Late Night with Brian

Guy's night out with Brian and gang. This night will always be remembered for a strange guy we bumped into in the tasting room who happily declared to our group that the guys who drink only Burgundy and Bordeaux are all snobs!

• 2006 Diebolt-Vallois Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Millésimé 91 Points

  France, Champagne

  A very pleasant Champagne. This had a nice perfumy nose to it, with floral shades and red apples, then something slightly sweeter, more stone-fruited, all laced with little hint of vanilla and milk bread and a light touch of mineral. A really pretty nose. The palate was still very youthful, a lot more primary than the nose, but it already had a pleasing, rather forward roundness, with fleshy apples and white peaches on the attack shading into more citrusy green apple notes on the midpalate and, finally, a little stream of minerality and a floral glow of orange blossoms trailing away into a round finish. This had a fine mousse and decently fresh balance without the cut and precision of say a 2004. I am not sure it will be the longest lasting of Champagnes, but it is very pleasant indeed and should give a lot of early-drinking pleasure.

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• 2000 J. Confuron-Cotetidot Charmes-Chambertin 92 Points

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

  Very enjoyable. There was a lovely nose here, almost Chambolle-like, with wafts of flowers and petit fruits rouge - red cherries and raspberries and strawberries aplenty - laced with earthy, mineral nuances. It felt a little shallow for a Grand Cru in the mouth, perhaps both in keeping with the Charmes terroir and the 2000 vintage, but its red fruited flavours were bright and delicious, its tannins fine and mellow, and the balance just right, all fresh and perky, with a lovely clarity to the whole package. The finish had some orange peel notes and then a little twist of bittersweet herbiness that may put some off, but I actually thought it added a bit of interest. All in all, a very enjoyable, if not quite compelling wine. Good time to start drinking.

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• 2008 Domaine Jean Chartron Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos du Cailleret 89 Points

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

  Not a great wine, but it was still quite a treat to try this rarity – a red Puligny, drawn from a Chartron Monopole nestled to the North of what is probably the best white 1er Cru vineyard in Puligny today. It is interesting that both Lavalle (in 1855) and Rodier (in 1920) listed Les Caillerets, along with its sisters, Les Pucelles and Le Clavoillon, as red wine producing vineyards. Les Caillerets was listed as a “premiere cuvee”, placing it on par with some of the leading red Beaune vineyards. Today though, all three Puligny plots are clearly white wine territory, with Les Caillerets and Les Pucelles in particular often talked about as leading contenders for an upgrade to Grand Cru status. Very interesting stuff. Pity the wine was not great. To be fair, it actually started off quite well, with a rather arresting nose showing strong aromas of dark cherries and blackberries ringed with metal and wet stone and some dusty, earthy notes. Quite nice. The palate was not quite there though. It had a good depth to its sour cherry and dark berry flavours, but seemed a little disjointed, with lots of bright acidity and a chew of tannins sticking out at awkward angles, especially towards the finish. A tiny little flush of heat at the end did not help things either. This is still young of course, and it should be better in 5-6 years time or even further down the road. All in all though, whether due to the capabilities of the maker, or as a testament as to why Les Caillerets is now strictly white wine territory, this was somewhat mediocre for a red 1er Cru. When faced with this served blind, the closest any of us got in our guesses was red Chassagne, but even that did not seem quite right. Very interesting stuff though!

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• 1998 Domaine Bruno Clair Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers 90 Points

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

  Not bad. This had a nice Gevrey nose, showing slightly stewed notes of cherries and berries underlined by meaty accents and some stony mineral, with a sprig of herb and a little hint of oaky vanilla bean running behind. The palate started out with a rich attack of dark berries that leaned out into sour cherries and orange peel on the midpalate, all playing out against an earthy backdrop with a strange little whiff of cream soda hanging around in there somewhere. These flavours were then cut by citrusy acidity and ever so slightly woody tannins as the wine moved into a very 1998 finish – mid-lengthed, herby, brambly. Not bad, but lacking a bit of charm I thought. Probably time to drink up too, before the fruit fades behind the wine’s woody structure.

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• 2002 La Pousse d'Or Volnay 1er Cru Clos de la Bousse d'Or 91 Points

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

  Every time I think the 2002 vintage is finally starting to come of age, along comes a bottle like this that turns back the clock with its stubborn tightness and that sense of something deeply brooding in the core of the wine, needing more time to coax out. I have had this wine twice before. The first bottle in 2009 was tight and stingy and lacking charm; the second, 5 years later in 2014, was lovely and giving. The bottle tonight unfortunately shared more with the former than the later. The nose certainly showed some development, with lots of earthy, almost funky smells at first. This blew off a bit with time to show a nice layer of sweet red cherries, touches of herb and then a bit of glycerol and some sweet toasty notes. However, the palate was quite a bit tighter. It had all the hallmarks of the 2002 vintage – nice depth and fullness, not super-fresh but very nicely balanced, with a fine by well-structured grip – it was just that this was still a bit obstinate, coming across a rather mono-dimensional in its gently sweet flavours of sour cherries and sweet berries and boiled hawthorne fruit, with only a little more complexity showing up towards a decent finish, where a warm flush of spice and earth and rather buried floral hints starting coming up. On paper, this ticked all the boxes, but it just lacked some of the layered nuance and charm of the bottle I had last year. There is certainly quality here, but it needs to be left alone in the cellar for a good 4-5 more years. 91+

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• 1999 Domaine Anne Gros Chambolle-Musigny La Combe d'Orveau 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny

  One of two (serendipitously paired) bottles of Anne Gros Combe d’Orveau, this was a good, solid village, but came across rather less charming and enjoyable than the 2008. It did have lovely deep nose, with bacon and beef, earth and brush, then deep draws of dark cherries and red berries, all tied together with a little stalky floral note. With time, I started getting a whole lot of dusty, chalky, earthiness that came out from amongst the fruit. Quite a masculine nose, not at all reminiscent of a classic Chambolle, but nice in its own way. The palate was well-structured, with fine but firm tannins and lots of fresh acidity (especially for 1999) running through sweet cherry and strawberry flavours touched by citrus orange notes, perhaps reflecting the cooling influence of the Combe on the vineyard. Past the midpalate, the fruit ceded way to a firm background of earth and mineral trailing away into a decent, if not exactly long finish with a flush of spice at the end. This was agood, strong village, if a bit on the stern side for a Chambolle. It has the chops to develop nicely over the next few years as well.

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• 2008 Domaine Anne Gros Chambolle-Musigny La Combe d'Orveau 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny

  A delicious wine – we were clearly in Chambolle with this one. It had a beautiful nose of sweet red cherries and red plums riding on gentle drifts of damp earth, boiled herbs and toasty spice, with a rising tide of floral perfume coming out with time. A very pretty, seductive nose. The palate was all bright and lively, showing a lovely purity amidst its sappy flavours of red cherries, and berries and plums. The tannins were nicely integrated and starting to soften, but still provided a nice little grip as the wine moved into a fine finish, with a long trial of spice and dried flowers trailing away into the back-palate. Delicious. Not the most complex of wines, but this was everything you could ask for in a Chambolle village and more. It was also a whole lot more fun to drink than the more solid but less charming 1999 that came just before.

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