France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges
Tasted blind at a 2005 Grand Cru / 1er Cru tasting. Not impressed at first, but this opened up rather nicely. Light red coloured, with tart cherries and a pronounced acid and tannin structure. This lacked the oomph of top class NSGs, but has the potential to do slightly better in a few years. Still, a decently well made wine.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Burg 2005 Gand Cru / 1er Cru tasting. Pale golden colour, with a buttery, nutty nose and sweet candied flavours in the apple spectrum. This developed into butterscotch characters after time in the glass. Very oaked. Good balance with a nice amount of acid on the palate, creamy and mouthfilling with a good linearity and focus. Just slightly shortish on the finish, othewise a sound, pleasant wine.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
tasting. This was good. Golden coloured. Complex nose with primary honeydew / rockmelon flavours wrapped in vanilla and another layer of more secondary accents with minerals and a tinge of green. Slightly sweet. Very elegant on the palate indeed, with good acidity and a hint of minerality. Nice finish with just a little flush of heat at the end. Very friendly and approchable now, but this is still young and will need some time to come together. I'm not confident that it is one for keeping though. Still, very enjoyable.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
Slightly muddled nose at first, a little funk, but this blew off and the wine certainly opened up nicely with time. Dark fruit at first, with lighter rasberry tones coming out later. Mocha tones from the oak nicely undergirded the wne. There was something rather enticing and attractive about this wine. Rather noticeable alcohol on the palate (this was at 13.5%), with rather in your face acidity and a firm but well formed tannic backbone. Some spicy pepper notes and the littlest hint of minerality at the end. It's all a little unintegrated at the momement, but the constituent parts are there for this to develop into a nice wine in future. Even now, it had good poise and plenty of stuffing.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
Granted we only tasted wines from decidedly second-tier winemakers, but this was really really good. Beautiful nose, almost Gevrey-like at first instance with leather, game and forest floor and wet stone / mineral tones wreathed with dark berries and slight accents of mint / eucalyptus. The tone of the fruit changed with time to take on a more cherry flavour. The nose alone made this a big hit with the table. This was certainly more integrated than the VR Suchots that we had immediately before, with good focus and nice balance. Slightly powdery, ultra-fine tannins and some amount of freshness. However, it may just be lacking a bit of the acid structure that would guarantee a stunning showing when it comes of age. Still, wine of the tasting by a country mile. I'm looking forward to the couple of bottles that I ordered.
Thrown in as a blind joker in a 2005 Burg Grand Cru / 1er Cru tasting. Unfair, I know. Very obviously new world, this stood out like a sore-thumb. Sweet nose with orange peel, red meaty flavours and a bit of grassiness and a touch of cola. Thick on the nose and on the palate. Okay acid, but lacked the freshnes of the Burgs. Not bad, but I'm not a fan of the Aussie Pinot style.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
This was thrown in for fun. Good, but disappointing from this vineyard. Mocha and cherry nose, good acid and balance. Attractive sour cherries on the palate. Typical Vosne spice in the finish. Pleasant and enjoyable, but certainly no "wow" factor.
William's donation as a little extra at a Burg tasting. Fantastic value at its price I think. The half-bottle that we tried had probably been left overnight. Rather simple, with dark cherries throughout, but it was very well integrated with a really surprising elegance and smoothness on the palate.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
Rather dissapointing. Not a bad wine, but not fantastic, and not what you would expect from a Chambolle. Some dark cherry and cola flavours. Rather lacking in finesse, and a bit sweetish and thick on the mouthfeel. Good acid and balance, but nothing much stood out for me.
2005 Louis Lequin Nuits St. Georges Les Brulées 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges
Tasted blind at a 2005 Grand Cru / 1er Cru tasting. Not impressed at first, but this opened up rather nicely. Light red coloured, with tart cherries and a pronounced acid and tannin structure. This lacked the oomph of top class NSGs, but has the potential to do slightly better in a few years. Still, a decently well made wine.
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2005 Louis Lequin Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Burg 2005 Gand Cru / 1er Cru tasting. Pale golden colour, with a buttery, nutty nose and sweet candied flavours in the apple spectrum. This developed into butterscotch characters after time in the glass. Very oaked. Good balance with a nice amount of acid on the palate, creamy and mouthfilling with a good linearity and focus. Just slightly shortish on the finish, othewise a sound, pleasant wine.
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2005 Louis Lequin Corton-Charlemagne 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
tasting. This was good. Golden coloured. Complex nose with primary honeydew / rockmelon flavours wrapped in vanilla and another layer of more secondary accents with minerals and a tinge of green. Slightly sweet. Very elegant on the palate indeed, with good acidity and a hint of minerality. Nice finish with just a little flush of heat at the end. Very friendly and approchable now, but this is still young and will need some time to come together. I'm not confident that it is one for keeping though. Still, very enjoyable.
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2005 Jacques Cacheux & Fils Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
Slightly muddled nose at first, a little funk, but this blew off and the wine certainly opened up nicely with time. Dark fruit at first, with lighter rasberry tones coming out later. Mocha tones from the oak nicely undergirded the wne. There was something rather enticing and attractive about this wine. Rather noticeable alcohol on the palate (this was at 13.5%), with rather in your face acidity and a firm but well formed tannic backbone. Some spicy pepper notes and the littlest hint of minerality at the end. It's all a little unintegrated at the momement, but the constituent parts are there for this to develop into a nice wine in future. Even now, it had good poise and plenty of stuffing.
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2005 Jacques Cacheux & Fils Echezeaux 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
Granted we only tasted wines from decidedly second-tier winemakers, but this was really really good. Beautiful nose, almost Gevrey-like at first instance with leather, game and forest floor and wet stone / mineral tones wreathed with dark berries and slight accents of mint / eucalyptus. The tone of the fruit changed with time to take on a more cherry flavour. The nose alone made this a big hit with the table. This was certainly more integrated than the VR Suchots that we had immediately before, with good focus and nice balance. Slightly powdery, ultra-fine tannins and some amount of freshness. However, it may just be lacking a bit of the acid structure that would guarantee a stunning showing when it comes of age. Still, wine of the tasting by a country mile. I'm looking forward to the couple of bottles that I ordered.
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2001 Curlewis Pinot Noir 88 Points
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong
Thrown in as a blind joker in a 2005 Burg Grand Cru / 1er Cru tasting. Unfair, I know. Very obviously new world, this stood out like a sore-thumb. Sweet nose with orange peel, red meaty flavours and a bit of grassiness and a touch of cola. Thick on the nose and on the palate. Okay acid, but lacked the freshnes of the Burgs. Not bad, but I'm not a fan of the Aussie Pinot style.
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2001 Jacques Cacheux & Fils Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru La Croix Rameau 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
This was thrown in for fun. Good, but disappointing from this vineyard. Mocha and cherry nose, good acid and balance. Attractive sour cherries on the palate. Typical Vosne spice in the finish. Pleasant and enjoyable, but certainly no "wow" factor.
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2005 Descendientes de José Palacios Bierzo Pétalos 90 Points
Spain, Castilla y León, Bierzo
William's donation as a little extra at a Burg tasting. Fantastic value at its price I think. The half-bottle that we tried had probably been left overnight. Rather simple, with dark cherries throughout, but it was very well integrated with a really surprising elegance and smoothness on the palate.
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2005 Jacques Cacheux & Fils Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Plantes 89 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
Rather dissapointing. Not a bad wine, but not fantastic, and not what you would expect from a Chambolle. Some dark cherry and cola flavours. Rather lacking in finesse, and a bit sweetish and thick on the mouthfeel. Good acid and balance, but nothing much stood out for me.
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