Burgundy 2012 Day 2: Dinner at the Gite

The day ended with the first of two dinners that we hosted for friends and winemakers at one of the Gites. The various ingredients that we carted to Burgundy from Singapore came out, and the cooks amongst us whipped up an Asian meal as per tradition. A majority of the wines tasted were picked up by W earlier-on as part of our ongoing mission to explore lesser known areas and wine-makers, focusing this time on Savigny and centering around the wines of Louis Chenu and Albert Ponelle. I was not too impressed unfortunately, and I think it was fair to say that most of us where relieved when we came to the big-guns in the penultimate flight. Still, a great dinner, with lots of laughter and great company in the form of Ludovic and Sasha.

• 2010 Albert Ponnelle Saint-Romain Blanc 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Romain

  A pleasant wine - this was a pretty good village without quite being special. I liked the chalk, minerally accents that accompanied apple and lemon aromas on the nose. The palate was rather round and fleshy, with ripe flavours of sweet lemons, but these were nicely integrated with good acidity more of the that nice minerality picked on on the nose. Decent length on the finish too. A nice little St Romain, good for drinking now and over the next few years.

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• 2010 Domaine Jean-Michel Giboulot Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Talmettes Blanc 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

  I liked this. There was a little touch of oaky vanilla on the nose, but this was quite nicely packed together with pleasant aromas of pear and apple, some lemony scents maybe, and then a nice base of chalk and more lifted floral notes. Nice. There fresh, rather more citrussy palate showed energetic tones of green apples and lemons on the attack, opening up into a creamier midpalate where sweet white fruit notes were undelined by a good minerality. Nice finish too, very sprightly and fresh, pulling away with a nice lick of flinty mineral. I thought this was quite good.

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• 2010 Louis Chenu Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Lavières 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

  A decent enough wine, but rather inconvincing for a 1er Cru from a strong vintage. The nose showed typical Savigny notes of strawberry and flowers backed up more savoury scents of meat and brambly herb. I liked that, and also enjoeyd the flavour profile on the palate that followed on, with sweet strawberries, some red dates and then a touch of meat on the midpalate and earthy hints at the fine, firmish finish - all blessed with a good amount of clean acidity. It was, however, rather simple and a bit light-weight, leading to a rather forgettable wine. I do not think that this will be one for aging.

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• 2010 Louis Chenu Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Talmettes 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

  I thought there was little to choose between this and the 1er Cru Lavieres that preceded it. Both were decent wines, but rather simple, with this being perhaps just a little better. We had a slightly deeper nose on this one, with riper strawberries and berries, a touch of broiled meat, some pretty flowers and a toss of earth. Quite an attractive nose. The flowers were the first thing that one noticed on the palate, again very pretty, before red fruited flavours of raspberries and cherries set in amidst a stream of clean, clear acidity. There was a nice purity and elegance to the wine, even if it was rather facile and lacking some substance. It finished with fine, firm tannins that were just a little on the drying side, but there was also a lingering sweetness of fruit. One could do worse than this, but while pleasant enough in its youth, it is not a wine I would seek out to cellar.

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• 2001 Domaine Jean-Michel Giboulot Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Serpentières 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

  This was not bad, just rather too early in its aging curve to fully enjoy - a real surprise given that it was a 2001 Savigny. The nose was certainly quite developed, with perfumy notes of sweet cherries and raspberries, a nice floral fragrance, and some secondary notes of earth and stems. The palate was still very tough though. While I really liked the pure flavours of strawberries and berries, it was the fine, but firm tannins that still dominated, coating the tongue and leaving behind a rather drying finish. This should come good in time, but I would lay it aside for a good 3-4 years before popping another bottle.

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• 2010 Albert Ponnelle Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Peuillets 87 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

  This was the first wine in a flight that none of us enjoyed. I remember being pretty impressed by Ponelle's 2009 SLB Peuillets when we visited the domaine last year, but served blind, the 2010 ieteration really left me shaking my head. The nose was nice enough, with sweet dark cherry aromas and a touch of florals framed by a good bit of earth and ferrous mineral. It was the palate that I did not quite like. Rich on the attack, with plenty of sweet cherry and berry flavours, it dropped off into a slightly woody finish that was more about bramble than fruit - not altogether pleasing. And while there was some balancing acidity throughout, the the wine was also haunted by flashes of heat here and there. Not disastrous, bu certainly not great.

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• 2010 Louis Chenu Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Hauts Jarrons 85 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

  This was really mediocre. Served blind, like all the other wines, it was the least liked of any of the wines we had. The nose, with its bright notes of cherries and touches of earth, was also disconcertedly doused with a good amount of glycerol. On the palate, the simple flavours of cherry and maybe a bit of cola came across as thin, perhaps even a bit weedy, with brambly green stems on the finish. It was not flawed or badly constructed, just not a very good wine at all.

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• 2002 Albert Ponnelle Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Peuillets 87 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

  Rather better than the 2010 on the same flight - maybe a benefit of age, but I still did not like this very much. Blackcherry and blackberry aromas on the nose were met with bits of spice and a rather green, stemmy inflection. The palate was rather simple and unconvincing for a 2002 1er Cru, with otherwise pleasant flavours of dark berry flavours showing a bit thin across the attack and into the midpalate, where tomatoe-y acidity and chewy tannins stuck out rather awkwardly. I found the finish, with its spicy character, a but hard, rather drying. A simple wine, drinkable perhaps, but not great.

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• 2010 Albert Ponnelle Beaune 1er Cru 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru

  This was a step-up from anything we had on the last flight. Still, I would say a decent rather than great wine. The nose was pretty attractive, with ripe strawberry aromas backed up by smoked meaty accents and some peppery spice, along with a little rubbery lilt that brought the mind to some South Afircan reds. I was not crazy about the palate. It was okay. Rich, sweet, with very primary notes of red cherries, but these were backed up by some nicely juicy acidity and some chewy tannins that just dryied up slightly into a spicy finish. It is a decent wine, needs some time to settle down, but not one to rush out and buy.

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• 2010 Albert Ponnelle Nuits-Saint-Georges 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges

  A sound, if unexciting village - I thought this was a little step up from the 2009 version. The nose showed a nice masculine NSG character in its meaty, spicy overtones met by aromas of dark cherries and a slightly higher-toned raspberry fruit note. Again, there was a faint ring of rubber in there. The palate lacked a bit of convcition, coming across as almost a bit weak, maybe watery on the attack. Thankfully, it did fill-up a bit with simple, but pleasant flavours of cherries and spice, maybe a touch of earthiness, across the midpalate and into a soft, mellow finish with surprisingly velvety tannins for an NSG. This was pleasant enough, but came up rather short - a wine for early drinking over a casual meal.

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• 2010 Clos Salomon Givry 1er Cru Clos Salomon 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Givry 1er Cru

  This was by far the best of the wines for tasting before the big-guns came out. I really liked the nose here, with its subtle scents of dark berries and cherries tossed up with some toasty earth notes and a nice pull of meat, mineral and spice. Very attractive, masculine notes. The palate carried on where the nose left off, with a strong structure still providing a bit of chew in its tannins and fresh acidity framing subtle but authoritative flavours of dark cherries and berries wed to a nice bit of meat and spice. It finished strongly too, with a ring of minerality in a back-palate of very decent length. Still far too young to fully enjoy - this has the bones to age. It should be very good in 5-6 years' time though, and will probably go on developing, and improving, far beyond that.

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• 1985 Hospices de Nuits Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges Cuvée des Sires de Vergy Bouchard Père et Fils 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru

  This was utterly beautiful - without doubt the wine of the night. It had such a beautiful nose, flowing out of the glass in lovely scents of dried cherries and red berries, almost preserved red dates at points, then a lovely NSG melnage of meat and mineral, stone and earth, and a hint of stewed tea in the background. Wonderful. It was so delicious on the palate too. Complete, balanced and pure, it unfolded in yummy red-fruited notes of cherries and red-dates and fruit teas, all couched with melting acidity and the finest tannins. This wine was really a testament to how strong the 1985 vintage was in the way it wed a wonderful, sweet deliciousness to freshness, depth and a lovely sense of elegance and poise, with each sip calling out for another. Great finish too, with lovely spicy accents floating around what seemed like the remnants of wet-stoney mineral streak. A great wine drinking beautifully and, at 75EUR, a real steal. I only wish we had bought more.

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• 1983 Remoissenet Père et Fils Grands-Echezeaux 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru

  A very nice wine, but perhaps not quite up to the standard one would expect from a great Grands-Echezeaux from a decent vintage. Strangely enough, the nose showed some oaky, vanillin inflections of the sort that you would expect from a high new-oak percentage young wine. Beneath that though, there was a nice aged Vosne character in its aromas of red dates and dried cherries seasoned with sweet spice, bramble and floral notes a bed of more savoury meat and earth tones. Vanilla aside, it was a very pleasing nose. The palate started out very promisingly, with a surprsingly rich and full attack, where more Vosne spice floated deeo notes of dark cherries and plums, with a bit of the toasted earth accents of a warm vintage peeking out. The midpalate feints to hollow out just a little, with a minerally, earthy spine showing up through the less than generous fruit. However, the wine picked up pace again towards the backpalate, opening up into a strong, powerful finish, where black fruited flavours were layered with reams of spice and a nice earthiness. A very nice wine, maybe not altogether complete, but drinking nicely and giving a lot of pleasure at this stage of its development. I do not think it will hold for far longer though.

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• 1970 Remoissenet Père et Fils Richebourg Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru

  Corked. A real tragedy - this was meant to be one of the stars of the night, but while not fatally flawed, it was clearly scalped by TCA. There were some cardboardy aromas on the nose, but those were subdued enough to make some people wonder whether the wine was still alive. After all, there were lovely notes of red cherries and flowers with liberal dashes of Vosne spice and a nice meatiness underneath. Unfortunately, the palate was clearly weakened, truncated almost, with some strength on the attack, with nice notes of plums and red dates, but a mid and back palate that was scalped clean, rendered almost tasteless but for an accusatory linger of wet cardboard. One sniff told all. So sad. A potentially good bottle, cut short at its prime.

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• 1999 Domaine Joseph Voillot Pommard 1er Cru Les Pèzerolles 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru

  From a magnum, this was good but far from ready. Like one or two of the other Pommards and NSGs on show, the nose was very masculine, with lots of meat and earth and spice to go along with its dark cherry aromas. There was a nutty accent in there somewhere too, but it was the more savoury aspects that stood out. The palate still came across as very young. While the ripe notes of dark cherries and blackberry flavours on the attack had began to shed their primary character and take on more subtle forms, the wine was still packed with supple but clearly muscular tannins and fresh acidity. Like the nose, this was also very masculine. Structure aside, the palate was also laced with savoury notes of earth and spice leading into a long, powerful finish, where the fruit came across as ripe but well-controlled - every bit a solid 1999. I liked this quite a bit, but it is still quite tough and will, at least from this bottle format, will need a good 10 years before coming around.

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• 2004 Domaine Jean-Claude Fontaine Beaune 1er Cru Avaux 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru

  This was one of those 2004s that somehow do not show any green. And, though from a less than famous producer, actually pretty tasty when drank blind. The nose had a rather fruity character to it, with plums, dark berries and brighter strawberry notes - something that was duplicated on the palate, where velvety tannins gave firm but easy support to cool flavours of strawberries and cream, moving into an earthy, spicy finish. Not much complexity here, but it was nicely balanced and quite yummy. Good for drinking now.

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