so wasn't in any particular rush to acquire more. We finished off with the 2007 Meursault Vielles Vignes and Meursault Limozin from Sylvain Dussort, both of which I know quite well, but increasingly I feel they are not what I personally am looking for in a Meursault - they're quite restrained and elegant as opposed to big, fat and blowsy. Everyone else in the room adored them so clearly this is just me being difficult.

All in all, a very interesting range of whites, and top marks for the Epoisses and the salmon pate which were provided alongside!

Domaine Parent, 5th Jan

On the Tuesday morning we had a 10 a.m. appointment at Domaine Parent in Pommard. This was my third visit to the domaine and each time it has been a highlight of the trip.

Anne Parent is very eloquent and always gives a good talk about how she sees the vintage. Everyone has been raving about the 2009s but Anne said they wouldn't be as big as 2005. In her opinion, while everyone could make a good 2005 - "a good vintage for bad wine-makers" - the same would not be true of 2009, which was 70% nature and 30% wine-making. You can see I was writing this all down!

We began by tasting some cask samples of the 2009 vintage, which had only been in barrel for 4 months. The white Corton (grand cru) was heaven in a glass on the nose, but still undergoing malolactic fermentation. Anne said it's important to have a long, slow malolactic fermentation as it takes time to fix the good elements of the wine - the colour, finesse, elegance etc. "It is a young baby and it takes time to grow."

Then we tasted some of her red Pommards including - Croix Blanche, les Argillieres 1er cru and the jewel in the crown, les Epenots 1er cru, effectively the grand cru of Pommard. My notes on this were: "beautiful colour, lovely perfume, complexity, v. distinguished, wow! this needs to be kept a while." Can't wait to get my hands on some.

We moved on to taste some 2008s, beginning with the Bourgogne Rouge which had lovely strawberry fruit on the nose. Anne puts it in 4 different barrels made by different coopers, and then blends them together. There's very much a spirit of experimentation - she loves to play around with things. I won't list out all my tasting notes but on the whole I was impressed by the 2008s which were powerful, elegant and complex wines. Anne strives for balance above all. Les Epenots stood out - Anne described it as majestic and noble, and it was impossible to disagree. We also had the red Corton les Renardes grand cru which was wonderful. She told us how she had a special cuve tailor-made for this wine.

Then the wine I'd been looking forward to most of all - the white Corton 2008. When ACC and I visited Anne back in September 2008, we'd tasted the 2007 vintage and it completely knocked me for six. This time, again, the nose was heavenly and it had a lovely weight and balance. Very long, very fine, not fat but rich. Again, Anne vinifies it in several different barrels and combines them. The wine from the second barrel she described as having bacon on the nose, and as soon as she said that one could immediately see what she meant, but it had a lovely mouthfeel. This is no.1 on my list for buying when the 2008s come out en primeur. Must remember to open a packet of Frazzles to go with it.

An honourable mention has to go to the Ladoixs (? not sure what the plural is!) that we tasted, a lesser-known appellation near Corton. Next to the Pommards these wines were relatively light and charming, and as Anne said, don't need to go with a specific food, whereas it's impossible to imagine drinking the Pommards without some serious red meat.

After that, we tasted some of the 2007s from bottle. I was particularly struck by the les Argillieres which Anne compared to a grand Echezaux, and told us about her friend who makes a Nuits St Georges les Argillieres - they get together from time to time to compare them. Apparently Argillieres means there is a lot of clay in the soil, which gives the wine finesse and elegance. More generally, Anne said that wines from the north of Pommard have finesse and elegance, while wines from the south have body and structure.

Les Epenots 2007 was also a stunner but will take time to come round. Anne said "you need to deserve it" and explained that it is a sophisticated, complex and intellectual wine - the haute couture of Pommard! I also adored the Corton les Renardes 2007 - the lightness and charm of the vintage seemed to suit it well. I have to admit I didn't spit the last mouthful out, it was just too good!

Overall we tasted 22 wines over the course of two and a half hours, an unexpected marathon. It was incredibly generous of Anne to spend so much time with us and as always her enthusiasm was infectious and we came away uplifted and thrilled to have tried these magnificent wines.