Drinks at Home

These two bottles were shared with good friends at our home. The first with Kelvin, and the secong (after Kel had a taste) with Lionel and Rachel. Great treats at the end of a busy, tiring week in court. While the Chambertin was objectively the stronger wine, it was the Morgon that I enjoyed more - it really charmed my socks off, and I wish I had bought more.

• 2009 Jean Foillard Morgon Cuvée Corcelette 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon

  I was really taken by this wine, hence the long note to follow - it was about as lovely an expression of Beaujolais in general and Morgon in particular that I have had for a long time. The wine was a bit reductive at first and needed some 15 mins in decanter to open up nicely. When it did, it showed a lovely nose, with a lushly fruited expression of blackberries and cassis wreathed in bits of brambly, minty, eucalyptus, drifts of sweet spice and some flowery violet aromas. Really charming. Every now and then, a little bit of reductive funk came out and, with time, a nice line stone and metal mineral notes started showing as well, all adding to the overall complexity of the bouquet. As arresting and characterful as the nose was though, it was the quality on the palate that really sold it to me. This was one of those wines were everything seems to be in the right place, starting with its lovely sappy 2009 dark fruit, all blackberries and blackcherries and cassis, with really nice depth and a good sense of Morgon power; but the wine was also wonderfully integrated and balanced, with fresh acid and velvety tannins wrapping the fruit into a very pleasurable whole. It had a solid finish too, with a strong pull of fresh dark fruit interwoven with hints of bramble and spice and a lovely, deep-set stream of ferrous mineral. The kept changing in the decanter though, so be careful not to decant it for too long before serving. On the half-hour mark, the structure started showing up more and more, giving the midpalate a slightly austere edge, first with bursts of surprisingly fresh acidity for a 2009, and then as that receded, a slightly savoury-sweet, dried fruit note took over the fresher flavours. Finally, after an hour or so, the wine started to shut down quite tightly, and it became all mineral and structure shortly after. This was really lovely, interesting stuff to follow. My only issue was a bit of alcohol warmth on the finish when the wine rose into a less than ideal temperature, but that was really just a mild distraction. Otherwise, it was really enjoyable on the night. Moving forward, while the wine certainly has the structure and balance to age effortlessly, it was giving so much pleasure now we really could not see any reason to wait.

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• 2002 Domaine Charles Thomas Chambertin 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  Tight and unimpressive and honestly overshadowed by a lovely Foillard Morgon on day 1, this really opened up nicely by day 2, so that while it was not the greatest Chambertin, it certainly had the chops to qualify as a bona fide Grand Cru experience. When first popped, the nose was pleasant, but not quite together, with disparate notes of clay and meat, bramble spice, then dark cherries and rose petals, with a little hint of vanilla running on behind. 24 hours later, all that really started to come together nicely, with the bouquet showing as a more inetgrated melange of darker fruit tones, with spice, meat and mineral scents speaking quite eloquently of the wine's terroir. Likewise, the palate was a little unyielding when first poured, marked as it was by the bright, high-toned acidity and fine-boned tannins of the vintage, alongside a good bit of ferrous mineral underlying its dark cherry and berry flavours. There was a good sense of purity and some nobility of structure here, but it had a quite monolithic, unresolved feel about it - something that quite a few 2002 Grand Crus seem to share. One day later, however, and the story was different. The fresh, bright feel of the vintagewas still there, but the wine was far less austere and stubborn, showing instead a mellower mouthful of dark cherry tones wrapped in more velvety tannins. There was still quite a bit of underlying grip, but the wine seemed gentler, more generous. All in all, this was really quite good. Not a great Chambertin by any means, but a nice drink. It will probably improve over the next few years as well, giving the palate some time to put on complexity and round-up further.

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