Nice Wines dinner

Another fun dinner at Noize, this time moving from grower Champagne through white Burgundy, mature Rousseau, Barolo and mature Bordeaux before ending in Alsace with everyone pulling out some special bottles to share from their cellars. The evening showed several striking contrasts in style and maturity, with the Puligny pair and the Rousseau wines particularly compelling side by side.

• 2012 Eric Rodez Champagne Grand Cru Empreinte de Terroir Noire

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Served with gougères and cheddar.
  A lovely opening wine, immediately expressive aromatically with attractive berry fruit alongside toasty and yeasty notes. Still very youthful despite the age, carrying freshness and energy through a long finish. The richness of the gougères suited the wine’s slightly broader Champagne profile very well.

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• 2019 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon

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

  Served with cod, squid ink pasta, salsa verde and lemon emulsion.
  A powerful and highly expressive Puligny, showing pale lemon colour with aromas of marzipan, stone fruit and green citrus alongside a touch of reduction. Quite full on the palate, with hints of hazelnut and very good acidity supporting the concentration. Long and intense, with the citrus and saline elements of the dish drawing out the wine’s precision.

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• 2019 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Canet

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

  Served with cod, squid ink pasta, salsa verde and lemon emulsion.
  More restrained and delicate than the Leflaive, with a paler gold colour and a softer aromatic profile initially. Nectarine, walnut and a touch of honey emerged with air, though the wine still felt slightly closed and in need of further time or decanting. Good acidity and a fine finish, with a more savoury expression overall.

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• 2007 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Charmes-Chambertin

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

  Served with mushroom bread, salsify, morels, confit egg yolk and mushroom sauce. Plenty of bricking running through the wine, medium light body. The nose is knockout from the off, proper mature red burgundy that’s fully developed with pot pouri, earth and forest floor, incense and spice. The palate has more dark cherry fruit and has plenty of freshness to it alongside the warm spices. The nose changes continuously keeping you going back in for more. Quite possibly at its peak and seems like it could stay there for a while

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• 2016 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques

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

  Served with mushroom bread, salsify, morels, confit egg yolk and mushroom sauce.
  Considerably fresher and more vibrant than the Charmes, showing red berries, wild strawberry and touches of cinnamon and baking spice. Lovely acidity gave the wine lift and precision, while the finish was long, energetic and classy. A particularly impressive bottle that combined youthful brightness with real depth

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• 2020 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Served with halibut, mash potato, carrot, mushroom and parsnip sauce.
  A surprisingly light and finely textured Barolo, with medium-light body, soft tannins and a very perfumed nose. Cherry fruit dominated, though stylistically it did not immediately present as classic Nebbiolo. Elegant and approachable already, with an almost delicate feel

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• 2014 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Served with halibut, mash potato, carrot, mushroom and parsnip sauce.
  Darker, broader and more opaque than the 2020, showing plum, blackcurrant and balsamic notes alongside hints of herbs and developing complexity. More serious structurally and beginning to show secondary character, with greater depth and persistence than the younger wine.

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• 1998 Château Palmer

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Magnum. Served with cheeses.
  Beautifully resolved and fully mature, offering eucalyptus, cedar and classical mature Margaux aromatics. The palate was harmonious and complete, with tertiary complexity fully integrated into the remaining fruit. A very elegant mature Margaux

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• 2007 Marcel Deiss Altenberg de Bergheim

  France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

  Served with cheeses.
  Fresh and aromatic, showing barley sugar, apricot and a notably clean, lifted nose. Fine and precise on the palate with excellent finesse rather than weight. A very graceful wine that worked particularly well alongside the cheeses.

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Overall, this dinner felt especially strong in its contrasts between maturity and youth. The Rousseau pair provided the clearest illustration of evolved versus youthful Burgundy, while the Puligny comparison highlighted two very different expressions of top-tier white Burgundy in the same vintage. The mature Palmer in magnum was perhaps the most complete wine of the evening, fully resolved yet still vibrant and composed.