From magnum, this was on the heavy side, but quite yummy. I liked the nose, with its deep savoury draws of earth, meat and sweeter dark raisin, dried cassis and plum aromas, all this seasoned with a nice fragrant spiciness. The palate was clearly well-endowed with ripe fruit and alcohol, with a rather heavyset sweetness to it. It was balanced enough to be drinkable, but I thought the weight stood out more than any freshness. Otherwise, it was velvety and pleasing, with a nice moreishness lent to it with mature notes of earth and meat tracing their way into a spicy, slightly woody finish. Pretty good, but this lacked a touch of finesse.

Absolutely superb. I have not had this in almost 5 years. I liked this back then, and perhaps even more now. It certainly has matured quite a bit - the nose was all caramel and honey and ripe apple fruit, edged with a healthy dose of buttery brioche, and just the tiniest hint of white meaty oxidative notes. Really nice. The palate was where this really shone though. Rich and generous, it filled the mouth with delicious flavours of red apples, treacle, lemon zest and spice, all ringing with a glowing honeyed maturity. A palate of real strength and power, yet touched with a noble shape and precision. The mousse had lost most of its bubbly vigour, but was still beautiful creamy. When this was put together with the wine’s impeccable balance and wonderfully long, slightly oxidative, rather minerally finish - just wow. A great champagne at a wonderful place.

This was smashing. We had a lack of white wines tonight, but the quality of the bottles we had very much made up for the lack of quantity. Tight and unyielding when first poured, it opened up into a very classic Chablis nose of flinty mineral, dried earth and subtle white fruit and citrus zest. Quiet, but compelling. The palate was really, really solid. An archetypal Les Clos, this was deep and powerful, yet wonderfully cut and defined at the same time, with an inexorable beam on mineral lasering through absolutely transparent flavours of white fruit and citrus notes. There was that beautiful 2007 crystalline purity to it, yet the depth and breadth of the wine, with its clear Grand Cru weight and fleshiness kept it from ever being lean or mean. There was a lovely sense of acidity woven into the body of the wine, yet this was so well integrated that one barely notice it. Fantastic finish too, deep, long and powerful, with a lovely chalky minerality that coated every corner of the backpalate. Absolutely superb. I liked it even now, but it will continue to get better over the next few years. Strangely for a top-drawer 2007 though, I do not think this will be one for the absolute longest term.

Very nice indeed - this was better than the last bottle I had a couple of weeks back. What a lovely nose it had, with drifts of fragrant Vosne spice wafting around a core of sweet dark cherries and plums, dried violets and slightly funky, meaty sous bois. A beautiful RSV bouquet. It was delicious on the palate. So elegant, with fine, velvety tannins and wonderfully defined acidity framing deliciously transparent flavours of dark cherries, red berries and plums, all infused with a lovely mouthful of Vosne spice, and just that little kiss of florals tracing its way into a lovely long finish. Maybe lacking a touch of Grand a Cru authority and power, but it was very delicious - this was a truly seductive mouthful drinking at a rather advanced peak.

Very solid, and certainly better than a bottle we had a few years back. Amazingly still quite tight for a 2002 too, especially when placed next to a blushing bottle of 2002 Potel RSV. The nose was very Grivot, with plenty of exotic Indian spices, a touch of dried earth, meat, and wafts of sweet red cherries and berries. Really nice. The palate had a real grip to it, really belying its vintage, with fine tannins and lovely acidity giving a lovely shape to deep flavours of cherries and red berries, earth, meat and exotic spice, all leading into a long minerally finish. Clearly Grand Cru in depth and scale, yet with a lovely sense of transparency and definition. Good stuff. It was a pure old school Grivot though - subtle, Reserve, very vin de garde, with tons left in its tank.

From a magnum, this was really delicious. It had a nice nose, with a bit of meat, some forest floor, a touch of red fruit and some sweet florals - subtle, but really attractive and absolutely Burgundian. I loved the feel on the palate too - light, dancing, and transparent, with lithe notes of dark cherries and red berries alongside bits of mineral and spice. there was a lovely sense of 2007 purity and snappiness to it, but while really elegant and spare, there was no lack of depth and length to to either. Lovely. This was everything you would want from a 1er Cru.

Very decent, even if not quite up standard one would expect from a top-drawer 2002 Chambertin. The nose had a rather herby twinge to it, alongside deeper draws of dark cherries and berries, earth and spice. The palate was solid rather than truly impressive, with a good mouthful of dark cherries and berries seasoned with more bits of spice and earth, along with just a twist of minty herb towards the long finish. Yummy, with a rather rustic charm to it. Good time to drink too.

Objectively, good quality, but not quite my style. This had a rather modern, sweet nose, with slightly candied cherries and sweet, stemmy florals, and just a little bit of spice at the edges. The palate had more of that sweetness to it, with ripe red cherries and berries at the fore, and a chew of bright acidity and velvety tannins forming a nice backdrop for the otherwise slightly modern tones. There is quality here. I liked the elegant sense of purity and transparency to it, and there was a really good sense of Grand Cru depth and power to it, but this was just a tad too modern, and a bit simple for my tastes in its youth. I would love to try it in 10 years’ time though.

Young, but this was a another solid wine. The nose was tight and subtle, with little layers of stony mineral and dark cherries. The palate had a lot of depth and power for a 2011, with deep, dark layers of black cherries and plums unwinding in long layers, all underpinned with a spine of mineral across the mid and backpalate. Very good, but this will need another 5-6 years to unfurl.

Pretty pleasant, but not one the greater Climens. The nose was a little unusual I thought - the standard Sauternes / Barsac notes of brown sugar and candied apples were there, along with some florals and little mineral notes, but there was also a whiff of boiled sweets to it, like watermelon candy and a dollop of cream I thought. Pretty pleasant. The palate was more in line with what I would normally expect from a Climens from a middling vintage; creamy texture, but elegant and fairly ageless, with a nice expression of apples and mineral with a little lemony edge. Not much botrytis on this I thought, but what it lacked in depth and voluptuousness was made up for by a fresh friendliness. Decent rather than great, but this was fairly enjoyable nonetheless.