This was my first try of a wine from an exciting new negociant who has caused some buzz in recent years. After having worked on Olivier Leflaive's Chablis venture, and then having stints with Verget and JM Borcard, Quebecois Patrick Puize struck out on his own in time for the 2008 vintage. 2010 was the young winemaker's third vintage, and I was very impressed with what we had here - I thought that it was excellent for a straight Chablis. It had a classic nose, with flinty minerality, a little whiff of meadow grass, and a nice waft of fleshy white fruit aromas - no one was in any doubt it was a Chablis when blinded. The palate had a lovely sense of energy and verve to it in spite of having a good sense of flesh and presence to its white fruit and green apple notes. This were kept ever so light and lithe by bright, lemony acidity and were rounded off at the finish by a lovely lick of mineral and a little whiff of grass and flowers. Very pretty. This was a great food wine too - everything you could ask for from a simple Chablis.

This was yet another wine that punched above its weight class. An excellent village, it opened with a lovely nose, with typical Chassagne notes of honey and honeysuckle flowers, white pear and a lovely waft of minerality that was almost Chablis-like in its slatey character. The palate was really nice as well. It was fleshy, yet blessed with great balance and a nice sense of focus, with lots of chalky mineral underscoring its rich white fruited notes. Good finish too, ending with a slightly more citrussy up-lift. While still a bit on the simple side now, this is a very nicely shaped village that should actually age very well too. I really liked this.

This was a rather simple, but very well-made Pinot Gris that was lifted to sublime heights by a ridiculously good pairing with white asparagus and Hollandaise sauce. It had a pretty nose, with orange blossoms floating around apricot and sweet peach aromas and rather brighter lemony notes. Some minerally inflections emerged over time as well. Very attractive. The creamily textured palate was a real crowd pleaser. There was some amount of residual sugar in there, so it was off-dry, but it had a lovely balanced feel, with its slightly honeyed sweetness and ripe, rather rich flavours of lemon and tangerine flavours touched with bright acidity. It was a very friendly, easy-drinking wine, and would have been on the simple side but for the fact that it was just lifted a little by bit of minerality at the finish. So all in all, a decently good if unspectacular wine, which is reflected in the score. However, all notions of simplicity were set aside when this was paired with a beautifully prepared dish of white asparagus with Hollandaise sauce, hazlenuts and salmon roe. The slight honeyed sweetness of the wine married with the asparagus so beautifully, while the acidity cut through the each savoury mouthful of Hollandaise before the creamy texture of the wine just melded into the sauce - superb stuff. You could hardly tell where the food ended and the wine begin. This is one of those serendipitous pairings made in heaven.

This was a nice surprise - a delicious wine from an unheard off producer, and a 1996 that has nicely rounded-up and fleshed out to boot. It had a lovely nose, with lots of earthy nuances, and then smoked bacon and roasted game meat seasoned with a touch of spice, ripe red fruited notes and savoury sour plums, and a little flowery accent in the background which grew and grew to take on a violet perfume as the wine sat in the glass. A really nice bouquet which, upon reading my notes, reads like an archetypal Morey. However, most of us somehow guessed Gevrey, perhaps because of the preponderence of red fruited aromas. The palate was very yummy. It had lovely clarity, with a ring of purity to its sappy dark cherry flavours with a nice support of spice, earth and mineral running underneath. With time, a juicy blueberry note started emerging from the depths of the wine. Fine-bone tannins and a freshly citrus, almost tangerine-like stream of acidity lifted the wine towards a charming finish, where more savoury hints of meat, mineral and spice lingered away. Lovely. It was a jaw-droppingly good pairing with smoked duck breast and orange sauce as well.

This was a real charmer. I think most of us actually preferred it to the very nice 1996 Clos de la Roche that was served alongside. This had a beautiful Chambolle nose, with sweet cherries and strawberries surrounded by a lovely waft of flowers and some chalky notes. It was only a rather serious streak of minerally, wet-stone scents and a touch of spice that threw a lot of us off. That was perhaps more about the vintage than the terroir - but that got some people guessing towards Nuits St Georges or Vosne Romanee instead. I am not sure we should have been distracted on reflection though. The palate was pure Chambolle. Here soft, melting tannins and lovely fresh acidity framed a perfumy mouthful of truffley mushroomy and damp soil notes floating around a core of dark cherries and beautiful floral notes. It was very feminine, almost ephemereal, but still nicely substanstial all the way into nicely-shaped finish, where some dusty earth and more metally mineral emerged. A delicious, complex wine, quite ready to drink now.

This was positively the most Burgundian Bordeaux I have ever had. It tasted for all the world like a wine that came from the Cote Chalonnaise or maybe even a particularly earthy Cru Beaujolais. I liked it though. The nose had a whiff of something bretty to it, with barnyardy, animale scents at the fore, and then earthy, spicy, meaty nuances piled on a deeper layer of sweeter blackberry aromas. The palate was where the Burgundy doppleganger aspects really came out. It was clean, clear and high-toned, much more so than you would expect a Bordeaux, whether left or right-bank to be, with lithe, light-bodied and pretty pure flavours of cassis and juicy blackberries gently seasoned with some spice, leather and meat. All very elegant and very silky, but still with enough depth to pair well with a nice sirloin steak. The nicely length finish had black and red fruits dancing around some barnyardy accents, a hint of flowers and more mineral inflections. Pretty good, but very confusing. As befitting the vintage, this was actually quite ready to drink even now.

Quite a delicious wine this. The nose was very Aussie, with a whirl of eucalyptus drifting amidst ripe scents of blackberries and cherries seasoned with more savoury hints of roasted meat and some slightly funky earth and leather notes. Nice stuff. The palate was rich and sappy, with lovely bits of cassis and blackberries, all showing a ripe, sunny goodness, but also blessed with lovely bright acidity running into a long finish touched by toasty spice and eucalyptus. Not incredibly complex and intellectually serious, but this was very yummy - a fine example of Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon, quite ready to go upon a pop and pour. A brilliant pairing with a meidum-rare cut of Wagyu beef.

From a Millenium Magnum that had been opened for some time, this showed as a lovely vintage port, but one that was on the cusp of maturity rather than being fully ready for drinking. What a nose it had though. Beautifully subtle, almost understated, with little drifts of treacle and candied hazlenuts, figs and sultanas, and earth and wood spice, with a little note of dried flowers and malt at the edges. Very pretty. The palate was briliantly balanced and had clear, pure feel that I really liked - it was a bit lighter and less pronounced in its sweetness than some other vintage Grahams. However, while there was a sense of tremendous complexity being wound into the bright core of the wine, one got a feeling that it will be still some time more before the wine really unfolds completely. Still though, we did get a delicious panoply of flavours on the day, from honey and malt sugar, to figs, sultanas, all wrapped in a lovely velvety textured mouthful and laced with fine, well-integrated acidity. Very elegant stuff, ending in a lovely mouthful of sweet spices - think cinamon and cloves - lingering beautifully in the finish. Still rather too young. I would set this aside for at least 4 to 5 more years. It had great underlying material though, and should make an absolutely lovely Port in time.

This was yet another beautiful bottle of this stuff. On the day, paired with a very nice young Comte and a rather less impressive Bleu d'Auvergne, this beat the socks of a good, but rather young tasting 1977 Graham Porto. The nose here was easily several notches richer than the Port, with deep aromas of treacle and molasses, raisins, and dired plums and prunes, all with a glowing, caramelled sweetness to it. Beautiful stuff. The palate also held a lot more depth and power than the Port. While it did not quite have the bright, effortless liveliness of the Graham, this had reservoirs of resounding depth, with lovely rich layers of treacle and molasses and figs and raisins and dark chocolate and brown suger and sweet spicy cinamon, clove and nutmeg - all sorts of Christmas-cake nuances - popping out amongst its thick, almost liquer-like substance. For all that depth and power though, this always remained perfectly balanced and poised and brilliantly drinkable. So balanced in fact that one could pick out all the little complexities from amidst its superbly-integrated whole. As always, a smashing wine. Amazing stuff - a great way to end a great lunch.