Sasi's Birthday Burgs

Sasi and Devi were back for a short while, and we took the opportunity to celebrate his birthday in advance. Burg-theme, unsurprisingly. As with most of our dinners, we somehow ended up with the startling coincidence of having two Batards and a pair of Gevrey Grand Crus. Really good line-up as a whole, with really strong whites and equally good reds, all served blind as usual. Whites and reds were interspersed during the dinner to match the menu, but I have re-organised them for easier viewing.

• NV H. Billiot Fils Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Laetitia Brut 92 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Still good, still incredibly interesting, but I thought that this lacked a bit of the je nais se qouis of the last bottle I had. When popped and poured, the wine showed a super vigorous bead zipping through the glass. This was certainly a takes no prisoners type of Champagne - the bouquet just whooshed through the nose, exploding with red apples, sweet cherries, some vanilla, flowers, ripe lemons and white meat - a heady mixture. Palate was took on the same tone, with upfront sweet cherries, very red-appley flavours on the mid-palate, almost apple cider tones, and a strong undercurrant of sweet citrus lemons. Yummy, powerful, rich. It finished with a another punch of meat, apples, spice and mineral. This was a no holds barred, hair on chest type. I just found that it lacked a bit of subtlety somehow, and maybe just a bit of lively verve that I've come to like in my bubblies. Otherwise, this was certainly a nice Champagne.

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• 2006 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Serious stuff. Not quite as show-stopping a wine as the last bottle I tried, but still a really first class Grand Cru Chablis. Nose showed deep whiffs of talc, chalk, flinty mineral, flecks of seashell, all very Chablis, along with rather less characteristic ripe, fleshy white fruit, a bit of cream and butter and a hint of flowers. Palate was quite rich as well, with an explosion of flavours on the attack - white fruit, pears, white flowers and more of those saline, seashell notes. Lovely. Great depth, power, lovely lines, focus, delicious fleshiness, profound concentration, beautiful length, with unfolding mineral just going on and on. This was a perfect, perfect pairing our Japanese flounder carpaccio starter. The wine and the fish were absolutely singing in pitch perfect harmony, and the rating here might be a bit biased, because the pairing was just so seamless that it was almost impossible to tell where the fish stopped and the wine began. Fresh tastes of the sea were simply spreading all over the mouth, slowly fanning out into mineral lines, and little lemony flavours at the edges. Beautiful.

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• 2004 Domaine Michel Niellon Bâtard-Montrachet 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  This was something quite special. Guessed it as a Batard from a high-acid year, but could not quite figure out who the maker was. Nose was very impressive, with rich notes of honey, nectar, peaches, ripe lemon, and some gentle lashings of butter, cream and vanilla. The delicious palate had lovely weight on it, and absolutely mouth-filling flavours of honey and caramel lined with a serious minerally streak, full of flint and metal-ore notes. In spite of its heft and power, the wine still displayed a lovely balance, with nice tight lines where everything was perfectly in place, so that this came across as more elegant than most Batards. Finish displayed more of that serious weight and concentration, with some nuttiness, lots of Manuka honey tones and a wash of beautiful fresh acidity that just lifted the wine at its very tail. A really impressive showing.

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• 2003 Louis Lequin Bâtard-Montrachet 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  By coincidence, the second Batard of the night. Strange little wine, but really quite good in its unusual way. On first sniff, the nose smelt for all the world like a fresh-baked Gougere (cheese-puffs), or like someone had dropped a dollop of epoisses into the mix. Swirl a bit, and I got a sprig of herbs, some asparagus, fresh cut flowers scents, cream fraiche, a touch of saline mineral, and tons of chalk, a little lime and a sniff of vanilla. All quite fresh and springy. The palate was rather different though. It showed good weight, with more chalk and gunflinty notes, but had deeper, sweeter honey notes, ripe yellow fruit flavours, and a round finish with lots of spice and some flowers. Nowhere near as prodigously long as the Michel Niellon Batard that came before, but this had some decent length of its own. All in all, a good wine, and a pretty decent effort in for a hot year.

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• 1990 Robert Ampeau & Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Nice way to round-up the evening. A rather idiosyncratic wine, but very pleasant in its own way, and certainly no slouch in the quality department either. Nose was very nutty, with some roasted almonds, plenty of yellow fruit and a flinty minerality. More yellow fruit on the palate, rich, a bit ripe, almost banana-like at the edges, but all held in a nice balance. Past the mid-palate, there were some caramelly notes, and more tertiary flavours of white meat, earth and umami. Finish had a some lemons, a whiff of smoke, some mineral notes and just tons of roasted almonds. Pretty good, but it was hard for any of the whites to keep up with the fantastic 2004 Niellon Batard-Montrachet on the night.

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• 2001 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Fuées 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

  A beautiful wine on the night. Sparkling clarity, lovely lines - most of us guessed it as a Mugnier Chambolle, and I thought it might have been a Fuees given the feel, but thought it was an early drinking 2004. Really nice nose, with some Chinese herbs, mostly angelica root, dried tree bark and deer antler shavings (hence the 2004 reference). With a bit of time, out came lovely flowers, clear red fruit scents, almost maraschino-like, more savoury smells of earth, meat, mushroom and a touch of wood spice. Complex, gentle, absolutely brilliant without needing to shout. With time, it opened up even more, show that the bouquet showed some intense perfume, almost like potpourri, or incense, with just that bit of spice box floating around. I thought the palate was rather less alluring than the nose, but there was no mistaking that this was a top-notch 1er Cru. Layers of flavours just washed through the mouth on the attack, with wood spice, clean, clear dark cherries tones showing some lovely purity and wafting flower notes that were so very Chambolle. The wine had a nice silky feel to it. Nice concentration too, but without being rich. A mouth-filling finish rounded up the wine with more dashes spice, flowers and some iron-ore accents, all with a gentle unfolding length right at the back of the palate.

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• 1971 Domaine Henri Lamarche Clos Vougeot 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru

  A real rarity - one of the few 1971 Burgs I have tried, and I certainly did not even know Lamarche made a Clos Vougeot. This was pretty good and wore its age well. Lovely, complex nose showed expressive scents of raspberries, haw flakes, wood spice, some flowers and a burnt sugar accent, along with some savoury roasted white meats and a little saline undercurrant. This was really quite something. Palate was rather simpler, but still very pleasant. There was lovely acidity, again flavours of haw flakes and dried raspberries at the fore, some lovely piercing purity in the dried red fruit expression I thought, and then some ferrous mineral as the wine entered into a saline, almost salty finish, with earthy wood spice notes pulling the wine out to some length.

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• 1998 Domaine Denis Bachelet Charmes-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Not sure why this has not been reviewed all that well. It was a really lovely wine on the night. Beautiful nose. Oh my goodness, perfumed flowers, woflberries, iron-ore, and red fruits galore just giving way to hints of meat and a hint of sous bois at the edges. Wonderful purity of expression on that bouquet - clearly top-notch Gevrey, but I guessed it was a Clos St. Jacques instead. Palate carried on the theme of great purity, with a lovely show of red fruit - strawberries, super-pure dark cherries, a nice underlayer of blueberries, all with lots of flesh and sap. Nice finish too, showing fresh acid, lots of mineral and a dash of spice along with tons of mouth-filling red fruit. Never sweet, never ripe, just really pure and expressive. A joyous expression of the Charmes terroir, with not a hint of the hard 1998 meanies to be found. This really put a smile on my face. The others preferred the 2001 Mugnier Les Fuees on the night, but this was my favourite red wine.

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• 2007 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Ruchottes-Chambertin Grand Cru

  My first time trying Rousseau's Ruchottes. Unusual for a Gevrey, most of us thought it was a Bones Mares, but it was a really good wine, and an excellent effort indeed for a 2007. The nose on this was certainly show-stopping. Roses, violets, a hint of vanilla, a touch of dried dusty earth, almonds, a little of meat and deep-set blueberry tones. Woah. The palate had a richness and depth of concentration that I would have never expected from a 2007. Again, sappy blueberry were at the fore along with some clean, cool dark berry fruits. Still a little primary, but this had lovely round balance with plenty of freshness, and a silky fineness that gave the wine a sense of resolved elegance in spite of some obvious extract. It finish with some wild briars, some spice and a touch of toasty mocha. A really nice wine, drinking well even in its youth. Not one for long aging I think, but barring any shutting down, it should give a lot of pleasure for the greater part of a decade or so.

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