Recent white premier crus

November was a busy month. I finally made it to Pennsylvania and got married! I had a lovely time over there and as usual it was a bit of a wrench coming back, but the visa application process is now underway and in the meantime there is wine to drink and notes to be made. 

Starting with the whites.

We actually drank this one in September - a Nuits St Georges 1er cru les Terres Blanches 2013 from Fabienne Bony. It was an attractive mid-gold colour, and had for me a lovely mushroomy thing on the nose, while G detected hazelnuts. On the palate, it was quite rich with a nice texture, and elements of citrus and honey. There was a lovely tingly spritz of lime on the finish, and a hint of ripe peach appeared as time went on. It was very well-balanced and we felt it was drinking perfectly now but wouldn't keep much longer. We gave it 9 points. 

Then, a couple of weeks ago, we went to the Hawksmoor where G brought along this Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru La Romanee 2013 from Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard to go with the starter. Sadly, it was suffering from premox and was nutty but not in a good way, along with a hint of potting shed. It was a shame, but I thought it was worth noting for the record. Nul points. 

And finally, last Sunday I went round to G and H's for lunch. A bottle of very fancy Sancerre turned out to be corked - our hit rate seems to be about 1 in 2 at the moment! - but fortunately G had a back up option, this Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Les Petits Clos 2015 from Jean-Noel Gagnard. There were sighs of pleasure (and relief) all round. It was quite pale in colour, the nose reminded me of a Puligny and on the palate it was impeccable - elegant with good acidity, especially for a 2015. It had a great finish, and worked very well with some very smoky smoked salmon and the world's biggest lettuce. We gave it 10 points. Apparently it had quite a hefty price tag, but well, it was probably worth it. Thanks G for sharing all of these with me!

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. 

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! 

Veuve vertical and other things, 19th May

A couple of weeks ago I was joined by ACC, G and the Baron for lunch at AduV Towers, and a real treat was in store. It's not every day you get to drink two vintage champagnes from the 1980s!

First up was this Veuve Clicquot 1983 provided by G, who got it at auction for an absolute steal. Based on his experience with other bottles from this lot, it came from a good cellar with good levels. The pop of the cork was certainly lively, and the wine itself was a glorious golden colour. It had a very yeasty nose and was rich and concentrated which made ACC think it had a high proportion of chardonnay. The finish was impressive too and it was drinking very nicely now, whereas apparently the 2008 vintage is falling off a cliff. The Baron thought it would go well with sweet food, but it was fine with smoked trout too. It was as good a bottle of champagne as I've had in recent years.

Meanwhile, ACC had brought along this 1980 vintage Veuve which he obtained for less than 20 euros from a source which I won't divulge in order to preserve this particular hunting ground for the future. Eye injuries were avoided as the cork was eased out with a gentle sigh. It was generally agreed that this bottle had more nutty aromas and was perhaps a little drier, with good grip. Its bubbles were exuberant to begin with but then tailed off more quickly. Comparisons were made to Salon. I wouldn't like to say which I preferred - they were both remarkable wines and it was an extraordinary experience to drink them side by side. They don't make them like they used to!

Those two were always going to be a tough act to follow, but we did our best with the reds. I supplied the Nuits St Georges 1er cru Pruliers from Domaine Bony and once again I was very pleased with it but didn't bother making notes.

From G's cellar came this Chambolle-Musigny Clos le Village 2008 from Felettig. This was drinking perfectly at 10 years old, and was delicious, smooth, plummy and elegant. "Chambolle is sexy pinot noir" said ACC, and this bottle lived up to its reputation.

Finally, the Baron had brought along some Mas de Daumas Gassac 2005 to go with the cheeseboard. This is from the Languedoc and I found myself wondering what grapes it was made from - have just looked it up and apparently it's mostly cabernet sauvignon which would explain why I liked it so much. It was smooth, fruity and ripe, and drinking very nicely now, although the website says this one should be kept further. Apparently it was only 12.5% alcohol so not a hangover-inducing monster either.

I've definitely had worse lunches. Thanks everyone for a very enjoyable occasion!

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!

SPNS dinner, 6th Sept

On Wednesday night, it was over to the Savile Club, fuelled by the Atomic Blonde soundtrack. I was transporting precious cargo across London, not a wristwatch containing secret codenames, but this 2014 pink fizz from Domaine Alice Beaufort which had been stashed in the boardroom fridge all afternoon to keep it away from the prying eyes of my colleagues.

I first tried this at a wine tasting held by the Burgundy Portfolio at Highbury Library and maybe the fact that it was my birthday that night had something to do with it but it was love at first taste. It's made from pinot noir grown just outside Champagne, but the winemaker, Quentin Beaufort, comes from a family which makes Champagne so he knows what he's doing.

What did the assembled company think? Notes of wild or tinned strawberries were detected and there was a reference to Eton Mess. Dangerously drinkable was the general verdict. "Easy to have too much" said P. Say what? There was some debate about whether it would age further. ACC is convinced that it will, but I only have three bottles left, one of which is in the fridge, so I don't give much for its chances.

We moved upstairs to the dining room and straight onto a pair of whites. First was this 2014 Chardonnay Barrel Select no. 02 from Domaine LeSeurre in the Finger Lakes, provided by D. This was a revelation. I would never have guessed it was chardonnay. For me, it had notes of lime and it reminded me of a really elegant riesling. It had an amazing finish and was highly regarded by everyone.

As you can see from the above, the winemakers at this domaine are French. I hope we get to go there in a couple of weeks' time. ACC said that maybe it was a different clone of chardonnay from the one which we're more used to, which might explain why it flummoxed us.

The other white was this Bourgogne Chardonnay 2013 from Domaine Albert Joly, provided by ACC. Funnily enough the 2012 has been my house white lately, so this was particularly interesting for me. The 2012 is definitely playing at village Puligny level, and has that strict thing going on which we love about this domaine, but the 2013 was fuller, richer and more powerful. G said it was less serious than the LeSeurre but that wasn't a criticism!

I took a photo so that we could compare the colour of the two wines. G remarked that normally you'd expect the New World wine to be the one on the left. Not this time!

With our main courses we moved on to the reds. P had brought along this Nuits-St-Georges 1999 from Jaffelin and enjoyed telling us how little it had cost him back in the day. It was classic old school NSG, drinking very nicely now with resolved tannins. Sometimes I find NSG a bit challenging but this went down just fine. It even got a "Wow" from D which isn't something we see very often!

G, on the other hand, had brought along a dodgy Croatian red made by the waiter in a restaurant where he dined while on holiday recently. Apparently "moje corno" means "my red". It was 15% and first impressions were that it was weird, certainly the nose was a bit strange. I got a lot of black cherry. It did have an extraordinary finish and reminded D of an old zinfandel. Generally I would have to say the reaction wasn't enthusiastic, but it was certainly unusual and very much in the spirit of the SPNS.

G redeemed himself with a bonus wine, a bottle of "Very Old East India Madeira" bottled by Berry Bros in 1959. Apparently it was a leaky bottle which is why he brought it along. The leakiness didn't prove to be a problem. For me it had lots of toffee and caramel which made sense when it was revealed that it was a Malmsey. "Absolutely splendid" said G and nobody in their right mind would argue with that. A pleasure to drink. More leaky bottles please!

Thanks everyone for another great evening.

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. 

Domaine Bony, 29th October

Julien le taxi whisked us off to our next appointment, at Domaine Bony in Nuits St Georges. A new supermarket had appeared across the road since our visit last year! A fine tabby cat and another large yellow dog were hanging around outside. The dog came over to say hello and we were soon all best friends.

Then Fabienne appeared and the tasting could begin. She told us that things had been very busy for her lately and some of the wines were still in barrel, so we didn't taste the full range.

Of the wines we tasted, the Nuits St Georges had a richness and power to it. She uses 20% new oak and there was some discussion of the style - these are not traditional Nuits which is a good thing in my book - they are much more fruity, approachable and generally enjoyable, and don't need to be kept for 20 years to drink.

As usual, I loved the Les Damodes which isn't a premier cru, but feels like one in terms of quality. This had very nice red berries and reminded me of fruit compote, with a lovely silky texture.

Fans of Fabienne's 2009 Passetoutgrains (e.g. me - considerable quantities of the stuff have been glugged at AduV Towers) will be pleased that she made some more in 2014. We tasted this after the Damodes which was unusual, as normally you'd go from lighter to heavier wines, but nevertheless it had a nice fruity nose and was soft, easy-drinking. It's a 50/50 blend of pinot noir and gamay. Fabienne thought the nose was a bit "sauvage" and I knew what she meant but I rather liked it.

We also tasted a couple of whites - an Aligote and a Bourgogne Blanc. The Aligote is made in stainless steel tanks and from vines that are just 4 years old. I normally don't particularly like Aligote but I did enjoy this. It was well-balanced with a nice texture, not thin and acidic like some Aligotes can be. Fabienne told us that a Parisien caviste had compared it to the Aligote made by Lalou Bize-Leroy; having just consulted a certain other wine merchant's website I see the 2010 vintage of this is going for £54 in the UK so hope that Fabienne won't be pricing accordingly... The Bourgogne Blanc is made from 60 year old vines and seemed softer than the Aligote, with a certain creaminess to it. ACC thought it needed some time to knit together, but it was a promising start.

Once again it seemed to me that the 2014s were shaping up well, the quality of the wines from this domaine is consistently good, and thanks to Fabienne for the tasting.

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.

Bony dinner, 25th Feb

On Wednesday G and I braved the Piccadilly Line to Knightsbridge to Chabrot Bistrot des Amis for an evening with Fabienne Bony, the winemaker at Domaine J-P Bony based in Nuits-St-Georges.

Proceedings commenced with a glass (or two) of Cremant de Bourgogne, which is primarily made from pinot noir, although she's thinking about doing some chardonnay next year. This made a very enjoyable aperitif.

Then we sat down and had some Nuits-St-Georges "Les Damodes" 2012 with our starter of pork terrine. I was reminded of my first encounter with this wine at the City tasting a couple of years ago, when we tried the 2010 vintage and it was the smash hit of the evening. On this occasion Fabienne thought it was served rather too warm, and I agreed, but nevertheless it showed well with an enticing fruity nose, good acidity and general succulence. Damodes is on the north side of the village, towards Vosne-Romanee, and most of the vineyard is premier cru. Fabienne's part isn't premier cru, but as far as quality is concerned, it could be.

With our main course of duck with honey on a bed of Puy lentils (which was delicious) we had the jewel in the crown, Nuits-St-Georges Les Pruliers 2010. Fabienne approved of the duck combo as she and her husband often drink these wines with duck. Pruliers is a premier cru, in the middle of a group of premier cru vineyards further south. For me, this had a massive hit of blackcurrants and was very smooth, really great. I sometimes find NSG hard work, but these wines are much more approachable and enjoyable to drink than most! They are in a softer, more charming style with plenty of finesse, rather than tannic monsters.

With the cheese, a Rocamadour supplied by my favourite cheese shop down the road, we had some Passetoutgrains 2009. This was very different from the NSGs, as you'd expect, and there was some controversy at the decision to drink this with the cheese, but I think it was absolutely correct - the "farmyard aromas" worked very well with the chevre, and this was packed with flavour. It's unusual for a Passetoutgrains in that it's 1/3 gamay and 2/3 pinot noir - the proportions are usually reversed. I thought it was fantastic and excellent value at £13.50 a bottle if memory serves - my order sheet was rapidly completed and handed to ACC...

Finally, dessert was a glass of cremant de bourgogne rose with little pieces of fruit floating in it. My phone had died at this stage but J kindly let my take this photo with his. By this stage I'd already eaten the floating fruit. It made for a very pleasant, refreshing end to the meal.

Thanks to Fabienne and to ACC of the Burgundy Portfolio for organising this event, and to Chabrot for the excellent food. Finally, for those curious about the Slovenian accordion music channel, G wasn't making it up - you can find it here. I don't think it's actually 24 hours a day as it doesn't seem to be working at the moment but hopefully it will be back in action this evening...

Vintage Variation tasting, 12th Aug

On Monday, we twirled our imaginary ironic moustaches and made our way to Shoreditch to attend this tasting held by ACC of the Burgundy Portfolio in Leila's Shop on Calvert Avenue.

I'd never been to Shoreditch before; the extent of my roaming in that direction has been Old Street "silicon roundabout". As we approached it on Monday night, we walked along a section of Old Street full of shabby 1960s office blocks with a dreary air of hopelessness. I decided that the area reminded me of Wellingborough town centre, and G said that he'd been thinking of Peterborough. Maybe the geeks are too busy developing killer apps to notice the architecture.

Fortunately things looked up fairly quickly on the other side of the roundabout and Shoreditch seemed similar to the nicer bits of Clerkenwell, with interesting warehouses and Victorian buildings, but with a side order of Vietnamese cafes and trendy bars. Eventually we found the venue, which turned out to be a charming cafe down the far end of a quiet side street. A cheery group including several familiar faces were getting stuck in to a choice of two cremants de bourgogne - either the normal or the rose from Domaine Jean-Pierre Bony. I opted for the rose which I've tried before and liked. I didn't really pay a huge amount of attention to it but it went down a treat.

After some preliminary chit-chat, we took our places at the table. This was a sit-down tasting, which is my favourite kind as I find I can concentrate better, get to listen to ACC's take on the wine and anecdotes about the wine-makers, don't have to sharpen my elbows to get to the booze, and can make proper notes. Also, we had some food, which helps put the wine in context. On this occasion there were wooden boards bearing cheeses and saucisson, alongside bread, cornichons and crisps. G was ravenous and within minutes had practically eaten his own body-weight in Comte and saucisson.

The theme of the tasting was vintage variation and for the most part we drank pairs of the same wine from different vintages. The first pair was the Petit Chablis from Domaine Nathalie and Gilles Fevre, the 2011 against the 2012. We were supposed to drink from young to old, and therefore pour the young wine into our left glass and the old wine into our right glass. This required a surprising amount of concentration every time the wine went round and somehow seemed counter-intuitive. I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that we're used to reading from left to right and therefore unconsciously expect the older thing to be on the left and the newer thing to be on the right. Who knows.

The 2012 had only been in bottle for 3 months, while the 2011 had been in bottle for 15 months. I liked the fresh, lemony nose on the 2012 and found it quite sharp on the palate, which made me think it will be good in a few months' time. The 2011 was definitely drinking better now, but wasn't quite as crisp. G and I agreed that we preferred the 2012 but opinions around the table were mixed.

Then we tried the 2009 and 2010 Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine Florent Garaudet. This domaine is in Monthelie which is on the other side of Volnay from Pommard, and not a very well-known appellation. We visited the domaine back in January and came away with the impression that Florent is very passionate and even obsessive (in a good way) about his wine.

We'd tasted the 2010 at the white burgundy and port tasting a few weeks ago, and I liked it then. I liked it this time too - it was well-balanced and precise. We were less keen on the 2009 - G described it as "butch" and I thought it lacked the special quality of the 2010.

Then we tried the 2008 vintage of the same wine and this was very impressive, drinking very well now and with a great finish. Florent Garaudet is only in his early 20s and ACC thinks that he's one of the great stars of the future. He might just be right.

Next we tried two viogniers from Domaine de Sermezy which is in Beaujolais. The 2012 had a very strong smell of pear drops on the nose, which was perhaps a little too powerful. And sadly the 2011 was corked - it was fizzy but there was also an underlying mouldy sock thing going on. This was a shame, as ACC said the 2011 is generally better than the 2012.

Then it was on to the reds. First, we compared the 2010 and 2011 Moulin-a-Vent "Mortperay" from Domaine Benoit Trichard. I preferred the 2011 - it had a lovely nose but was not yet knitted together. ACC said it had a purity of fruit and more polish. We followed it up with the 2009 of the same wine, which was drinking now. I liked it but thought it perhaps wasn't as pretty as the 2011. Also, I've had a lot of the 2009 Moulin-a-Vent "L'Exception" from the same producer, so am staying loyal to that.

Finally, the highlight of the tasting: two vintages of Nuits-St-Georges 1er cru Les Pruliers from Domaine Jean-Pierre Bony, the 2010 and 2011. For me, again, the 2011 was the winner - it had an absolutely beautiful nose. It had lovely cherry fruit and was very elegant, with a wonderful finish. This will be first-rate when it's ready, and I succumbed to a half case to be tucked away for 10 years. I don't think I'll regret it. Thanks again to ACC for another fascinating tasting.