Dinner at Giant Garoupa

This was a rather impromptu mid-week dinner pulled together loosely around a Gevrey theme. Food and company were great as always. Quite by coincidence, we ended up with a couple of 2005 reds from the Cote Chalonnaise. How unsual, but interesting though. However, the two stand outs for me were the 1996 Puligny and the 2002 Charmes-Chambertin.

• 2008 Regnard Chablis 1er Cru 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  I enjoyed this. It had a reserved, minerally nose, with subtle scents of apples and pears and a touch of citrus. Understated, but nice. The palate was classic Chablis - full of fresh, lemony flavours and nice, precise lines, with a nice minerality line as it raced into a stony finish with good length on it. Simple, but impeccably balanced and a great foil for seafood. Should improve with time as well. Good.

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• 1995 Domaine Matrot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chalumeaux 93 Points

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

  Excellent. This was quite clearly the WOTN for me. The last bottle we had a two and a half years ago was going through a rather awkward stage. This has come right out the other end of a tunnel to show as a complex, delicious Puligny. It had a richer nose than I remembered, with rather ripe notes of red apples patted down with some mushroomy earth aromas, a touch of cream cheese and a whiff of smokey mineral. Interesting. The palate was at a very yummy place. It was rather rich and honeyed, with a touch of toffee and caramel on the attack showing the wines age, and then fresher notes of ripe apple fruit, a touch of cherry flesh, and some sweet lemons bringing up the rear. It had a nice mellow feel and lots of complexity on the midpalate. While not super-fresh, the wine was still really balanced, with a good dose juicy acidity leading the it into a stony, minerally finish. Very nice stuff, just right for drinking now. Be sure not to serve it too cold though - the wine only began to show its true colours when warmed up to just slightly below room temperature.

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• 2005 Domaine Déliance Givry 1er Cru Clos de la Servoisine 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Givry 1er Cru

  This was an enjoyable little Givry that showed off the strength of the 2005 vintage. It had a nice nose of strawberries and flowers kissed by some wood spice and an earth underlayer. I liked the feel of the palate too, marked as it was by the fresh acidity and fine tannins of the vintage, both of which gave a nice sense of brightness and structure to the wine's flavours of dark cherries, plums and and currants plums. There was still some firmness here, especially at the finish, where the fruit was met with a twist of bittersweet roots and a touch of menthol. Not the most refined wine in the world, but very drinkable indeed, especially when paired with some food.

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• 2005 Domaine de Suremain Mercurey 1er Cru La Bondue 87 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Mercurey 1er Cru

  This was drinkable but not great. Even from such a strong vintage, it showed as a typically rustic Mercurey - a real contrast from the very pleasant 2005 Givry that preceded it. The nose here was mostly earthy and herby, rather minerally, with dark fruited aromas trailing in the background. The palate took on the same tone, with musky, dusky, slightly funky notes of earth layered over a bit of dark cherries and then some herbs at the end. It was well balanced, but really quite simple and a bit short, with firmly rustic tannins showing up at the end. Drinkable, but definitely not great for a 2005.

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• 2003 Bruno Desaunay-Bissey Gevrey-Chambertin 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin

  A decently drinkable village. The nose showed teh heat of the 2003 vintage with a a tiny roasted edge to its aromas of dark cherries, and sweeter maraschino notes touched by warm earthy notes, spice and a little toast. The palate had a decent sense of balance, with okay acidity running through ripe cherry flavours, and into a finished that showed a little smoke and a touch of spice. There was just a remnant of firm, slightly rustic tannins from the vintage, but these have started to mellow out into a softer, rounder feel. A pelasant enough drink, but nothing special.

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• 2009 Dupont-Tisserandot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  This was quite nice, if just a bit brutish in its youth. It had a nice nose, rather modern, with sweet tones of ripe cherries and plums, some flowers and earthy mineral notes brushed by oaky coffee ground aromas. The palate attacked with a rather musky, meaty, almost wet-dog funk alongside some rich dark fruit notes. A bit distractingly funky I thought, but it did have a nice depth to its midpalate and a nice liveliness at the finish, especially for a 2009. I just thought it was rather too roughly extracted, so that it was a bit lacking in elegance in its youth, but this has the raw material to age well. Pretty good.

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• 2002 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Charmes-Chambertin 92 Points

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

  Very nice indeed. This was probably my favourite red wine of the night. It had a glorious nose, with soaring aromas of dark cherries and kirsch and lots of floral perfume. This was undergirded by funkier notes of wet earth and meat with a a hint of minerality running in the background. Woah - that was one showstopper of a bouquet. Complex, seductive stuff. The palate was neither as showy nor, unfortunately, as impressive as that incredible nose. There was still quite a bit of charm (pun not intended) to it though. It was very fresh and lively, with fine tannins and sprightly acidity running through a core of dark cherry and red berry flavours, which were in turn surrounded by a mouthfilling waft of flowery perfume. A very pretty, elegant expression of Gevrey. The wine just weakened a little towards the finish, thinning out to show a ribcage of fine but rather bittersweet tannins that coated the teeth slightly before ceding way to kirsch flavours with touches of spice and mineral at the side. Not quite a Grand Cru experience all the way to the end given the lack of depth past the midpalate. In fact, it seemed to lack a bit of definition even in spite of the tannins, melting into a soft, slightly mushed-up tail. All in all though, still a really nice wine. That nose alone was probably worth the price of admission, and I have a sneaky feeling that, like with many 2002s, this will continue rounding off and filling up over the next few years. Certainly one to pop again in say 2 to 3 years time.

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• 2007 J.L. Chave Sélection Hermitage Farconnet 89 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  A rather simple, but very well-made wine. A good weekday drink. The nose was very forward - so much so that it smelt a bit like a new word Syrah, with ripe blueberry aromas at the fore, and some mint, meat and mineral in the background. It was only a rather fleeting suggestion of Provencale herbs on the bouquet that made me think it may be a Northern Rhone instead. The palate was another story though. It had a very nice Rhone accent of spice and earth running through cool blueberry and blackberry flavours, with a clean, lifted freshness to it that gave the wines more elegant lines than most new world renditions usually have. This was clearly no long-aging Hermitage though, with its fruit forward character and soft, melting tannins making it an approcahble, easy drink even in its youth. All in all, a very pleasant, food-friendly wine that I hae no hesitation recommending to anyone who wants a decent Rhone to pop over a casual weekday meal.

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• 1999 Finca Villacreces Ribera del Duero Crianza 91 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Good. I did not like this wine very much the last time round, so this was a very pleasant surprise. It had a really nice nose of damp earth and smoke wed to dark cherry and cassis aromas. On the more modern side of Tempranillo maybe, but this is a Ribera after all. The palate was still marked with very high acidity, but this now came across as freshnes rather than the slightly tart feel that the wine had a few years back. In fact, the acidity helped to give the wine a very focused, defined feel, realy clean in spite of the litle layer of fine tannins that was drawn across its mid-weighted flavours of black cherries and cassis. Simple, but a real pleasure to drink. The finish floated away very nicely too, with a final kiss of cigarette smoke. Good stuff - this made me wonder whether the last bottle some four years back was flawed, or if it was going through an awkward stage.

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• 1997 Brown Brothers Late Harvest Orange Muscat & Flora 88 Points

  Australia, Victoria

  A pleasant, easy drinking wine. I am quite surprised this has lasted that long to be honest. It had a really lovely nose, with drippings of orange marmalde, some lifted honeysuckle aromas and bassier earthy hints. Really nice. The palate was not quite as good however. It had a nice creamy texture, but this was wed to pretty low acidity so that the wine threatened to be flabby at points. Luckily the sense of sweetness had gone down so that it was not too cloying as it opened up on the midpalate with flavours of brown sugar and lemons and into a decent finish with notes of honey and honeysuckle. Not great, but certainly quite enjoyable.

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