Recent reds

Now time to look at the reds which we drank in March, in ascending order of seriousness. 

My Eaux-Vives from la Maison Romane appeared at long last. I'm pretty sure this is from 2014 although we struggled to find the vintage on the bottle. It claims to be only 12% like most of Oronce's wines (hmmm). I find this one fascinating in a weird way. It's one of those low sulphur gamays with a certain feral quality and a hint of farmyard, like the ones from Chapuis and Maison en Belles Lies. The fruit profile is not standard and made me think of weird Scandinavian red berries - possibly the Nordic crowberry - or maybe sour cherries or lingonberries. Not a serious wine and probably wouldn't appeal to everyone, but I like it and I think G does too. 

And now a bunch of premier crus, as G has been reigniting the Premier Cru Project and has taken over my rather garish colour-coded spreadsheet on the subject. Here we have a Savigny les Beaune 1er cru  "Les Peuillets" 2014 from Domaine Guyon, who are based in Vosne Romanee. This was decanted for two hours. I found the nose promising with red berries and icing sugar, and some not-unpleasant volatile acidity. We finally settled on wine gums as the prevailing note. On the palate it had a silky texture and was richer and fuller than expected, but I found a sharp, bitter note on the finish. Overall we gave it an 8. We thought this was like Savigny made in the style of Vosne, and since to be honest neither of us is a massive fan of Savigny as a village (although weirdly we did have two early 10 pointers from there) this was more to our liking than I thought it might be.  

Here we have a Morey-St-Denis 1er cru la Riotte 2014 from Domaine Taupenot-Merme. This was decanted for the best part of four hours. It was a relatively light colour with a pale rim, and glossy with nice legs. Expectations were high and it had beautiful rich, sweet fruit, reminding me of tinned or baked strawberries. However the finish was a bit weird and we felt it wasn't altogether joined-up. G found black tea on the back palate. Some quick research showed that others thought it needed a further three years. We gave it an 8 but thought that it had the potential to become a 9 in time. It also went noticeably better with food, as this eliminated the problematic tannin thing. G informed me that MSD is his new favourite village, so I'd be all in favour of him getting some more and hanging onto it for a bit to see what happens. 

Next we have this Nuits-St-Georges 1er cru Aux Argillas 2012 from Domaine Jean Chauvenet. This was decanted for 3.5 hours. It was glossy in appearance with an attractive rich nose. On the palate, it was quite ripe with considerable tannin and black fruits, along with a certain earthy quality. Rugged, yet attractive. Tom Hardy was mentioned. Given that I don't always particularly enjoy NSG, it was a pleasant surprise. We felt it was just about ready but at the beginning of its window and would last a further 10 years, so no rush on the 2012s. We gave a it a high 8 but felt it had the potential to go higher.

An old favourite here - Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru les Morgeots 2010 from Domaine de la Choupette. This was dark and glossy with a sweet, enticing nose. It had lots of lovely sunny fruit - strawberry tart and blackcurrant. It was congruent, mouthwatering, rich and delicious. "Absolutely gorgeous" said G and it reminded me why I love red Chassagne so much. It went very well with venison fillet, and we think it will last another 3-4 years but I doubt it will get the chance. We gave it a high 9. Wonderful stuff, so happy I bought it back in the day. 

And finally, we had this Vosne-Romanee 1er cru Aux Brulees 2013 from Domaine Michel Gros back at the start of the month. What a treat. I have fond memories of the Clos de Reas from the same domaine so expectations were high. It looked absolutely beautiful and had a very attractive nose of red fruits. I suggested summer fruit compote while G put the case for summer tart. There was definitely a lot of raspberry going on. It was flowing and silky, medium weight, with a wonderful finish. G made a comment that it did a little dance on the palate, like a gavotte. Not a wine to guzzle, as there was a lot to unpack and it demanded attention. We thought it was drinking now but that it would be good for another ten years, and toyed with giving it a 10 but in the end settled for a high 9. A pleasure to drink. 

The weather is improving and I have a self-indulgent random day off today, lured by the prospect of a boozy lunch in someone's garden. Things are looking up! 

Recent whites

Just squeaking in before the month end with a report on March drinking. Today I'll be looking back on the white wines that G and I have had this month, five of which were from Burgundy, one from Champagne and one from Bordeaux. 

In ascending order of seriousness, first up is this Bourgogne Cote Chalonnaise from 2017 from Les Champs de Themis, a domaine based in Bouzeron. This was good, honest, well-balanced white burg. Quite fresh, sharp enough to go well with Thai crab cakes, yet not tooth-rattlingly acidic. We felt it didn't need any more time. A useful addition to G's cellar. 

A few days later we had this Bourgogne Blanc 2014 from Domaine de la Roseraie. This was a nice pale gold colour and had a hint of white flowers on the nose. On the palate, it was deft, with a certain saline quality. An enjoyable aperitif.

Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume from Domaine Nathalie & Gilles Fevre is an old friend and I recently got one of my two six packs of the 2013 delivered. We detected white flowers, apricots and stone fruit. For me, it wasn't flinty but quite full with a bracing finish. We thought it was very successful and gave it a 9 on the premier cru scale. It was remarkable value for money, coming in at about £23 a bottle excluding storage costs over the years. It was ready now but I feel there's no particular rush to get the second half case out. 

This Rully 1er cru Molesme 2017 from Jean-Baptiste Ponsot was the second of two premier cru Rullys which G bought recently - I reported on the first in the previous post. This one had a fresh, brisk nose with a hint of mushroom which reminded us of Puligny, but on the palate it was richer than the previous Rully and more like a Meursault. We gave it a high 8 and it went very well with some Perard soupe de poissons. Altogether now: Ne bouillez pas!

Last night we had a bottle of Puligny-Montrachet Tremblots 2015 from Domaine Joly. I'd like to think I would definitely recognise it as Puligny if I tasted it blind, as the nose is very classic. On the palate G detected lime blossom while I got beeswax and a hint of honey. It improved as time went on and developed a petrol quality reminiscent of Riesling. We had it with a crab salad and both of us used the phrase "a real pleasure to drink" at different points during the evening. It's perfect now, and I imagine the rest will be polished off in the next 6 months or so. 

Moving out of Burgundy, G produced this "Les Vignes D'Autrefois" 2013 champagne from Laherte Freres the other night, which is 100% pinot meunier. I found the nose quite yeasty while it reminded G of sherbert lemon. It was almost frothy with bubbles. There was considerable acidity and I got some grapefruit on the finish. Very interesting and a good aperitif.

And finally, the other night we had this Chateau Malartic Lagraviere 2012 white Bordeaux. This was a wonderful golden colour and as someone who doesn't drink a lot of this kind of thing, I really enjoyed it. It had honey, pears and maybe lychees going on, and had great balance and a nice weight. It was serious stuff, exuding quality. Unfortunately it has a price tag to match. Still, a useful reminder that I like white Bordeaux. 

Thanks to G for providing or sharing the above with me. Our occasional dinners together have been one of the few enjoyable things during this interminable lockdown. One is very grateful for a decent cellar at the moment!