Deep gold colour. Peaches on the nose. On the palate lovely mouthfeel, some structure. Great length there’s richness but some freshness too. Solid start.
France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes Catalanes
(4/4/2025)
Pale yellow colour. On pouring slightly reductive nose. Lovely spicy depth to it. This is utterly a point. If I had some of these in the cellar I’d be delighted.
USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
(4/9/2025)
Clean as a whistle and drinking just perfectly now. Cork was a bugger to extract - this got decanted as a result. Lovey savoury, brambly character. There's depth for sure, but also this crunchy, vibrant zippiness. It has some of that Beaujolais style energy, but so much depth. Unmistakably Ridge and just lovely.
Again, in good shape, clean as a whistle. Clearly a well put together example of what it is, but has that kind of dense, low acid / plush tannin vibe that I struggle to truly understand. I think this is an Ian A style wine.
Not tried one of these before. Someone said "like a sweet wine that isn't sweet" and this seemed spot on. Someone also said "Sauvignon Blanc for if you don't like Sauvignon Blanc" - which I could totally get, although there was a kind of lingering, gooseberry character. Not entirely my jam, although I was grateful to have the opportunity to taste it, and I think Mrs M would find it delightful.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune
(4/9/2025)
Pale yellow colour. Hints of grass cuttings and lemon zest on the nose. On the palate - something herbal, tarragon maybe? This is lovely, light, ethereal even, and at least two steps better than it has any right to be. Perhaps this is the perfect time in its evolution to drink this wine. With a bit more time - does it start to fall apart a little? Maybe - perhaps it recedes to just one step better than it should be, but still, jolly nice stuff.
In. The. ZONE. On the nose, gentle brambly character. On the palate, has that villages burgundy character where you just want to swill it round your mouth and interrogate the wine, let it tell its story. The acid give it structure, but not hard work like 08s sometimes seemed to be, and lovely length to it. The structure means it's no better than a villages, but what a villages, and what a time to drink it.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru
(4/9/2025)
hmmm - the wrong side of the feral / fecal line. Not had a great hit rate with these bottles. The palate was great, lovely structure, this kind of crunchy energy, but the nose. Gosh. It started out hard to get on with, and became more so.
First time drinking this wine I think, and jolly decent it was. Lovely structure and length - I'd put it up there with the very best of St Joseph based on this tasting. Delicious, precise but so savoury too. Real grown-up wine for real grown-up people.
A cheeky little extra generously offered to close out the evening. It's taut with great line, but good body too. A step above the Charlier perhaps? Would look for this again - really nice.
Bought from the list in a wine bar / shop in Nice. It had an award on the wall from Wine Spectator. The award was not for the cheapest wine shop. An extra brut from 2008. For me - just the right side of the oxidative vs oxidised line - real intensity and length, I enjoyed this a lot. The table was divided 50/50 on whether the emperor was clothed - I could get it, but this worked for me too. If I had any at home I'd definitely want to be drinking these UP.
France, Burgundy, Côtes d'Auxerre, Bourgogne Côtes d'Auxerre
(4/9/2025)
Not a producer or an appellation I am familiar with. This was lovely stuff - little or no oak touched it - I really appreciated being able to taste the chardonnay character without oak in the way, or the kind of punishing clinicality I sometimes get from Chablis. This was just great. Would love to try again.
This was great. A kind of purity of fruit but enough going on there for it not to be tiring, just a delicious savoury wine. A bit spendy for a Bourg rouge but - probably very fairly priced. Lovely stuff.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
(4/9/2025)
So this was an interesting wine - a lot to like but on the palate had this kind of - herbal cherry coke character. Not sure if there was some weird fault, or if I just descended into root day. Others at the table didn't have quite the same reaction - but also the preceding Bourg rouge was universally preferred. I will actually look for this wine again, just to find out...
2014 Alain Voge Saint-Péray Fleur de Crussol
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Péray
(4/4/2025)
Deep gold colour. Peaches on the nose. On the palate lovely mouthfeel, some structure. Great length there’s richness but some freshness too. Solid start.
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2001 Domaine Le Soula Le Soula Blanc
France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes Catalanes
(4/4/2025)
Pale yellow colour. On pouring slightly reductive nose. Lovely spicy depth to it. This is utterly a point. If I had some of these in the cellar I’d be delighted.
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1996 Ridge Petite Sirah York Creek
USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
(4/9/2025)
Clean as a whistle and drinking just perfectly now. Cork was a bugger to extract - this got decanted as a result. Lovey savoury, brambly character. There's depth for sure, but also this crunchy, vibrant zippiness. It has some of that Beaujolais style energy, but so much depth. Unmistakably Ridge and just lovely.
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1998 Fattoria Petrolo Galatrona
Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
(4/9/2025)
Again, in good shape, clean as a whistle. Clearly a well put together example of what it is, but has that kind of dense, low acid / plush tannin vibe that I struggle to truly understand. I think this is an Ian A style wine.
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2015 Charlier & Fils Champagne Special Club Brut
France, Champagne
(4/9/2025)
From magnum. Pale gold colour, really singing I thought. Good line and energy, a kind of gentle intensity - worked very well.
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2011 Domaine François Cotat Sancerre Les Monts Damnés
France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
(4/9/2025)
Not tried one of these before. Someone said "like a sweet wine that isn't sweet" and this seemed spot on. Someone also said "Sauvignon Blanc for if you don't like Sauvignon Blanc" - which I could totally get, although there was a kind of lingering, gooseberry character. Not entirely my jam, although I was grateful to have the opportunity to taste it, and I think Mrs M would find it delightful.
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2012 Le Grappin Savigny-lès-Beaune Blanc
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune
(4/9/2025)
Pale yellow colour. Hints of grass cuttings and lemon zest on the nose. On the palate - something herbal, tarragon maybe? This is lovely, light, ethereal even, and at least two steps better than it has any right to be. Perhaps this is the perfect time in its evolution to drink this wine. With a bit more time - does it start to fall apart a little? Maybe - perhaps it recedes to just one step better than it should be, but still, jolly nice stuff.
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2008 Domaine David Clark Vosne-Romanée
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée
(4/9/2025)
In. The. ZONE. On the nose, gentle brambly character. On the palate, has that villages burgundy character where you just want to swill it round your mouth and interrogate the wine, let it tell its story. The acid give it structure, but not hard work like 08s sometimes seemed to be, and lovely length to it. The structure means it's no better than a villages, but what a villages, and what a time to drink it.
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2012 Mark Haisma Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Les Chaffots
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru
(4/9/2025)
hmmm - the wrong side of the feral / fecal line. Not had a great hit rate with these bottles. The palate was great, lovely structure, this kind of crunchy energy, but the nose. Gosh. It started out hard to get on with, and became more so.
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2012 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Saint-Joseph
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph
(4/9/2025)
First time drinking this wine I think, and jolly decent it was. Lovely structure and length - I'd put it up there with the very best of St Joseph based on this tasting. Delicious, precise but so savoury too. Real grown-up wine for real grown-up people.
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2017 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Champagne Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut Fleuron
France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
(4/9/2025)
A cheeky little extra generously offered to close out the evening. It's taut with great line, but good body too. A step above the Charlier perhaps? Would look for this again - really nice.
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2008 Champagne Fleury Champagne Bolero
France, Champagne
(4/9/2025)
Bought from the list in a wine bar / shop in Nice. It had an award on the wall from Wine Spectator. The award was not for the cheapest wine shop. An extra brut from 2008. For me - just the right side of the oxidative vs oxidised line - real intensity and length, I enjoyed this a lot. The table was divided 50/50 on whether the emperor was clothed - I could get it, but this worked for me too. If I had any at home I'd definitely want to be drinking these UP.
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NV Laherte Frères Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature
France, Champagne
(4/9/2025)
A different style of extra brut! Light, dances across the tongue - we definitely drank these champagnes in the wrong order. Really nice stuff.
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2022 Guilhem et Jean-Hugues Goisot Bourgogne Côtes d'Auxerre Gueules de Loup
France, Burgundy, Côtes d'Auxerre, Bourgogne Côtes d'Auxerre
(4/9/2025)
Not a producer or an appellation I am familiar with. This was lovely stuff - little or no oak touched it - I really appreciated being able to taste the chardonnay character without oak in the way, or the kind of punishing clinicality I sometimes get from Chablis. This was just great. Would love to try again.
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2022 Domaine Anne Gros Bourgogne
France, Burgundy, Bourgogne
(4/9/2025)
This was great. A kind of purity of fruit but enough going on there for it not to be tiring, just a delicious savoury wine. A bit spendy for a Bourg rouge but - probably very fairly priced. Lovely stuff.
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2021 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot Rouge
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
(4/9/2025)
So this was an interesting wine - a lot to like but on the palate had this kind of - herbal cherry coke character. Not sure if there was some weird fault, or if I just descended into root day. Others at the table didn't have quite the same reaction - but also the preceding Bourg rouge was universally preferred. I will actually look for this wine again, just to find out...
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