Another recent drinking round up

Towards the end of January I got some wine out of storage, which is always an exciting occasion!

First up was this Vosne-Romanee 2010 from Domaine Audiffred. Having seen Henri the previous Monday evening, I'd asked his advice about decanting this and the verdict was not to decant in advance, so we opened it, decanted and began drinking right away! This wine was medium weight, deft and poised with a lovely burst of fruit acids on the finish along with a touch of cocoa. It made my mouth tingle. There was some debate about what the fruit reminded us of and in the end we settled on "hedgerow fruits". It felt like it gained a little weight over time, and was beautifully rounded, easy to drink and just very enjoyable.

A couple of nights later we had this Hautes Cotes de Beaune 2012 from Maison en Belles Lies. This was quite a pale colour and a little cloudy. It was lovely, lightweight, pretty pinot noir, just 12% alcohol, with vibrant cherry fruit, juicy and succulent. One of my favourite styles of wine and, as G said, it wasn't pretending to be something it wasn't. I was surprised it was still so fresh at almost 8 years old, and it positively evaporated from our glasses!

Finally, to round off the week, we had this Pernand-Vergelesses Les Combottes 2013 from Pascal Clement. This was an amazing golden colour with hints of green, a surprisingly vibrant colour for a village white. It had hints of stone fruits and white flowers on the nose, then bracing acidity on the palate. It was big and juicy, with a lot of lemon along with a savoury edge. Really remarkable stuff and we agreed it would be a 9 if it we were scoring it as a premier cru, so it was certainly playing at a higher level than its appellation would suggest. It was relatively expensive for a village Pernand but definitely worth it.

I'm looking forward to drinking more of these three very soon...

Dinner at mine, 14th July

A couple of weeks ago, ACC joined me and G for dinner here at AduV Towers. The heat wave had not yet reached its heights but up here in the ninth floor penthouse it was on the warm side.

We kicked off with this bottle of Domaine de la Roseraie Hautes-Cotes de Beaune 2017. As ACC had been gallivanting prior to arrival, it needed extra chilling and the slow cooker was pressed into action to serve as an impromptu wine bucket. This worked remarkably well! The wine was a pleasing pale gold colour, crisp and zingy. It was refreshing, middleweight, and quite floral, with a touch of honey and I thought it would go very nicely with fish. It came from the vineyard which we visited on this occasion and I was transported back to that very enjoyable day watching Julien waving his loppers about in the vineyard. Although it was certainly drinking now, an argument could be made that it would be better in a year or so.

ACC pointed out this detail on the label - only 190 bottles were made!

With our chicken, apricot and pistachio terrine we moved on to the main event, a vertical comparison of the red Meursault 1er cru Les Cras from Latour-Labille or Domaine Vincent Latour as it is now called. On the left we have the 2007 and on the right the 2015. The 2007 has been a firm favourite over the years but is perhaps getting a little elderly now and a reference was made to charming old ladies. It was well-balanced, stylish and elegant pinot, very Burgundian. The 2015 was much bigger, more masculine and more international in style. It was more fruity and spicy, and more crowd-pleasing but we felt it wouldn't ever have the finesse of the 2007. I believe the word "primary" was used. It was drinking now but would benefit from another couple of years. A fascinating comparison and thanks to G for putting it together.

With our berries and cream for pudding, we had this Monbazillac from Domaine du Haut Montlong, 1983, also provided by G. This was a beautiful apricot colour and was a perfectly enjoyable sweet wine with good acidity, but it didn't have any botrytis and I found myself hankering after sauternes. Still, apparently it only cost £10 so no regrets there. I've had worse Sunday evenings!

Burgundy Portfolio tasting at Baker's Hall, 21st Nov

On Wednesday evening, I made my way over to Baker's Hall for a very exclusive wine tasting held by ACC of the Burgundy Portfolio. This was a relaxed, sit-down affair of the sort I enjoy the most.

We started with this sparkling wine made by Quentin Beaufort which was dry and complex with some good age on it and was definitely up there with champagne, despite being made from grapes grown just outside the border.

This Chablis 2017 from Domaine Gueguen has apparently mostly been bought up already as quantities were low last year, but was very appealing, with minerality and richness. ACC said it had a certain fleshiness reminiscent of a pink grapefruit. G thought it was drinking already, and I found myself thinking it would be great with fish fingers.

Domaine Les Champs de Themis is a new find and this Bouzeron is made from aligote doree. I found it very interesting - dry, floral and almost grapey. ACC described it as "gastronomic". Cassis not required!

I'd had a heads up that this wine was going to be shown, although as this was the only bottle in the country we had to be self-restrained and not guzzle it all. It's a grenache from Romain Chapuis, made from Rhone grapes, unfined, unfiltered, low sulphur. At £18.50 a bottle paid-up I couldn't resist grabbing a couple of cases, as past experience has shown that these wines have a habit of evaporating from the AduV cellar.

This Mercurey from Domaine Les Champs de Themis had an amazing fruity nose which reminded me of Ribena, and was charming easy drinking, not rustic like some Mercureys.

The Vacherin went down very well too

We then had the excitement of a blind tasting. On the left was a wine that was relatively light in colour and very fruity and pretty, with notes of tinned strawberries, while on the right was a dark, intense number which needed more time. I jumped to conclusions and foolishly guessed that the one on the left was a Cote de Beaune and the one on the right was a Cote de Nuits. Wrong!

The one on the left was actually 2016 Vosne-Romanee Chalandins from Henri Audiffred. This was quite a revelation for me as I always think of Vosne as being big and rich, whereas this wine was relatively light and fruity. ACC said it was likely to close down soon.

G had the advantage of having been to Burgundy recently and guessed that the wine on the right came from Domaine de la Roseraie, which as soon as he said it was incredibly obvious. It was definitely in that very serious style, made for the long haul. It appears I bought a case en primeur, so I shall make a note to look into it in 2023!

Finally, we tried this wine from Ventoux in Provence which was another low-sulphur number made from 40% marsanne, 40% clairette and 20% grenache blanc. I enjoyed its minerality and it was suggested that it would go well with chicken with morels, or with cheese. Sadly we had eaten all the cheese by this stage so were unable to put this theory to the test.

A very enjoyable evening all round and can't wait to get some of that Grenat in my cellar. Thanks ACC!

Maison en Belles Lies, 29th October

We hopped back into Monsieur Parize's taxi and drove over to Saint-Aubin to Maison en Belles Lies. We were half an hour early but Pierre Fenals kindly interrupted his schedule to meet us earlier than anticipated.

The tasting was conducted entirely upstairs which meant no perilous trip down the spiral staircase on this occasion! The sun was shining in and gave the bottles a beautiful luminosity, but they were quite cold which made the tasting more challenging, for me.

Last year we only tasted 4 wines, as the vines were badly hit by hail, but this year there were a whopping 10. All the wines are biodynamic.

Starting with the whites, the Aligote was very pure with lively acidity, and the Bourgogne Blanc had a nice weight, was ripe and clean, like a baby St-Aubin. The Monthelie had good minerality and seemed very proper, the Santenay was approachable and I liked it a lot, and the Corton Charlemagne was top notch, lovely big wine with a wonderful finish.

Moving on to the reds, the Hautes Cote de Beaune was a bright red colour and had a fruity redcurrant nose, and was quite light and juicy on the palate. I found the Aloxe-Corton a bit tannic - although I am told that I may have been confusing tannin and acidity - I expect it just needs time. The village Maranges was easier to get on with and the premier cru Maranges was bigger and more powerful. Finally, the Corton Perrieres was silky, intense and had a lot going on - sous bois, leather, raspberries. I thought it would be sensational a few years down the road.

It appears that fans of L'Etrange will be disappointed as none was made in 2014 but Pierre made a lot in 2015 so that's certainly something to look forward to. Thanks to him for another great tasting.

I'd love one of these for AduV Towers

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.

Domaine Perrin and Maison en Belles Lies, Wed 29th Oct

After lunch at Le Terroir, we were picked up by Julien, whisked along various windy roads, through Chagny (past Lameloise!) and back up to the Cote d'Or where the first stop was Volnay.

View from the main square in Volnay

We were visiting Domaine Perrin, and were greeted by Vincent and his wife, Marie-Christine, who I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time. I think this was one of the first tastings of the 2013 vintage that they had carried out.

We kicked off with the white Saint-Romain, which ACC told me is an aligoté - I never realised this before despite quaffing large quantities of the 2008, or perhaps I'd forgotten. (Update: it appears I got completely the wrong end of the stick here. The aligote is not the same as the St-Romain, but is aged in St-Romain barrels. Mea culpa.) Must clearly re-evaluate my prejudice against stance on aligoté. Vincent said he had used less sulphur than previously (if I understood correctly) - he is generally moving to a more natural approach, and this seemed to have paid off as the wine had a very nice weight. I found it more difficult to assess the Meursault, which is another wine I've loved in the past, possibly because it had only been in bottle for a month and was still a bit shocked.

On the red side, the bourgogne rouge had a nice cherry thing going on on the nose, and was mouth-tingling with good acidity and crunchy fruit. The village Volnay was clearly related, but bigger and broader, while the two Pommards (Vaumurien and Chanlains respectively) were very elegant expressions of Pommard with a lot of tannin and I thought would need several years to come round, especially the Chanlains. The Volnay 1er cru Carelle sous la Chapelle was one of my favourites, with a really interesting nose, good structure and smoothness, while the 1er cru Gigottes had an enticing nose, great concentration and elegance, and a great finish - it may need the best part of a decade but when it gets there it will be fabulous. I shall have to give some serious thought to which one(s) it's going to be for me this year. Thank you very much to Vincent and Marie-Christine for yet another Volnay masterclass.

Then it was time to head off to Saint-Aubin where we were visiting Maison en Belles Lies. I remembered spending quite a long time hanging around in a car park next to what looked like a deserted factory last year. This year, things were very different. There were two men painting a piece of equipment (technical term) in a cheerful yellow colour, similar to the colour of A du V Towers in fact, and we were greeted by Pierre Fenals who seemed very upbeat. We were also joined by Bill Nanson from the Burgundy Report.

Last year, the domaine had been badly affected by hail which had drastically reduced what was on offer. This year, things were looking much brighter and we descended a tiny spiral staircase - it took me about 10 minutes to get down it, stepping very carefully to avoid a tragic accident - to the lower level where there were lots of barrels looking inviting!

We started with the aligoté which I thought was wonderful - vinified in oak, it had a lovely floral nose and was rich and big, unlike one of those nasty thin acidic aligotes that's only good for making kir. Next up was the white Santenay which brought tears to my eyes, not because it was bad, but because of the acidity level. Or maybe I just tasted it too quickly. It was very pure with good minerality and weight. The Monthelie blanc was less sharp, had a hint of honey on the nose, and was very agreeable. Then, the jewel in the crown: Corton-Charlemagne grand cru. What a treat! Pierre explained that he shares the vineyard with Bonneau du Martray and Coche-Dury so he's in excellent company. This was something very special, complex, rich and mouth-coating.

We moved into a different part of the cellar to taste the 2014s which were still fermenting away. They all seemed to be developing nicely, which bodes well for next year! At one point, Pierre was explaining something and suddenly there was a loud CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK which turned out to be Bill taking a photo with his super-whizzy camera. Pierre blinked and we all pretended nothing had happened.

Then it was on to the 2013 reds. First, L'Étrange, which I famously guessed blind at a dinner last year, admittedly only due to vast prior consumption of it since G is a big fan. It's a bit like a passetoutgrains in that it's a mixture of pinot noir and gamay, but if memory serves, PTG is normally 2/3 gamay, 1/3 pinot whereas L'Etrange is the other way round. Disclaimer: this could be completely incorrect. Anyway, it was very nice, had that slightly whiffy trademark nose, and chewy fruit. A relatively light and approachable wine.

Next came the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune which blew me away with its heady, scintillating nose. Pierre described it as tres jolie and it was just my kind of thing - very pinot, very pretty. The Aloxe-Corton was more serious stuff and had that meatier Aloxe thing going on, which certainly has its place but the Hautes-Côtes had ruined me for it. And then finally, the Corton les Perrieres grand cru which I see I put two stars next to in my notes, high praise indeed. It was very serious, rich, complex, interesting and just generally stunning.

We tasted some of the 2014s again bubbling away in their barrels. Already the unique characteristics of the different appellations were shining through. There's a Maranges in 2014 which will please a certain person I know, but it was very tannic at this stage and Pierre described it as more rustic.

Once again this was a very interesting tasting, it was great to see Pierre looking much happier, and the domaine's trademark style, elegance and purity were all in evidence. I don't really know much about biodynamism but it certainly seems to do the business as far as I'm concerned.

View of vineyards in Saint-Aubin

Afterwards, Julien dropped ACC off in Puligny-Montrachet and took me back to Beaune. I felt very swanky travelling in the black Merc by myself, but this luxurious lifestyle was short-lived. After Julien had gone on his way, I attempted to visit the local traitteur to get something to eat, but by the time I'd figured out how the automatic door worked, the sales assistant had disappeared. After hanging around for five minutes I decided to go to Petit Casino instead and procured a tin of lentilles aux saucisses, the French equivalent of beans and four pork sausages, a childhood favourite. It had been an amazing day and I was happy to have a quiet night in watching French game shows and reading a 1930s mystery novel.

Maison en Belles Lies, Friday 13th Sept

On Friday morning ACC had an early appointment in Meursault and it was agreed that G and I would join him there for lunch. We caught one of the few trains going south that stops at Meursault. The thing to remember is that it's a good half hour uphill walk from the station into the village, but the sun was shining and as we walked past vineyards with rough tracks we were reminded of the previous day's exciting tour of Chablis with Nathalie Fevre.

We passed this road sign, which put me in a very good mood - lots of my favourite things!

Then it was time for lunch at Le Bouchon. Here they do an amazing 12.70 euro three course lunch menu, including a buffet starter which had pate en croute and similar nice things. There's also a good range of wines by the "pot" so you don't have to have a whole bottle, which meant we could indulge in both red and white.

Afterwards G and I had a wander round Meursault. The market was just closing up and unfortunately the wine shop wasn't open, but there was quite a lot of activity and the ubiquitous cyclists wandering around looking lost.

Then it was time for our taxi which took us over to St Aubin where the winery of Maison en Belles Lies is located. Here we were greeted by Pierre Fenals. We sat along a bench at a trestle table and it was rather like being at school. We tasted seven wines altogether, all biodynamic.

The Aligote 2012 had a lovely, quite floral nose and was very appealing and easy-drinking. The other 2012s we tried were all red. The Hautes Cotes de Beaune had amazing red fruit on the nose but needed some time, as it had just had its final blending and wasn't quite knitted together yet. The Aloxe-Corton had very strong blackcurrants on the nose and was very pretty, while the Corton grand cru Les Perrieres was very Corton on the nose (undergrowth, and that foxy thing) and was serious and complex. The finish went on forever. This would be a wine to keep, definitely.

Then we tried some wines in bottle. The Aligote 2011 again was relatively soft on the palate and very drinkable, with a great finish. The Santenay blanc 2010 wasn't my kind of thing but G liked it, while as always the Beaune 1er cru Greves 2011 had a beautiful perfume on the nose and was very elegant, with succulent fruit. The view was that this needs 4-5 years. I have a six pack of this so am looking forward to 2016! Many thanks to Pierre for a very interesting tasting.

Afterwards we had some time to kill before Alain collected us, so we took some photos. I'm more a premier cru type myself but one had to do one's best with the props available.