1993 Leroy Vosne-Romanée Beaux Monts, 1999 Ampeau Auxey-Duresses Écusseaux, 2000 Armand Rousseau Mazy-Chambertin, 2006 Hudelot-Nöellat Romanée-St-Vivant, 2012 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Chevalières

Sir Bob got us off to a generous start this New Year on 12 January 2021 at Imperial Treasure Great World with a pair of Domaine Leroy, now outrageously expensive but nobody is complaining when there is so much begging to be drunk. This dinner also marked the new formula of 2n for the number of bottles to be drunk at any of our events (where n = number of persons), replacing the previous n+1 🙂

2017 Château de Chamirey Mercurey Blanc. Aired in bottle for two hours prior. Brilliant clarity, evoking characters of cool icing and vanillin with an expanse of chromatic white tones. Shows good concentration of clear citrus, displaying fine layering, inner detail and agility aided by fresh acidity that imparted good structure, precision and intensity. This is not even the estate’s La Mission 1er monopole. Great value.

2002 Champagne William Deutz Brut, courtesy of LF. Deep bouquet of burnt oak, toast and roasted cashews with yeasty undertones, displaying fine complexity. Possesses excellent clarity and freshness, marked by fine presence of citrus and minerally tones that conferred a bit of gunmetal flint, turning slightly stern as it finished with dry intensity. Good stuff.

2017 Domaine du Château de Meursault Meursault Charmes Dessus 1er, courtesy of Kieron. Straw-coloured. Effusive notes of vanillin and frangipani cloaked within an attractive sheen of paraffin, exuding sweet gentle fragrance with a sense of oiliness on the mid-palate, showing good clarity with very fine acidity and verve. Excellent but pricey nowadays.

1999 Domaine Robert Ampeau et Fils Auxey-Duresses Les Écusseaux 1er. Aired in bottle for three hours prior. Displaying a lovely crimson hue, this wine is imbued with excellent depth of red fruits, dark currants and distinct earthy elements amid secondary nuances of tangerines, wonderfully fresh and agile with sublime acidity, subtly structured with fine precision as it finished with good length. Superb value.

1993 Domaine Leroy Pommard Les Vignots, courtesy of Sir Bob. Deep ruby. Cherries, red fruits and haw dominate with subtle intensity, amply layered, imbued with fairly intense acidity. Wonderfully supple and fleshy, slightly forward in fruit balance but all the better in the face of such amazing freshness, just a tad short. Excellent.

1993 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée Les Beaux Monts 1er, courtesy of Sir Bob. Highly inviting on the nose, its crimson depth evoking a lovely deep rounded fragrance that led to a great open suppleness, imbued with abundant fruit that is still remarkably fresh, traversing the palate with superb length and intensity worthy of a grand cru. Quite outstanding.

2000 Domaine Armand Rousseau Mazy-Chambertin Grand Cru, courtesy of Sir Bob. Classic pinot tone, proffering a generous bouquet of glorious red fruits tinged with characters of ash and incense. Highly ample with a lush elegance, seamlessly layered with very fine open density within its rounded fleshiness, laced with great acidity. Carries a certain pedigree and correctness. Caught at its peak. Excellent.

2006 Domaine Hudelot-Nöellat Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru, courtesy of Vic. Decanted at short notice. Penetrating ruby tinged with crimson, proffering a wonderful depth of dark cherries and small ripe berries with a dash of earth, displaying superb suppleness and subtle intensity on the open palate where its balance is quite exemplary, exuding great lift and acidity. Has real sophistication and breed, perhaps even outperforming its own credentials. Outstanding.

2009 Domaine Robert Groffier Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru, courtesy of Kieron. Ripe plummy fruit with a sense of pebbly warmth dominate on the nose, matched by a deeper core of tangerines on the open fullish palate, showing great refinement in its subtle display of early secondary characters and controlled intensity. Still rather youthful. Excellent.

2012 Domaine Coche-Dury Meursault Les Chevalières, courtesy of LF. Aired in bottle for two hours prior. Enticing cool vanillin dominate with lovely presence on the nose whilst the medium-bodied palate is saturated with chalky detail and dense complex citrus, exuding great harmony and brilliance with chiseled definition. Truly a world-beating village. Excellent.