Swiss Pinot Noir Society, Friday 2nd December 2022

Happy new year to any readers still out there! I'm aware that I haven't been posting as much as usual, for a variety of reasons, but the blog limps on into 2023.

In fact there's a decent chance I may be writing a little more over the next few months, as I packed in my job just before Christmas and I've finally got all my remaining wine out of storage as it needs to be drunk before I (hopefully) move to the US later this year. To paraphrase the Fun Lovin' Criminals: drink it, drink it, drink it if you got it.

First, a quick look back at an SPNS dinner which was held in early December. There were only four of us on this occasion: me, G, T and D. It was a Friday night and somewhat lively downstairs, so we decided to move up to the dining room sharpish.

I opened the batting with this Iron Horse 2017 fizz which I'd brought back from the US. A friend of G's had mentioned some time ago that she rated wines from Russian River Valley so I was hoping this might be quite good. It was 70% pinot noir, 30% chardonnay. My impression was that it was quite light and biscuity but really not anything special. D kindly said "fresh and young, some citrus, clean and easy drinking". G noticed red apples, while T struggled to think of anything to say, and I don't blame him. It just wasn't very exciting. Oh well!

We moved rapidly on to T's contribution, this Tarrant Rose 2021 from Gimenez Mendez who are based in Uruguay. Everyone agreed this was pink, fresh and easily drinkable with a hint of strawberry, but once again, it did not particularly wow the assembled company.

G then produced a Bourgogne Blanc Vieilles Vignes 2009 from Nicolas Joly. Sadly this was maderised and had to be discarded. We weren't doing very well...

Fortunately, things rapidly improved. as G had also brought along this 1964 Gevrey Chambertin from an unknown producer - he deciphered the label as Jean ...... erre. It was part of a recent auction purchase. Well, this was more like it. It was lovely old school burg with a particularly wonderful sous bois nose. On the palate I detected plums and it was very smooth and integrated. It was really quite amazing that this was still drinking so well at the age of 58. We all enjoyed it very much, including T who said it reminded him of his favourite wines when he was an undergraduate.

And finally, D had brought along this Chateau Climens 1986. This was a beautiful golden colour with a lovely nose of apricots and nectarines. It was wonderfully balanced and not too sweet, and had an amazingly long finish. D thought it was still young, while G didn't care if it would improve or not as it was so lovely now. A real treat and thanks to D for sharing it with us. 

That brings me more or less up to date, but coming up soon: a 2021 Burgundy tasting, a report on wine recently out of storage, and later in the year, a trip to the International Pinot Noir Celebration which is a self-indulgent 50th birthday present to myself. This will be followed by another trip to the Finger Lakes in upstate New York, which even Decanter magazine is starting to take notice of. Hopefully we can get there before prices take off!

Recent Cote de Nuits reds

Moving on to recent reds, there have been quite a few!

We had this Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru Clos Saint-Jacques 2013 from Domaine Louis Jadot a few weeks ago. It came in a whopping great Jancis-unfriendly bottle to show how expensive it was.   

The nose caused noises of pleasure to be emitted - it was like sweet cherry compote, while on the palate it was deft and not too heavy. I'd wondered if it was going to be a monster wine and difficult to share between two, but we had no problem getting it down us. It also had a notable peacock's tail. We gave it a high 9. 

Then, back at the Hawkmoor, it was battle of the Chambolles!

  

In the red corner, this 1er cru Aux Beaux Bruns 2013. This had a wonderful nose with sweet fruit and icing sugar, and a massive line of blackcurrant going down the middle. G also detected chocolate. It was very smooth but we thought it wasn't ready yet. 

It did look absolutely beautiful in the glass.

Meanwhile, in the blue corner, we had this 1er cru Les Grunchers 2013 from Thibault Liger-Belair. For me, this was more brooding, with dark fruits and liquorice. I found a lot of tannin. However, there was some debate as others found this one more approachable, causing me to wonder if we had somehow got them mixed up during pouring, but I don't think we did. In the end, we gave them both a 9. For me, the Faively was the winner, which was gratifying as it was also considerably less expensive although still not exactly cheap. 

Stay tuned for my report on recent Cote de Beaune reds which will be coming soon...

Recent reds report - Cote de Nuits

The first of two reports on recent reds. Today it's the Cote de Nuits working from north to south. 

A quick memo on a bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru Bel Air 2011 from Domaine Taupenot-Maume. Sadly this bottle was not correct. G identified it as a bacteriological issue. 

Moving swiftly on, this bottle of G-C was much better.

This was a 1er cru les Goulots 2013 from Domaine Heresztyn-Mazzini. It looked absolutely wonderful and glossy. The nose was fabulous, with rich ripe fruit, reminding us of a fruit tart from a very high class patisserie. It was delicious with juicy blackcurrant on the palate, but wasn't particularly typique - it reminded us more of a Nuits St George from a producer in Vosne-Romanee. (Am aware that that may be the most pretentious sentence I've ever written on this blog.) It had great persistence and a lovely peacock's tail on the finish. We felt it was drinking very nicely now and would last another 5 years. While not exactly cheap, it wasn't super-pricey either, around £60. We gave it 9.5 points and thought it might get up to a 10 in three years. For some reason, my notes include the phrase "Because I'm worth it." Not sure if I said that or G did! Thanks to him anyway for supplying it. 

Two non premier crus next. First this Bourgogne rouge 2005 from Dugat-Py. This claimed to be only 12.5%. It had lovely legs, an intense colour and a somewhat brooding nose. It was powerful, structured and intense, with sour cherries and an umami quality - I wondered if it was leather or coffee. Absolutely not the light, pretty style of bourgogne rouge. We did wonder if it was actually ready, but then that's 2005 for you. It certainly felt like it was playing above its level and blind we would have thought it was a village wine or even a premier cru.

Staying with 2005, I'm delighted to report that my village Vosne-Romanee from Jacques Cacheux, bought back in the day, has finally come round! This was big, rich and blackcurranty, and not very typical Vosne, in fact it reminded us of Gevrey. It was muscular but had the fruit to support it now, and was decent mature Burgundy. I still have two or three bottles to look forward to, hurrah!

For some reason I failed to take a pic of the last one, a Nuits-St-Georges 1er cru les Boudots 2010 from Louis Jadot, Domaine Gagey. It was very Cote de Nuits on the nose, with chocolate, blackberries and black cherries, but less sweet on the palate with great structure and mouthwatering acidity. It had fine-grained tannins, with that slightly powdery quality that reminds me of cocoa, and an enjoyable slightly tart note. It was a great combination with venison fillet and went down surprisingly easily, but G  thought it might not be attractive in a minor vintage. It still seemed fairly young. We gave it a low 9 and wondered if it might make a 10 in ten years time. 

Four recent reds

Time for another lockdown drinking report! I've been trying to organise my notes in an attempt at writing posts with some sort of theme. This week it's recent reds.

AduV in claret-drinking shocker! A couple of weeks ago G and I had this "Society's Exhibition Pauillac" 2010 from the Wine Society. Initially I managed to confuse it with that other Pauillac which they do, the Ulysse, which I have enjoyed in the past, and indeed, I generally find that Pauillac ticks my boxes. So, what did we have here? First impressions were that it looked young but was in fact fully mature, smooth, savoury and well-integrated.

However, as time went on, we both began to feel that it didn't quite deliver what we'd been expecting. I said it lacked complexity, and G thought it had probably been made from parcels of grapes that weren't good enough to go in the real wine. Then he had a look at the back label, and discovered that this wine was merlot-dominated, so there was our answer. Not what I expected from a Pauillac. Overall, we thought it might have been better five years ago when the fruit might have been more exuberant. "Fourth level Lafite" was G's verdict, which is quite damning even by his standards!

On to better things. G also provided this Morgon Cote du Py Reserve 2010 from Jean-Marc Burgaud. I think we had something from this producer a while back but I don't seem to have blogged about it. He's one of these low sulphur guys and often their wines tend to be light and pretty, but this was very serious. It was a deep purple colour but looked mature, and there was a good hint of farmyard on the nose. G thought that if we'd had it blind we might have thought it was a Rhone due to its resinous quality. Hefty, rich and gastronomic, it reminded me of old school burgundy. Satisfying stuff.

We also recently had this Rully 1er Cru "Chapitre" 2012 from Domaine Vincent Dureuil-Janthial. I see I've written about two of their whites previously, but not any reds. It had a vibrant nose, some nice stone fruits on the mid-palate and cocoa on the finish, which was very long. It was relatively light and juicy, very enjoyable served slightly chilled on a hot summer evening. Exemplary stuff and it confirmed that villages like Rully are the place to go for value these days.

Having said which, there's nothing like a red from the Cote de Nuits... We had this Gevrey-Chambertin La Justice 2011 from La Maison Romane a few weeks ago. It had a glorious nose, with a slightly wild, even feral, character. G said it was reminding me of the unsulphured wines of Romain Chapuis which I love so much. It also reminded me of the Pommard 1er cru Largilliere 2008 from La Maison Romane which remains one of the most lovely wines I've ever drunk (the bottle is sitting in the hall of fame above my kitchen cabinets), and in the same way that the Pommard wasn't very Pommard, this wasn't very Gevrey. No liquorice was detected but it was full of fruit - G said it cycled through different fruits - loganberry, boysenberry and lingonberry were all mentioned, along with poached black cherries. It was mouthwatering, scintillating and truly wonderful wine, drinking perfectly now. Thanks G for sharing all of these with me!

Recent drinking round-up - reds!

I see it's been a while since I posted, but yes, the blog is still going! I have a few weekends in London coming up so there may be a flurry of activity in the near future.

Time to catch up on what G and I have been drinking and in order to make this a less daunting prospect I've divided the report into reds and whites.

Back in March we had this Santenay 1er cru Clos Rousseau Les Fourneaux 2010 from Domaine Bachey-Legros. It appears that this came from the wine shop in Santenay, and a price of 35 euros has appeared in my notes, but whether this was speculation or G's remarkable memory is unclear to me right now. Anyway, this had dark fruits on the nose and was a little lighter on the palate. It was a "vrai pinot", smooth and middleweight. Perhaps slightly rustic, certainly typique, it was drinking well now. We initially scored it as a middle 8 but it ended up being a high 8. The fact that I seemed to guzzle it without paying too much attention was a tribute to its drinkability.

This bottle was an altogether more serious proposition, and quite why I took a photo of it sitting next to an empty class is a mystery - giving a sense of our anticipation perhaps! This was a Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru Estournelles Saint-Jacques 1999 from Frederic Esmonin. It brought back happy memories of a bottle of something made by Sylvie Esmonin which we drank at lunch in Chablis with Nathalie Fevre on a memorable occasion back in 2013. So much happened that day that I didn't even allude to it in my write-up!

Back to this wine, which I believe G got at auction. It had a lovely Gevrey nose, which we described as a melange of autumn fruits with bramble and G even finding a hint of rosehip. I'm not sure what rosehip smells like so am unable to confirm or deny. On the palate, my notes say "oh yes". It was silky, poised and congruent, and drinking perfectly now, with a lovely balance of fruit and tannin. The fruit was ripe but not blowsy and reminded us of poached plums with cinnamon, and the tannins were chocolatey. I detected a hint of pontefract cake. This was very serious wine, hugely accomplished and a wholly pleasurable experience. We were sad to get to the end of the bottle and gave it a top 9.

Another Gevrey provided by G, this time the 1er cru Aux Combottes 2007 from Domaine Odoul-Coquard. I believe this was his last bottle, and we chilled it for an hour or so in the decanter. It was lovely Cotes de Nuits pinot, smooth and glossy in that Odoul-Coquard style. It had notes of black cherry and liquorice and was really delicious, albeit at the back end of its drinking window. I've enjoyed the 2007s so much but I guess it's time to say goodbye now.

Earlier this week, I got some more wine out of storage, which is always an occasion for excitement. The fanciest of the bunch was this Nuits-St-Georges 1er cru Les Pruliers 2011 from Domaine Bony so we drank some the next day.

"This will be first rate when it's ready" I predicted back in 2013 and indeed this proved to be the case! It was at that tasting that I ended up buying a six pack, and je ne regrette rien. It was a lovely dark colour, and turned out to be ripe and succulent. It had the prettiness of the 2011 vintage but still had some power to it. I've sometimes found that Nuits from other producers can be a rather unapproachable tannic monster, but that's not how Fabienne makes them. It had perhaps gained weight in the intervening years as cherry had been replaced by blackcurrant and dark chocolate. The fruit, acidity and tannins combined to make a wine that was harmonious and drinking perfectly now. G and I gave it a 10 and immediately began plotting when we're going to drink the next bottle... very soon, I think!

Recent drinking round-up!

It's been a while since I did one of these and there's a large pile of notes needing to be decluttered before the long-awaited arrival of a certain VIP from the US in a couple of weeks... So without further ado!

G contributed this Volnay 1er cru Santenots du Milieu 2011 from Domaine des Comtes Lafon  one evening. It transported us right back to Caveau des Arches in Beaune where we have been fortunate enough to drink rather a lot of the Comte's offerings. It was polished, glossy, smooth, coherent and typique with a great finish, and there was a lot going on! We found black cherries, sloes (that was G not me - I'm not entirely sure what a sloe tastes like) and loganberries or possibly even poached damson fool. There were also woody things such as liquorice root, and a herbaceous note, which could have been mint leaf. It was remarkably ripe and intense considering it was from 2011, and there was no rush to drink it. This stuff isn't cheap but it was worth it, and we gave it a 9 on the premier cru project scale.

G also provided this Chablis 1er cru Beauroy 1995 from E.A.R.L. Hamelin as he had an urge to "try some weird old Chablis". This was a beautiful golden colour and our first impression was that it was surprisingly rich and oaky, with a touch of honey on both nose and palate. It was mature but not over the hill and went very well with our chicken salad. It also didn't cost a huge amount considering its age, confirming that Chablis remains the best value white burgundy. Unfortunately another 1995 Chablis, this time 1er cru Vaucoupin from Pascal Pica, turned out to be undrinkable, so there is a risk when you go back this far.

Instead, we drank this Rully 1er cru Raclot 2012 from Celine et Vincent Dureuil. This may have been served a little too cold. It had some mushrooms on the nose and was well-made, with good acidity, but perhaps a slightly short finish. It was enjoyable, and a solid 8.

G also contributed this Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru les Champonnets 1998 from Lucien Boillot. This looked like old, mature pinot with a faded rim. It had a very Cote de Nuits nose with forest fruits and dark chocolate and a hint of the farmyard, but also quite a lot of volatile alcohol. We decided it needed to spend more time in the fridge, which led to the discovery that a decanter I was given recently actually fits in the fridge door - thanks J! It was smooth, with a nice weight, and fully mature and powerful but quite short. It improved over time but we felt it was possibly on its way out and gave it an 8.

This sparkler from Damiani Wine Cellars 2011 is one which we picked up in the Finger Lakes last September. I remember that day being particularly hot and it was our last tasting of the trip. This had fine bubbles and we wondered if it was a blanc de blancs but having just checked, it was actually two thirds pinot noir! We drank this very cold and it was brisk up front, with a floral mid-palate. It didn't seem that old but then these Finger Lakes wines are built to last. It was approachable and not too serious (just as well, as we were eating fish fingers with it) and went down real easy. G thought it would make a good party wine and the price, currently $34, compares well with sparkling wines from certain autres regions.

A rummage in the wardrobe one evening produced this bottle of Auxey-Duresses 2011 from Jacques Bavard. I do adore red Auxey and was delighted to get this back in the day, particularly from this lovely vintage. It was a very pretty example of a Cote de Beaune red, with perfume, lots of red fruit, and a certain sweetness. G wondered if some white grapes had got in there to give it a lift. All in all, a very pleasurable wine to drink and it went down in no time.

I had a wine delivery last Friday and have tried two of the four delivered so far. This Pernand-Vergelesses Les Belles Filles 2010 from Ludovic Belin went AWOL in the storage facility for a long time but was finally located, so I got it out rather later than I normally would have done. I had also been under the impression it was a red, but actually given the heatwave, was quite pleased it turned out to be white. The label was certainly promisingly appalling, although the name always made me cringe slightly. Its extended term in storage had done it no harm at all and it was still very fresh and lemony, with a floral mid-palate. It was classic Pernand, relatively light and not terribly serious, but good summer drinking.

Last Sunday we had this Santenay "Comme Dessus" 2009 from Domaine de la Choupette. Again this had a perfumed nose with summer fruits - raspberries, plums and G's new go-to description, loganberries. It had "lovely filigreed tannins" and was pleasantly croquant. I served it slightly chilled and it was very refreshing, with good acidity. It's that nice middle-weight style which is very versatile and had a sweet note which reminded G of those "hint of the sugar bag" Burgundies from the 1970s. I'm delighted with it, it's everything I love about Cote de Beaune reds. G thinks it needs to be drunk over the next year, and there's another six pack tucked away in storage. I don't think getting through a bottle every month or two is going to pose any problem whatsoever!

Tasting at Domaine Audiffred, 26th June

As if the day hadn't already been very enjoyable, in the afternoon we travelled up to Vosne-Romanee to visit Henri Audiffred at his domaine. This was my fourth visit here, and always a good time is had.

In fact, on the Eurostar trip up on the Friday, we'd been feeling a bit stressed out right up to the point where I opened a bottle of Audiffred Bourgogne Rouge 2011, which I've just got out of storage, and the world suddenly became a much happier place.

We were slightly early, so loitered suspiciously by the vineyards while curtains were twitched in the house across the road. Then Henri came along riding a little tractor thing (technical term) and it was time to begin!

Four wines were laid out for the tasting, and some extras were added in along the way. For once, I made proper tasting notes so can give a more comprehensive report. We started with an Aligote 2016 which had been put in bottle just last week - it still had a slight prickle. This had a lovely nose and was floral and fresh, with great acidity, precision and elegance. I could easily have got stuck in there and then!

Next up was a Beaune Blanc 2015. This had notes of tropical fruit (G said passion fruit, I got mango) and was very attractive. We thought it was one to drink sooner rather than later, as seems to be the case with the 2015 white wines in general.

The third wine was a Nuits-St-Georges Les Argillats 2012. For me, this smelled like summer berry compote and was on the light and elegant side for Nuits, which suited me just fine.

The Pommard 2013 was very different, with earthy notes and, for me, prunes, while ACC mentioned black cherry. It was heavier but still light by most Pommard standards.

Want. It. All. 

Then it was on to the Vosne-Romanee 2012, which is made from three different parcels. "God, that's good," state my notes, while ACC said it was very stylish. There were notes of blackcurrant and it was quite light again and with a great finish. Pure pleasure, and a great expression of the village.

At this point, Henri offered us a mystery wine, which put us on the spot! What could it be? It was very purple in colour and quite sweet with a lovely texture. I guessed that it was a Gevrey-Chambertin. Wrong! It was Cotes de Nuits Villages 2015. Very impressive and, as usual with Henri's wines, playing in a league at least one notch up from its appellation.

Finally, we did get to taste an actual Gevrey, possibly to show us the difference, the Gevrey les Marchais 2012. It was absolutely lovely, relatively delicate and elegant for a Gevrey and I detected strawberries but the classic liquorice thing was also present and correct. G's notes report that "animal noises of pleasure were made" and go on to say "Buy all the wine!" I can't argue with that.

Thanks very much to Henri as always for a wonderful tasting. 

Dinner with Oronce de Beler, 12th March

Last night I was very excited to be invited to an exclusive evening at the Rochelle Canteen over in Shoreditch. I skulked past the hen parties and queues of revellers already forming in this lively part of London, and made it to the comparatively quiet and civilised Arnold Circus where the Canteen is located. I tailgated another customer into the premises and found a delightful courtyard garden and stylish building where ACC was already installed. A few minutes later we were joined by C and then by Oronce de Beler himself along with his colleague Bertrand.

Oronce is the man behind La Maison Romane, a domaine based in Vosne-Romanee, which I had the pleasure of visiting in October 2014. When ACC first began working with the domaine, we were all enchanted by the story of Prosper, the horse which he uses to plough the vineyards. This, along with the avoidance of chemicals, allows the micro-organisms in the vineyards to flourish and the results are spectacular. The word "vivant" was used several times.

We began with a bottle of red Eaux-Vives 2014, which is made from Gamay grown in the Macon region. Oronce described this as a good aperitif wine, lighter in style, but like Beaujolais I think it would go well with charcuterie and anything pork-related.

Next up was a bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin La Justice 2015. This was noticeably weightier and more serious. It had some classic Gevrey flavours going on, with red fruits, and Oronce said he would expect it to be still drinking in 10-15 years. He donated the last glass to the chef, who came to our table afterwards full of praise, and comped us an additional pudding!

The third wine was Vosne-Romanee aux Reas 2015. which I absolutely loved, even though it was so young. This vineyard is next to the premier cru Clos des Reas, and the wine certainly seemed premier cru level to me. Oronce said he uses whole bunches and he could taste the stems at the moment, and once he pointed this out, I could too, but it didn't stop me from enjoying it. It had the most remarkable finish, and I'll be first in the queue if the opportunity arises to add some to my cellar.

Finally, we drank a bottle of Marsannay Longeroies 2014, which was powerful and had a lot of acidity. Oronce thought the 2014 vintage will be drinking better in 5 years time, so not so long to wait for that one. I was interested to discover that there are no premier cru vineyards in Marsannay, but if there were, this would be a leading contender.

I had to ask Oronce about the Pommard 1er cru L'argillliere which he used to make, which may very well be my favourite wine of all time, and sadly it seems he is unlikely to make any more as he's focusing on the Cote de Nuits now. He modestly said that the Pommard was all about the terroir rather than him. I think it must be a bit of both! Also, the subject of marc de bourgogne was tentatively raised but this isn't something he does.

It was great to get a chance to learn about Oronce's philosophy. For him, it's all about allowing the wines to express their personality and individual character. This is what makes Burgundy so interesting, as opposed to certain other regions which are more about making industrial quantities of wine. There'll be no rise of the robots at La Maison Romane, as Oronce disdains machinery and everything is done by hand. This year the bottles are sporting black wax seals as an additional protection. I'm hoping it's soft wax rather than the sort that gets sprayed all over the kitchen sink!

C noticed that the labels on all the wines said they were 12% alcohol. It seems that Oronce carries out an analysis for one of his customers, but I got the impression that if this wasn't required, he wouldn't bother. There was a Michelangelo reference at one point about the sculptor revealing the sculpture from within the block of stone. At this domaine, wine-making is approached as art rather than science. The results speak for themselves.

Oronce's UK stockist is the Burgundy Portfolio and enormous thanks to him and to ACC for a fascinating evening and the opportunity to try these remarkable wines.

A trio of premier cru 2007s

Last night I hosted dinner at mine with ACC and G. It turned out that all three wines we were drinking were 2007 premier crus.

This Chassagne 1er cru Caillerets from Domaine Blain-Gagnard was contributed by ACC, who left it here on a previous occasion when it was a back-up wine. I'd noticed it on the rack since then and thought I didn't remember buying it!

I didn't make notes, but it was very classic Chassagne, well-balanced, and opened up after a few minutes. It went well with our pork and apricot pate.

G contributed these two 2007 reds. Clash of the Titans: Titans Will Clash etc. etc.

In the red corner, this Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru les Combottes from Domaine Felettig.

In the blue corner, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru "Aux Combottes" from Domaine Odoul-Coquard.

G went long on 2007 reds and I'm very glad he did. I'd decanted them about two hours earlier and they were both terrific. The Chambolle was very Chambolle - elegant, and noticeably paler in colour, with some red fruits going on. The Gevrey was more masculine, glossy and flash in that inimitable Odoul-Coquard style. Which did we prefer? For me, the Gevrey had more immediate appeal on first tasting, but after a while, diminishing returns set in, whereas the finesse of Chambolle continued to be very appealing.

Merci to both ACC and G for a very interesting mini-horizontal!

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.

Dinner at mine, 17th Jan

Last Saturday night ACC and Baron McG made a long-awaited visit to A du V Towers for dinner.

To start, we had a Felettig double-bill - first this Cremant, which has a little bit of age on it now as it's been residing in my wardrobe cupboard for some time. It made a delightful aperitif for thirsty travellers from the SW2 area.

Then it was on to this Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes de Beaune 2008, which is showing very well at the moment. It's a wonderful golden colour, and has good weight and richness. I'm very happy with it, and with the fact that I have a further six bottles in storage!

G created two assiettes - one of saucisson with walnuts, procured from the cheese shop, and one of Roka cheese sticks, as no Roka cheese crispies were available in our local supermarket. This was rather aggravating especially after the shortage of Bath Olivers around Christmas and New Year. Waitrose, sort it out! First World Problems, I know.

On to the reds. I'd been saving up this Beaune 1er cru Pertuizots 1971 from Domaine Voiret, for a belated celebration of ACC's birthday. The level was very good and the dreadful label was promising. We know nothing about this domaine and it doesn't appear to be still in existence. But the wine itself was wonderful. and it had that old school power and sweetness. It still had it all going on!

With this we ate a tagine-style stew of lamb cheeks with dried apricots and prunes, and G got his Ottolenghi on and jazzed up some couscous with pomegranate seeds, mint and coriander.

Next up was this bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru aux Combottes 2007 from Domaine Odoul-Coquard. G went long in 2007 and we're now reaping the benefits. This was just starting to drink but G had "over-decanted" it by giving it 3 hours, and it didn't quite work with the cheese. We will do better next time, not decant it for so long, and eat it with a meaty main course!

It's alive!

I'd made it to Knightsbridge that afternoon to hunt down some ripe cheese which included this excellent Epoisses. It didn't last long...

With pudding we had this Carmes de Rieussec 2005 sauternes provided by ACC, the second wine of Rieussec. It made a very suitable complement to my panettone bread and butter pudding (although memo to self - more custard next time).

Finally, it was on to the remnants of the Marcs de Bourgogne which I brought back from Beaune in November - two Roulots. They were both smashing, in their different ways - the Hors d'Age was fine, rich and powerful, while the 1962 was much lighter, more elegant and even floral by comparison.

Some had apparently been up since the crack of dawn working on a certain En Primeur offer, and so it was time to call it a night. Said offer can be found here and there are many enticing wines to be had. I've spent several days dithering about what to go for this year, but am just about there, and off to order some right now! Bon weekend.