And we're back! Happy new year.
It was nice to celebrate Christmas with my mother, as opposed to the solitary 2020 version, and January has been pretty good too. My friend J from Grand Rapids was unexpectedly in London on New Year's Day and I was delighted to meet up even if only for an hour in Fortnums ice cream bar, where we got the new year off in style with a bottle of Billecart Salmon rose while her son enjoyed a design-your-own ice cream sundae.
I also had a lovely meal at Bocca di Lupo with ACC and the Baron in the first week of January. I brought along a bottle of Meursault from Perrin, while ACC brought a Beaune from Domaine de la Roseraie and the Baron brought a bottle of La Dernier Goutte from Perrin. All three were excellent and the food at Bocca was great as ever, not to mention the celebrity-spotting opportunities.
Anyway, down to business... some recent reds from the Cote de Beaune, all of which were kindly provided by G.
This 2015 Monthelie from Domaine Roulot was, let's just say, not one of the highlights of the month. I usually love wines from this domaine, but this one was challenging, with lots of unresolved tannin and definitely still in its sulky adolescence phase. Just bad timing I suspect. G replaced it with some Warre 1970 which was absolutely wonderful.
And then on to the premier crus. First, this Beaune Bressandes 2018 from Henri Germain et Fils. This was quite a dark colour and looked glossy. I decanted it an hour in advance. It had a lovely nose with interesting dark fruit, and was silky but somewhat croquant. Loganberries were mentioned. There was a lot of tannin, like 100% cocoa chocolate. We decided it needed another 15 years and gave it an 8.
I have to admit I never get particularly excited at the prospect of a bottle of Savigny-les-Beaune, but this 1er cru Les Hauts Jarrons 2014 from Domaine de Bellene confounded my expectations. If I'd been drinking it blind, I wouldn't have guessed it was a Savigny as it didn't have the typical savoury notes, but was perfumed with sweet fruit, and surprisingly light with some cherries on the finish. It reminded me more of a Chorey or even a red Auxey. It was charming and we gave it a high 8. G told me that this domaine is the personal estate of Nicolas Potel and I see his wines are sold by BBR.
And finally, the other night we had this Volnay 1er cru Clos de la Rougeotte 2005 from Domaine Henri Boillot. This was fantastic. It had lovely fruit - blackberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants - and also some interesting other, wilder flavours. "It's got really exciting undergrowth" commented G. It was drinking perfectly now, and we felt it was as good as Volnay as you could hope for. Dix points!
