Short notes from Burgundy 2018

Miscellaneous wines drunk outside of formal visits to domaines during my recent trip to Burgundy…

1996 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Chambolle-Musigny 1er. Poured from magnum over lunch at Le Ferme St Martin 21 Oct 2018. Courtesy of Jean-Luc Pepin, tasted blind. Dark in colour. Deep sweet tannins tinged with woody green elements amidst brighter tones of tangerines, red plums and redcurrants, showing great acidity that almost threatened to overshadow the fruit concentration.

2015 Domaine Thomas Pico Chablis at Les Caves Madeleine, Beaune, 22 Oct 2018. Intense bouquet of dense oily citrus. Cleanly focused palate, showing good concentration of fruit and minerals with fine intensity and sharp acidity, mellowing after some time. Very fine.

2012 Didier Dagueneau Silex at Les Caves Madeleine, Beaune, 22 Oct 2018. Complex forward bouquet of green melons, green apples and tropical fruits with a hint of durian in its pungent aromatics. Medium-full, fresh and rounded, showing good delineation and definition with oily textures. Good sophistication. Excellent.

2011 Domaine Roblet Monnot Volnay Piture 1er at Les Caves Madeleine, Beaune, 22 Oct 2018. Good color. Rather deep tone of dark fruits and dark plums. Fresh vibrant acidity. Very cleanly focused. Well-extracted. Highly supple with open intensity amidst undertones of ripe dark berries. Very fine.

Foie gras at Le Ferme St-Martin

2016 Pierre Yves Colin Morey Saint-Aubin La Chateniere 1er, at La Rotisserie du Chambertin, 23 Oct 2018. Beautiful color. Dense intense chalky bouquet with a sense of oiliness. Full concentration of dense white fruits and intense citrus on a backdrop of chiselled chalky minerals, rather tight and dry, developing further notes of tropical fruits. Plenty of potential.

2014 Domaine Marquis d’Angerville Volnay Champans 1er, at Le Chevreuil, 23 Oct 2018. Very dark. Rich bouquet of dark cherries, dark berries and currants with traces of tangerines. Well-extracted. Full concentration of fruit with rich tonal balance, fine intensity and depth, shrouded in creamy textures. Still incredibly tight.

2003 Markus Molitor Zeltinger Schlossberg Auslese**, over a home-cooked dinner at La Colombiere, 24 Oct 2018. Dense diesel fumes. Glowing with lovely concentration of tropical fruits and nectarine. Smooth, placid with understated acidity. Not quite as luscious as expected.

2000 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru, ex-cellars tasted blind courtesy of Jean Luc Pepin over a home-cooked dinner at La Colombiere, 24 Oct 2018. Evolved color with a vermilion rim. Lovely glow of red fruits and dark currants tinged with mild herbal tones. Rounded, open and fleshy, showing fine concentration with a deep minerally earthy vein. Good acidity. Excellent.

2006 Domaine Armand Rousseau Chambertin Grand Cru, ex-cellars courtesy of Cyrielle Rousseau over a home-cooked dinner at La Colombiere, 24 Oct 2018. Quite evolved in color. Somewhat reticent, just a suggestion of abundant dark plums and currants. Soft and fleshy with sublime acidity, glowing with lovely intensity. Highly supple and seamless. Slightly darker in tone, coming from a distinct minerally depth that imparted a stern demeanor. Excellent.

Cyrielle Rousseau & Jean-Luc Pepin tucking into black pepper crab flown in from Singapore

2014 Domaine Jean-Claude Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet Les Vergers 1er, at L‘Auberg du Vieux Vigneron, 25 Oct 2018. Fabulous bouquet of dense white fruits and rich creamy minerals. Very plump, displaying great acidity and fine tension with a creamy tone, developing exquisite intensity over time with emerging complexity that finished with lingering presence.

2015 Domaine Dauvissat Chablis Les Forest 1er, at Bistro du L’Hotel de Beaune, 25 Oct 2018. Effusive complex detailed bouquet of peaches, yellow citrus and dense flinty minerals. Excellent in concentration and acidity, rather firm, showing good balance. Finishing with mouth puckering intensity. Excellent.

2014 Domaine Armand Rousseau Clos de la Roche Grand Cru, at Bistro du L’Hotel de Beaune, 25 Oct 2018. Lovely bouquet, layered with complex red fruits, cherries and redcurrants. Quite full but somewhat reductive. More of dense minerals that imparted a stern austerity amidst tangerines and subdued red plums with more rose petals to the fore later in the evening, laced with fine acidity. Still too tight at this stage.

2014 Domaine Meo Camuzet Vosne-Romanee Les Chaumes 1er, at Bistro du L’Hotel de Beaune, 25 Oct 2018. Dark ruby. Shy, just hinting at dark cherries. Opened up with rich dark plums, very cleanly focused. Excellent concentration, layered with very good depth of fruit and minerals but too tight and dense at this stage, mellowing just a little to reveal intense red cherries. Not ready.

2001 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru, from magnum at La Ferme de la Ruchotte, 27 Oct 2018. Evolved colour, dull red with brownish rim, exuding a firm medicinal glow amidst dark fruits. Fleshy, revealing excellent depth of fruit and supple acidity, still very fresh. Developed a more minerally tone with a minty glow over time, turning into a broad expanse of complex red fruits, cinnamon and peaches on a rich dark cedary floor. A little rustic but this is excellent.

Two gentlemen savouring their meal at La Ferme de la Ruchotte

2009 Domaine Armand Rousseau Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques 1er, at Chez Guy, Gevrey, 27 Oct 2018. Beautiful deep ruby. Dense effusive bouquet of glorious dark currants and delicious dark cherries, richly layered with subtle minerally nuances, producing very fine intensity that grew more and more pronounced, culminating in a long glowing finish. Still far from its peak form but already outstanding.

2010 Domaine Georges Roumier Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras 1er, at Chez Guy, Gevrey, 27 Oct 2018. Popped and poured. Dark crimson. Sheer arresting fragrance of superbly ripe dark plums, dark cherries, red and black currants, highly alluring and intensely aromatic. Tight with excellent concentration and lovely density, deeply layered, drawing fine tension and intensity across the palate, gelling together very well after some time with a broad expanse of exquisite sophistication. Brilliant!

2015 Maison Capitain-Gagnerot Ladoix Les Grichons et Foutieres 1er, courtesy of Pierre over a home-cooked dinner at La Colombiere, 28 Oct 2018. White fruits and lovely intense citrus with concentrated focus, layered with subtle minerals on the palate with surprisingly good intensity and depth of fruit. Quite excellent.

1993 Domaine Robert Ampeau Meursault Perriere 1er, courtesy of Pierre over a home-cooked dinner at La Colombiere, 28 Oct 2018. Gentle floral chalky tones on the nose. Medium-full, displaying ample creamy chalkiness with lovely oily textures, developing firm stony minerals later. Still very fresh.

2015 Domaine Maldant Pauvelot Santenay, over a home-cooked dinner at La Colombiere, 28 Oct 2018. Fleshy red fruits and dark plums along with some undergrowth and earth. Medium-bodied, showing fine presence and inner detail, producing a dryish mouthfeel.

2009 Maison Albert Ponnelle Beaune Les Bressandes 1er, courtesy of Pierre over a home-cooked dinner at La Colombiere, 28 Oct 2018. Evolved colour, exuding aromatic dark red fruits and currants with a calm elegance. Very good concentration with some early complexity on the palate, yielding cool ripe fruit with subtle saline minerals. Quite seamless and fleshy, finishing with good inearity amidst a bit of gravelly brightness. Very fine.

Vilmart Grand Cellier champagne, at Helen’s residence in Levernois, 29 Oct 2018. Ample in dense sweet yellow citrus and lime, open with a broad expanse of dry minerality and good acidity, showing good definition. A blend of 70% chardonnay and 30% pinot noir.

2015 Domaine Coche-Dury Meursault, at Le Restaurant of Hostellere de Levernois, 29 Oct 2018. Our second bottle of the same wine within a week. Clear luminosity. Effusive bouquet of emerging chalky tones and dense white floral notes. Lovely minerally presence with layers and layers of clear tropical fruit, yellow citrus and crystalline minerals, becoming fuller over time yet retaining superb delicate intensity and transparency with a deeper minerally tone, finishing with great persistence. Superb.

2012 Domaine Francois Lamarche Vosne-Romanee Aux Malconsorts 1er, at Le Restaurant of Hostellere de Levernois, 29 Oct 2018. Gentle dark roses and dark cherries on the nose. Medium full with a distinct minerally tone amidst good concentration of ripe dark berries and plums, deeply layered with growing intensity. Excellent but still tight.

2014 Domaine Hubert Lamy Saint-Aubin Les Dent des Chien 1er, at William Frachot in Dijon, 30 Oct 2018. Lovely delicate lift and luminosity. Good concentration of clear citrus with a lovely lightness and superb intensity of fruit and tight acidity, becoming more intense with gravelly minerals.

2018 Domaine Jacques-Frederic Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny Les Fuees 1er, at William Frachot, Dijon, 30 Oct 2018. Superb bouquet of deep savoury and earthy tones with a complex of dark ripe berries, blackberries and dark currants. Richly layered with delicious fruit, tangerines with some early cedar on a cleanly focused palate, structured with good definition and firm tannins, turning a bit assertive before settling with a mellower richer tone, tapering to a slightly dryish austere end. Outstanding.

Domaine Gouffier Cremant de Bourgogne, at Le Richebourg in Vosne, 31 Oct 2018. A blend of 50% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay with 2 grammes of dosage. Broad expanse of dense chalky minerals and yellow citrus, suitably dry, exuding a powerful yeasty pungency. Excellent in concentration and presence with fresh vibrant acidity. Quite excellent.

2016 Domaine Gouffier Rully, at Le Richebourg in Vosne, 31 Oct 2018. Attractive nose of white fruits. Medium-full, revealing sharp acidity and angular intensity. More forward minerally balance, building up to a sweet finish of great intensity.

2013 Domaine Mongeard Mugneret Fixin, at Le Richebourg in Vosne, 31 Oct 2018. Dark in colour and tone, revealing dark cherries with a reductive brazen intensity. Assertive tannins. Very tight and unyielding.

2016 Domaine Benoit Ente Bourgogne, at Pierre’s place, 01 Nov 2018. Lovely rounded creamy bouquet. Medium-bodied, yielding dry minerality.

2014 Maison Albert Ponnelle Savigny-les-Beaune VV Blanc, at Pierre’s place, 01 Nov 2018. Good fruit. Broad expansive minerality amidst very fine intensity of citrus fruits.

2015 Domaine de la Tournelle Cul du Brey Arbois at Pierre’s place, 01 Nov 2018. A chardonnay from Jura. Clear light citrus. Good freshnessand  acidity with transparent textures and good definition within a delicate structure. Lovely glowing finish, developing a gentle depth over time time. Zero sulphites.

2014 Maison Albert Ponnelle Savigny-les-Beaune Les Pimentiers at Pierre’s place, 01 Nov 2018. Darkish tones with characters of undergrowth, wild berries and dark plums. Medium-full. Very good presence and acidity, developing sweet delicious dark fruits amidst silky tannins. Fine.