Domaine Audiffred, 29th October

On Thursday morning, Julien le taxi was booked for 9.00 and we emerged from the gite to see him pulling up on the pavement in the distance - no precision driving down the narrow alley for that precious Merc! We were duly whisked off along the trusty Route des Grands Crus to Vosne-Romanee.

It was very foggy and autumnal out in the vineyards.

We turned up at Domaine Audiffred but there was nobody around except some gnomes.

Gnometastic!

Then Henri arrived and the tasting could commence! I was very excited as this was my first tasting of the trip. ACC asked Henri how he had found the 2014 vintage and the reply was that it had been complicated and was a bit like 2010 in terms of power and acidity (if I understood correctly).

We tasted 15 wines from barrel altogether. Some favourites were as follows:

The Bourgogne Rouge was a beautiful bright purple. It had a fruity nose and was a nice weight, and would make a fine house red in a couple of years, I imagine.

The Nuits St Georges was a lovely darker colour, complex with good structure, power and elegance and black fruits. One to keep. The Nuits St Georges Argilliats had a lovely nose, good concentration and there were references to creme de cassis. I tactlessly asked if it's a premier cru and it isn't, but it seems to me that it is at that level.

I very much liked the Pommard "no.2" which I found very charming and more elegant than the more masculine Pommard en Mareau. It might need re-branding for the UK market though...

As one would expect, the Vosne-Romanees are very special here, all the way from the village level, to the Chalandins, to the wonderful Champs Perdrix (I was pleased to see there were 7 barrels of this) which was like a compote of summer berries, and finally what was modestly described as "the 1er cru" i.e. the jewel in the crown, Reignots, which was bursting with delicious sweet fruit. I'd be thrilled to own any of these gems.

Then we tasted a number of older wines in bottle including the red Beaune 2011 which was pretty and elegant with red fruits, the Gevrey-Chambertin 2010 which was soft with a nice weight, and the Vosne-Romanee Champs Perdrix 2010 which ticked all the boxes. It looked beautiful, had an enticing nose and on the palate had a lovely richness and a great finish. The thought immediately occurred that any of these would be a fine addition to a Christmas celebration,

Merci beaucoup to Henri for another masterclass and I look forward to adding some of the 2014s to my collection in January, when the Burgundy Portfolio will be offering them en primeur.