I liked this. It was pretty good and drinking rather well at the moment, but just a little notch down from the Morgeot of the same vintage I thought. Nose was attractive, somewhat straddling Chassagne and Puligny, with lots of chalk and flint-like mineral scents, some earth, hints of white meat and earth with a little creamy touch all wafting alongside white fruit with a little riper, yellow fruit nuance at the edges, honeysuckle and a nice long draw of almond essence. Palate did not quite have the complexity and verve of the nose, but I must say it was really pleasant. Clean, pure, nice transparency, with decent weight on its appley fruit tied to flinty minerality and good acidity lending the wine the nice elegant shape I normally associate with good Vergers. A very delicious, drinkable wine I thought. Finish was just a bit lacking, showing a minerally linger before dissipating. Otherwise, this was really nice, and a good example of a classic Cote de Beaune white.

What a striking co-incidence, this was the second bottle of Vergers on the night. The first, a 2004 Marc Morey, was mine, this was Leonards'. I thought this was really good - one notch up from the already very decent Marc Morey. Strange thing is that we all noted how much similarity this wine shared with the first Vegers, yet no one hazard a guess that it was the same vineyard. In fact, almost everyone called this a Puligny! Lovely nose. Same lines as the previous wine, but quite a bit more expressive, with red Fuji apples alongside whiffs of earth, flint and plenty of chalk and a nice whiff of sweet gardenia-like flowers. Very pretty. Palate too showed very expressively. I thought it was really alluring, very pretty, with more red apples, more flowers. Plenty of velvety depth and fullness here, but it was both weighty and supple, with a lovely balance to it. A bit less minerality than on the nose, but enough to lend the otherwise very eager to please wine a nice little edge. It finished seamlessly, with a lengthy, but gentle fade of fresh fruit and a little citrus twist. I really liked this.

How very unusual, an NSG blanc. This was really good though. Rather exotic nose made me think Southern Europe - it opened with peppery spice, a touch of saffron, along with more Burgundian flinty mineral, a little bit of smoky gunpowder and savoury white meat scents and then sweeter flowery notes and candied almond accents floating alongside a dollop of cream. I was expecting something a bit oaky on the palate given the nose, but it really surprised me with a lovely, pure expression of green apples and lemons in a nice warmish palate that was seamlessly knit together and full of vibrant freshness. Finish had decent length too, and was seamlessly integrated with the rest of the palate, showing very open, generous green apple flavours and a bittersweet almond tail. Very nice indeed. Quite a surprise here, this more than held its own amidst the Cote de Beaune 1er Crus.

This is just about as exotic and unusual as it gets in this part of the world. A completely different animal from the three white Burgs that preceded it, but there was no mistaking the quality on this wine. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Nose was a cross between a Moscato and a Greman Riesling, with tons of flowers, white musk, a little fresh herbal undertone, with bits of sage and rosemary, and then a dose of sweet longan syrup and all sorts of aromatic tropical tones like rambutans and pineapple gummies. The palate took on the flavour profile, with perfumy chamomile notes on the attack. I exepected some sweetness, but boy, this was bone dry, with a nice firmness undergirding an oily, weighty, almost fatty texture. I got a touch of rich, almost sultana like flavours on the mid-palate and, moving towards the back-palate, more rambutans and pineapples, before the wine lingered towards an aromatic finish with more perfumy accents and another little sprig of herb. I would not expect it from something so perfumy, but this went particularly well with the seafood dishes and the pesto pasta. A really interesting wine.

Amazing, and a real, real surprise. Burghound's note on this wine in 1996, almost 15 years ago, suggested that it was on its way down. This bottle could not be further from his sentiments. It was incredible. Clearly either a Volnay or a Chambolle. Hard to tell which when tasted blind, but it could hardly be anything else. Gorgeous nose, with fresh, slightly tart cherry scents bathed with sweet floral essence and pats of wet-earth. It reminded me somewhat of walking through a forest after a spring shower. Very seductive, but the palate was another story - it was nothing short of breathtaking. Incredible depth, great balance, with some of the most enchanting, beautiful flavours I have had for a long time. Sweet cherries, strawberries, with a slightly preserved-fruit character at the edges and some beautiful florals, all glowing with an lovely natural sweetness. A little stream of ferrous, slightly bloody mineral added an interesting counterpoint, as the wine slid into a long finish full of seductive dried cherry, dried grape and earth notes. This was at peak. Soft, velvety, yet impeccably balanced - it was a profound experience which stunned me into silent contemplation. Easily one of the best Burgs, if not one of the best wines I have had this year, on par with the far, far bigger names and much more heralded vineyards. It is rare when Burgundy throws up a surprise like this, and I was a grateful recipient. It faded very quickly, with the fruit starting to shrink away after half an hour in the glass, but this will live for a long, long time in my memory.

Past its prime sometime back, but this was still quite impressive. Nose started out really tertiary - all old rosewood furniture and antique cupboard scents. With time, the woody layers peeled back slighty to reveal stewed tea, earth, truffles and sous bois, along with little whiffs of dried fruit. Clearly old. Palate had some bloody, iodine and metal flavours at the attack when first poured, but quickly opened up to show sour plums and some sweet cherries. Still very much alive, there was a sense of structure from fine tannins still providing a little grip and fresh acidity that ran through the wine. Finish was surprisingly lengthy as well, speaking perhaps of the quality of the terroir, with more bloody notes, a healthy does of roots and some dark cherry flavours. Well time to drink up. I think this would have been much better 10 years ago, but it was certainly drinkable and rather enjoyable on the night.

Another pleasant surprise. I love it when a Burg that is neither from the strongest vineyard, nor from the strongest vintage, turns out this good. This stunned the table almost as much as the incredible 1986 Bitouzet Prieur Volnay 1er did. Nose was even more expressive than the Volnay, and very un-Latricieres-like. Really high-toned, with tons of attractive floral notes wed to glroiously singing cherry, strawberry and raspberry tones - red-fruits galore, along with a little dose of vanilla pods at the side. The palate attacked with more red fruit, which had a lovely sappiness to it, along with some spice, more florals and another little notch of vanilla. Nice enough flavours, but what really set the wine apart was the way it was so seamlessly woven together. There was a lovely, soft plushness to the mouthfeel, yet no lack of structure (which was very fine) and acidity (which was very fresh). The wine was just so incredible balanced that it was a real joy to drink. Finish was every bit as integrated as the rest of the wine, showing fresh cherries alongside little sprigs of mint which grew more pronounced with time. Not a touch of 1998 hardness here, just pure, unadulterated Burgundy pleasure. Almost everyone on the table thought this was a top-end Chambolle given the ridiculously attractive floral notes, and most thought 1990. I changed my guess to a 1990 Clos-de-Beze at the last minute, as the sappy red fruit just blossomed in the glass. No one in a million years would have recognised this as a 1998 Latricieres. Wonderful.

What a wonderful Chianti! On a night of many good wines, this was one of those that really stood out for me. 100% Sangiovese, but no one would mistake this for a Brunello. This was classic Chianti at its best, a wine with a completely Tuscan soul. Gorgeous nose, a world away from the Burgundies that preceded it, with lovely leather and deep earth scents, a whiff of stinky, barnyardy funk, lots of fresh cherries with a little sap to them, a hint of mineral and a nice dusting of Italian herbs. Palate was a real joy to drink, with a real juiciness to its sour cherry flavours, paired with some bloody, irony notes, more leathery undertones and a little stream of mineral, all packaged with obviously firm but very nicely textured tannins. In other words, everything you would want in the Chianti. Finish showed a slightly sweeter cherry tone and a final kiss of Italian herbs. I loved this. It has been ages since I have had such an honest, traditional, yummy, food-loving Chianti. Bravo.

A really nice wine. Most of us spotted this as an IGT, but were quite surprised at the vintage - this was certainly punching above its weight. Nose was poised somewhere in between Bordeaux and Tuscany, with lots and lots of earthy smells, a whiff of tobacco, some toasty mocha, a liberal dash of herbs and spices, and quite a bit of richness in its cassis and plum scents. Quite a bit of Merlot there I thought (30% says the winery's website). Palate carried on the theme, with ripe, slightly sweet plums and cherries layered over a deep bed of underlying black fruit tones. Through to the mid-palate, there were some fresh capsicum flavours speaking of 5% Cab Franc in the cepage, more tobacco notes and noticeably firm, slightly powdery but nicely ripe tannins given the wine a sense of shape and structure. Finish still had hints of oak swimming around, along with a whole panoply of flavours - cherries, plums, tobacco, spice, herbs and a sprig of mint - as the wine lingered in the mouth with quite impressive length. This was certainly drinking far better than the more noble and structured 2001 I had sometime back, but even then, I got the feeling that not everything was quite in the right place yet. It really deserves another 4-5 years of age, by which time it should be quite a treat.

Lots of quality, but way too young. Served blind, this was unmistakeably Barbaresco, with pretty Nebbiolo flavours wed to tough, mouth-coating tannins. Nice enough nose. Dark black fruit, some oaky toast, but altogether very savoury, with roast meat and earth along with some funky barnyard and a touch of tar. Could be Barolo on the bouquet alone, but the feminine side of the wine came out on the palate. There was a real blast of firm tannins on the attack that coated the mouth all the way into the back-palate, but beneath that, there was a wonderful depth of dark fruited berries and cassis, all showing an almost shiny transperancy and purity of flavour. Great balance too. Finish was nice and long as well, with more berries mixing it with a streak of minerality and a touch more tar. At a rather awkward stage now - this needs plenty of time yet. But such was the quality of the fruit peeking out from underneath the tannic robe that I am quite sure this will be a wonderful wine in a decade or so.

Gorgeous. So many of these 1983s are absolutely at peak now. This was all charm and alluring elegance. I guessed it as a St Julien at first, but was quite sure it could not be anything but a Montrose when we were told it was a St Estephe. Classic aged-Bordeaux nose showed nice warm tones, with sweetish cassis and plums, some dried fruited cherries, a nice earthiness and just a hint of tobacco. Palate was pure Montrose. Ripe cherries and cassis was wed to more tobacco, fruit tea flavours and some lovely floral notes hovering around the edges. Still lots of depth here, and a nice soft balance, all making for a really stylish wine. Finish showed tremendous length, quite a surprise actually, stretching seamlessly into a joyful show of pure cassis and tones, slightly higher-toned cherry flavours and a final touch of tobacco lingering with just a tiny hint of mocha at the very end. What a lovely wine.

This is my kind of Rosé. Another June 2008 disgorged bottle. Again, very young, but this was really good. I thought this was notch up from the last bottle. Nose was more open for sure, showing white meat notes (I thought chicken, others thought smoked duck), lots of deep strawberry and cherry tones, some earth, all very focused and intense. Palate was still tight, showing quite a bit of minerality on the attack, but had more of those sweet cherry and strawberry notes paired with savoury meat and earth notes, all underscored by very Brut dryness and plenty of dry extract. Finish was probably the most tightly coiled part of the wine, showing just a little trickle of earth and a nice sense of minerality. Lots of depth here, tons of power, it just needs time to come together and open up. Certainly an unusual way to end a dinner - Chad popped this as we sang Hotel California on Karaoke ("pink champagne on ice" anybody?) - but it was certainly a welcome freshener after some very solid reds.