Fascinating and delicious

I'm glad to say that things gradually improving here. I've been out for a couple of very welcome meals and hosted my first indoor lunch party for a very long time. Now I'm just waiting for the USA to open up so I can get over to Pennsylvania and see my beloved. But in the meantime, a lot of fine wine is getting drunk so time for another update. Reds this week, whites next week. 

This Beaujolais le Ronsay 2019 from Jean-Paul Brun was one of those low-sulphite numbers that I adore. It had a glorious nose of cherries and marzipan, and was fresh and fruity, despite being served slightly too cold (tsk, G). It was crying out for a baguette and a bit of pate. I'm informed that it cost less than £15. If I was still buying wine, I'd be stocking up!

This Givry 1er cru la Grande Berge 2015 from Domaine Ragot also went down very well. It was glossy, with a pleasing garnet colour, and the nose was absolutely gorgeous - summer fruit compote or even a fruit tart, as there was hint of creme patissiere. It was more serious on the palate, succulent with hints of cigar box and blackcurrant on the finish. As G said, "the nose is glorious, the palate merely excellent." We wondered if it needed more time, but I'd be a little anxious about the nose losing its freshness if one kept it too long. We gave it a 9. I think Givry is definitely a village to watch as this wine was quite a steal for what it was.

These days I don't always bother making notes on wines which I've reported on before, but this Chassagne 1er cru Morgeot 2010 from Domaine de la Choupette continues to provide a lot of pleasure. We detected various colours of currant on the nose - not sure I knew pink currants were even a thing -  and it had an enticing juicy sharpness. The notes of redcurrant made it an excellent pairing with venison and the finish was also wonderful, with a peacock's tail burst of black cherry and even a little chocolate. "Not for amateurs" said G. It's been a consistent 9.

I didn't get a photo of this one, but one night last week as we watched the rain pouring down on the Scottish football fans outside (which didn't stop the chanting, sadly), G poured me a mystery glass of something which I promptly misidentified as a gamay, as it was very purple. It turned out to be a Beaune 1er cru Cent Vignes 2017 from Jane Eyre. It was exuberant and lively, very fruity and a little frivolous. I found it slightly croquant and G detected a rather agricultural stemmy quality. Anyway, he told me it cost £58, which is rather a lot when you can get Coteaux Bourguignons for a third of the price. Apparently Jane is quite a cult producer, hence the ambitious price tag. We gave it an 8 but wouldn't be rushing back to buy more. 

Prices aren't what they used to be!

Earlier in the week, we succumbed to this Trefethen Napa Valley pinot noir from 1983, which had been lurking in my cupboard for a long time, part of the excellent lot I got at auction a couple of years ago. The cork initially looked good but then crumbled spectacularly. The wine itself looked mature, with a lot of brett on the nose initially which fortunately blew off, and a generous hand with the sugar bag. Or maybe they didn't need the sugar bag in California. Anyway, it was silky, with lovely autumnal fruit and was described as "fascinating and delicious" hence the title of this blog post. We would have thought it was from Burgundy if we hadn't known it was Californian. A real pleasure to drink.

Then on Thursday, G raised the bar yet again by producing this Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru Les Sentiers 2012 from Domaine Arlaud. I had a good feeling about this one.

While he was doing stuff in the kitchen, I swirled it around my glass and started chortling at the sight of these impressive legs. What a wonderful glossy wine. The nose elicited groans of ecstasy - it was absolutely divine with sweet, heady fruit. "Oooh that's absolutely fooking gorgeous" said G in a camp northern accent. On the palate, it was congruent, silky and complex with mouthwatering fruit. Griotte cherries, loganberry, plum skin and dark chocolate were all mentioned. It was very sensual and typique, seriously sexy pinot noir. 2012 can be a little on the burly side, but this was not. Top notch Chambolle from an excellent producer. We thought it was at the beginning of its drinking window and if we were lucky enough to find another bottle there would be no rush, but no particular need to wait either. There was some debate as to whether it was a 10 but in the end we settled on a high 9. The kind of wine that reminds us why we drink Burgundy.

Action shot!

And finally, a real rarity. I was joined for lunch by G, ACC and the Baron a couple of weeks ago and G produced this magnum of Clos de Vougeot from Jean-Jacques Confuron which he got at auction. The vintage was unknown, and we had hoped that it would be revealed on the cork but it was not to be.

It was plummy in colour with a light rim and great legs, and looked pristine. For me, it was very old school - fragant, rich and powerful with incredible length. It didn't have a huge amount of fruit, but ACC said that Clos de Vougeot often has mocha chocolate, which was certainly the case here. We thought it was at least 35 years old and apparently most of the other wines in the lot were from 1978 so there's a very good chance that this was too, but we'll never know. There was no problem getting through the magnum between the four of us - what a treat! Thanks G.

2020 almost over

And so we approach the end of the year, and thank god for that!

I have some good news to report - D made it over for a few days in early December at long last. We holed up in Cornwall in a little cottage in the middle of nowhere with a log fire, and generally had a lovely time. It was perfect timing between lockdowns and am currently back at AduV Towers where I have spent my first solitary Christmas. Fortunately G was around beforehand to assist with dispatching some items on our wine racks.   

This Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Morgeot 2013 from Domaine de la Choupette was the platonic ideal of Chassagne. It was a beautiful pale straw colour and very well-balanced and harmonious with a lovely weight. G detected white stone fruit while for me it was citrussy all the way through. It had been carefully selected by G in a year that was "a little unfocused" for whites.

And it went very well with Bradenham ham and parmesan crisps!

I'd decided it was time to put this Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2011 from Domaine Odoul-Coquard out of its misery and we had high expectations. We weren't disappointed! It was wonderfully dark and glossy and initially we were reminded of black forest gateau but then amended it to sachertorte, although there was certainly some black cherry action. Rich and powerful with fabulous ripe fruit, it did the business and reminded us how much we loved the 2011s. 

I'd made it over to the Ginger Pig and La Fromagerie, and was quite proud of my cheeseboard consisting of Beaufort, Stitchelton and a crottin, to which G added some other evil goaty thing as he likes to do. (Still no sign of the Odyssey de Chevre companion blog...)

With it being the festive season, a half of Suduiraut 2001 seemed appropriate. There was some issue with a crumbly cork which led to G decanting it into a claret glass, which showed off its colour very nicely. It was absolutely lovely, with a massive amount of botrytis. I said something about apricot jam which G corrected to Elvas apricot jam, and it had wonderful glycerin and a peach note on the finish. It went much better with amaretti morbidi than it did with the cheese. We had a debate about whether it's on its plateau yet or not. G thinks it will improve so I mustn't rush to drink the rest.

We finished off with a Battle of the Elderly Spirits! 

G brought along this Vieux Calvados Domfrontais 1972.

While a few weeks ago, I procured this Caroni 1997 rum from BBR.

It was quite amusing to see how similar in colour they were, but on the nose there was no trouble telling which was which. The Calva was fragrant with notes of pear - G informed me that it's actually made from 2/3 pear and 1/3 apple, which either I never knew or had forgotten. I found it quite fiery and quite dry, and wouldn't have guessed that it was almost 50 years old. 

The Caroni is quite fascinating. At 60.4% alcohol it certainly needs to be cut with water, and on the nose it has some rubber tyre and a strong liquorice thing going on. I've been enjoying it but it was very pricey and not something I'll be rushing to buy again. Still have over half a bottle left, which is almost a whole bottle once water is added. And no regrets - this year has been so miserable that a few self-indulgences were in order.

Wishing everyone a happy New Year and hoping that all our lives get back to normal asap in 2021!

Lunch at mine, 8th December

Last Sunday, I was joined by G and D for lunch at AduV Towers. I was quite excited as the line-up was spectacular!

Wine Out Thursday had occurred earlier in the week, and one of the treasures I took out of my cellar was this Corton Charlemagne 2013 from Maison en Belles Lies. I've had the privilege to visit this domaine three times, and it's always been a terrific experience. The wines are biodynamic and fascinating, and Pierre Fenals is a lovely chap. Reviewing my notes from the 2014 trip, I see that he shares this vineyard with Bonneau du Martray and Coche-Dury. I can think of worse neighbours!

G sprang into action and donned the rubber gloves in order to deconstruct some smoked fish which he'd picked up at the stall in Borough Market. We had a mixture of smoked trout, smoked mackerel and smoked salmon, along with some evil dark rye bread. The wine itself was a beautiful golden colour, with a buttery nose, and tasted exquisite. On the palate, I got a lot of tropical fruit - pineapple, mango and passionfruit were all mentioned, and it had a wonderful line of acidity down the middle. Fully mature now, it was the perfect accompaniment to the smoked fish, and definitely a wine to savour. I'm delighted that I have five more bottles, but don't think they're going to hang about for long.

It was my turn to spring into action and heat up the beef carbonnade, which I'd made the previous day with additional marrow bone and stock bones. This was a mixed success, as the stock bones had splintered and added a certain Russian roulette edge to proceedings. In future I think I'll just make my own beef stock instead of attempting to cut corners!

With this, we had a Clos de Vougeot 2011 from Odoul-Coquard, which had been carefully cellared in G's country estate but actually belonged to me. It's delightful to have a stash tucked away which tends to be out of sight, out of mind. I had high expectations of this wine and we weren't disappointed. It was a nice dark colour and looked glossy and appealing. G described it as "perfumed, gorgeous" and it certainly tasted expensive - black forest gateau in a glass or even cherries in kirsch. Because 2011 was a relatively light vintage, this was drinking wonderfully now and needed no more time. For me, it was a great wine to share, as it was so powerful I'm not sure I'd have wanted more than a couple of glasses.

Finally, with the cheese course, we had this Beaulieu Vineyards Private Reserve 1969 contributed by D. It emerged that he has owned this bottle of wine for longer than G and I have been on the planet. Now that puts the marshmallow delayed gratification test in perspective! This was a wonderful dark colour and had an amazing herbaceous nose with mint and eucalyptus. On the palate, it was dark and intense and I believe I made an unfortunate reference to After Eights, only to correct myself - it was of course Bendicks bittermints which I had in mind. It had a lovely warm finish of baked plums, and G drank the dregs, which says a lot. We had our doubts that it was really 12.5% alcohol as claimed by the label. It was amazing to think that it was 50 years old, and still on its plateau.

D told us that 1969 was an overlooked vintage, and they don't make them like they used to. I'd spotted some a recent vintage in the Pennsylvanian booze store, but apparently 1974 was the last good vintage. Damn!

Lunch at mine, Sunday 9th December

On Sunday, I was joined by ACC, D and G for lunch. Things didn't get off to a great start when the chopping board fell over, knocking a pan of diced onion all over my flat - some of it even landed in a wine glass. Fortunately nobody was hurt and G had some onion in reserve so we were only delayed for 10 minutes or so.

Nerves were calmed with a restorative glass of Puligny-Montrachet Tremblots 2011 from Domaine Joly, which I'd recently got out of storage. This was a beautiful scintillating colour and was ripe and elegant with mouthwatering acidity and some tropical fruit going on. It was particularly excellent with the hot smoked trout kedgeree which G made as a starter. I actually glazed over for a moment before remembering I had company...

The raison d'etre for the gathering was to drink some more of G's auction acquisitions, which looked like they came from a venerable establishment.

First was this Beaune from Bouchard, which the bottle detectives guessed was from the 1950s. This was a very dark colour and had a lovely perfume but we all suspected it might have been strengthened with some syrah, and the sugar bag had certainly been applied with a liberal hand. It was relatively midweight, rich and smooth and hard to believe it was in its 60s. Apparently back in those days the negociants used 100% new oak so this was basically made the same way a grand cru would be made now. For £18 including delivery, nobody was quibbling!

The next two wines were more divisive, in that I parted company with everybody else in my assessment of them. But it's my blog, and I'll write what I want to.

First we had a Vosne from Domaine Pierre-Yves Masson. I think I was dealing with the main course or possibly the cheese as I heard murmurs in the background saying it was no good and needed to be chucked. Fortunately I got a swig in before any hasty action was taken and I rather liked it - rich and sweet. Others felt it had insufficient acid to keep it clean.

Then we went on to this Clos de Vougeot 1950 from Geisweiler & Fils, which was the opposite situation. For me, there was a strange pungent whiff on the nose, something vegetal, as if something was rotting at the back of the potting shed. Everyone else loved it and described it as fruity and complete. I guess it all worked out because I got to drink more of the Vosne, and the others were welcome to the Clos de Vougeot. I just wished T had been there to tell me what the chemical was that I was picking up.

To finish, D indulged us with two halves of sweet wine from the Finger Lakes, Sheldrake Point riesling, one from 2001 and one from 2008. There was no controversy here. We drank the oldest one first, which was actually in a 350ml bottle. It was a beautiful amber colour and absolutely luscious, with some botrytis and apricots. It complimented the lemon tart beautifully and was not unduly sweet but very well-balanced and not showing its age at all.

The Late Harvest Riesling from 2008 was even more amber in colour and sweeter - more dried apricots this time. I think we agreed the 2001 was better but they were both excellent. Thanks D!

Domaine Odoul-Coquard, Friday 31st October

We were slightly early for our next appointment, so we spent some time hanging out near a giant car park in the middle of Morey-St-Denis . It's not a particularly big village, so I was mystified by the size of the car park. Someone had parked a giant camper van there and I thought if I had a giant camper van there would be worse places to hang out than the Côte de Nuits...

Then it was time to go, and we walked the short distance to Domaine Odoul-Coquard. I'd only visited once before, back in 2008. This time we received a warm welcome from Sebastien who seemed to be in a very cheery mood. I'd met him back when he was over in London earlier in the year and it was great to renew the acquaintance. When it emerged that this was our final tasting, he immediately said "Saving the best till last!"

Upstairs in the tasting room there were some new barrels, still wrapped in clingfilm, and a rather lovely painting - a vision of Morey-St-Denis as heaven, basically. Can't argue with that.

Then it was time to go downstairs for the tasting. We tasted ten wines altogether and unfortunately my pen packed up in the middle so some of my notes are not as detailed as they might otherwise have been, but for me the highlights were as follows:

Bourgogne Rouge - this is a recurring favourite at AduV Towers and this vintage didn't disappoint. It had that rich house style, with lovely sweet fruit.

Morey-St-Denis "Aux Chesaux". This was a great expression of Morey which often reminds me of black forest gateaux with its dark chocolate and black cherries. Aux Chesaux is a lieu-dit on the edge of the premier cru vineyards and for me this was premier cru quality.

Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru Les Baudes. This was very perfumed and I found the palate surprisingly rich and big but Sebastien described it as delicate and feminine so maybe there was something wrong with my taste buds after that strange lunch earlier. In fact, by comparison with his premier cru Moreys and Gevrey, it was relatively restrained. I liked it a lot!

Finally, the two grand crus were amazing and I'd struggle to say which I preferred. The Charmes-Chambertin was elegant and delicious with great concentration. I managed to spill the remnants everywhere as I was attempting to return it to the barrel, and felt like an idiot, but Sebastien kindly said "C'est ne pas grave". The Clos de Vougeot had explosive fruit and an amazing finish. I managed not to spill any of it as the others watched - the pressure was certainly on - but hopefully I'll be allowed back. A final decision on these will have to wait for 13th January at the Burgundy Portfolio en primeur tasting which promises to be quite an event.

To sum up, I would say the house style here is quite flash. These are big, rich, glossy wines, dark and delicious. Merci beaucoup to Sebastien for a wonderful final tasting (and for the bottle of Gevrey which he kindly gave us as we were leaving)!