1/11/2024 - Burgfan1 wrote:

I drank my last of 10 bottles a few days ago. Out of this set of 10 bottles, 3 were premoxed. The fill levels varied widely (by as much as 1 inch). There was no consistency amongst the remaining 7 bottles. Some were great: linear, with an acid core yet textural; others had exotic flavors, some mild botrytis.
I hope things have improved but I wanted to share this with the community.

9/11/2023 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

I am a huge fan of producers like UC, Prevost, Bouchard. I love the approach of making 'wine' with bubbles in Champagne that are single grape variety, single vineyard and primarily single vintage. It makes for a singular experience.
The Maillons is a wine as much as it's Champagne, it's bold with orange flavors dominating. It lacks finesse for a bottle selling for over $200. And that is the point. It's great, but at over $200 is not good value. There are better choices out there at the current price point.

8/20/2022 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

This is quite brilliant. It’s quite big yet extremely subtle. While not savory it’s intensely mineral, almost like drinking liquid chalk together with the other notes (lemon primarily).
With Champagne generally I find the process influences the tasting experience. Not with this: it’s extraordinarily transparent to the site and the grapes almost.
Pairing: too serious as an aperitif and does not pair well with most food. It would work well with Dover sole or with cheese at the end of a meal.
This has star quality.

8/15/2022 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

I am a Burg collector and normally not a fan of American Pinots. This bottle I really liked and I am doing a review as a comparison with Burgundy Pinots.
The top line take away is that it has a Burgundian sensibility but with a quite different profile. It does not try too hard to be Burgundian and it's darker toned than a Burg.
The wine is showing well despite being so young but needs to be decanted.
Color: it's darker than a Burg and the hue is also different. It's a very dark pink.
Nose: lovely, expressive and fresh, blackberries and some spice. It's almost smoky.
The dominant note is blackberry with some spice (they use whole clusters which explains it). Medium body, lively with ok acidity (I would be interested to know the PH), with excellent length. The quality level is similar to cuvees like Fourrier Combe or Mugneret-Gibourg Chaignots.
It is drinking very well for a wine so young and maybe with time it will move to another gear? At the moment the greatest strengths are its (dark) elegance and impressive length.

1/29/2022 - Burgfan1 Does not like this wine:

I am a big Roumier fan based on his wines from the 1999-2010 period. The Chambolle Vill 12 was very disappointing. Dark in color and ‘blocky’, monolithic. Devoid of nuance. Served blind you would think it was a Napa Pinot. I don’t buy the story you often hear that it’s because it’s too young. In fact, when Roumiers are successful they show well young even when they clearly require more bottle age.

10/3/2021 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

It’s a lovely wine but at current retail prices too expensive. Definitely ready to drink with a long life ahead as it feels so fresh. Medium size with notes of acacia, a little walnut and honey. Great length. Lovely combination of richness and precision. It has the tensile quality you look for in Roulot. I know this cuvée well and the texture is what surprised me the most - it has this viscosity. A very good example of this cuvée.

9/19/2021 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

Lovely Pinot aromas suggesting freshness and sous-bois. Definitely ready to drink. Medium size, displays an elegant combination of acidity mixed with lively fruit with cherry flavors dominating, flanked by subtle tannins on the finish. A wine of finesse and harmony. The only small negative is that a little more intensity or power would be beneficial.

8/1/2021 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

Probably the best Raveneau (together with MDT 02) I have had and I am very fortunate to be very familiar with their wines. It’s entered its optimal drinking window but will continue to evolve favorably for 20+ yrs.
It’s starts with the nose: wonderful sea inflected Chablis aromas. On the palate, it’s fairly restrained but with great amplitude and incredible textural richness. Wonderfully elegant which is unusual for Valmur. The cool vintage shows in the razor sharp acidity. It’s very subtle with a Zen-like wow quality.

8/1/2021 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

We drank this and Raveneau Valmur 08 a few evenings apart (in excellent company). Both wines have entered their optimal drinking window.
Truly off the charts sexy. This wine has everything apart from maybe greater complexity which only a more elevated vineyard can provide. It’s a pretty showy but everything is in wonderful balance. Superbly bright with notes of citrus and signature Coche gunpowder combined with incredible textural richness held together by an acidic spine. Great length and a wonderful finish. I know Coche wines are no longer the same since the father retired but this is the exception that proves the rule.

7/2/2021 - Burgfan1 wrote:

We did a vertical of 09,10,11,13 and 14. The terroir really comes through. This wine is elegant, quite intense, medium sized, acidity ok even in a warm vintage like 09 and high in other vintages. Notes of cherry dominate and turn to candied cherry and even kirsch (13) with age.
Ranking them was the most interesting part. In order of preference: 14,10,09,13,11. The differences in quality are small apart from the 11 which while still very nice, is a step below.
14 is the most complex and complete. The main take away was that in Burgundy individual bottles and the wine maker's performance is a more important factor than vintages as 14 is clearly below 10 and 09. It also shows that Fourrier is very adroit in cooler vintages.

7/1/2021 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

This is seriously good. Big wine, complex, rich but with good acidity. The wine has real tension to it. It needs another 3 yrs from now and will last for decades afterwards. One of my fav whites outside of Burgundy.
This is the best vintage I have tried since 2010. I suspect it might even surpass the excellent 10's. The 11's and 16's were good, the 15's awful (clunky and rich).
But the 19's are terrific.

6/29/2021 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

Nose somewhat subdued. This comes to life in the mouth. Quite a big wine with pronounced citrus notes set off with gentle intimations of honey. Really classy juice but only of medium complexity.
Based on having drunk several bottles of Forest 08 and 10 (10 being much better) I would guess that Preuses 10 is better than the 08.
Compared to Raveneau, Dauvissat wines are more linear but lack Rav’s textural richness.

6/27/2021 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

It’s too young - still tight and you sense the tannins. Needs another 5 yrs or so. That being said it’s great - really classy, big and elegant. Somewhat spicy on the finish with hints of bacon fat. Needs time to open up. I prefer this wine to Allemand Reynard because of the greater complexity. Would be fascinating to do a horizontal tasting in a top vintage comprising Allemand Reynard, Chave Hermitage and one or two Guigal Lalas (I have no doubt this occurs fairly regularly).

11/9/2020 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

I drank this at a tasting two years ago and was very impressed. I opened a bottle last Saturday. It's medium sized, displays good acidity (typical for the vintage) and ample minerality combined with pronounced candied fruit notes. This bottle was really harmonious, elegant and ready to drink. This will last for a very long time . Not at the level of the very best Chenes but definitely in the category below.

10/17/2020 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

I had this shortly after release and now opened my first bottle since. It’s more chiseled now and definitely ready. 11 is a very good vintage for Roulot. This is medium plus sized, with pleasing acidity, notes of citrus, acacia and walnut, shows good length and a lingering finish. Overall very satisfying. Displays the touch of a master. Would be interesting to drink side by side with Lafon Charmes 11.

10/16/2020 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

I have had more than 15 bottles of this and never had a bottle with brett or any other flaw. My understanding is that in recent vintages it's made from 80% young vines owned by Chave and 20% fruit that is purchased. It's medium sized, ok acidity, displays typical Syrah/St Joseph intensity. Not complex but def satisfying. The tannins are almost fully integrated now but I preferred it marginally more last year when the fruit was more dominant. It's a very nice basic wine that offers really good value.

9/29/2020 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

I had this wine in 2018 and 2019. It had a slight sauvage quality then which it has completely shed. It's very elegant now but lacks the complexity or greater textural quality to take it to the next level. Easily one the better Village wines but not on a par with the very best Burg Village wines (such as Roumier Chambolle).
I would not be surprised if the 16 is better (not had it yet).

9/29/2020 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

I have had a lot of this cuvee. The trump card here is the ethereal quality, it kind of floats - very impressive. The downside is that you want more intensity from a Syrah (which you normally get from this wine) and while subtle, Reynard does not have the complexity to justify the current price tag IMO. If you are a purist, I would wait another year before drinking it as there are subtle tannins not fully resolved but it can def be consumed now. It's not in the same league as 2010 or other top vintages. I wish this was not so expensive.

8/24/2020 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

I particularly like this cuvee. The 10 Barre is medium sized with a lovely balance between acidity and a restrained, white fruit based richness with a long walnutty finish. Very Meursault. More generally Lafon made great 10's. I would rather have this than a lot of 1er crus from lesser producers.

8/6/2020 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

Elegant, medium body, Chambolle-like (it's right next to Chambolle Amoureuses), good length, nuanced, complex and drinking well now. I think 13 Burgs are underrated - both Fourrier and Rousseau particularly made very good wines in 13.

8/4/2020 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

This is a year that the Caillerets is better than the Ducs and almost on a par with the Chenes. It's elegant, mineraly, intense, displays light notes of dark fruit which was surprising and a restrained richness. 08 is a year that the top Lafarges are very transparent to their underlying terroirs.

8/4/2020 - Burgfan1 Likes this wine:

Really lovely wine. Classic Chablis aromas, pretty big, searing acidity counterbalancing the rich flavors. Displays great focus.
I often drink Dauvissat Forest young. This is by far the best example of the 10 I have had (I drank the previous bottle exactly 1 yr ago) which shows that at least in top vintages (which 10 undoubtedly is) it's worth waiting for full maturity. Better than 08 and 09 (which is also v good btw).

8/3/2020 - Burgfan1 wrote:

This wine is quite Burgundian in spirit (although with some differences obviously) and offers good value relative to Burgundy.
Acidity is really high, it’s mineraly yet quite fruity (primarily plum notes), almost rich which is an unusual combo for Pinot. Not big but good persistence and length. My guess is that the viticulture is really high quality. It’s very well made. To compare it to a hypothetical Burg, it’s like a Chambolle on a really high slope in a warmish vintage.
However there are big condition issues (brett). I had six bottles all perfectly stored between March and August 2020. The first 3 bottles were great.
The last 3 bottles all had brett issues. This is 50% which I think is unacceptable. The barnyard smell was noticeable on all 3 bottles but the extent of the brett was quite different. Bottle 4 was completely gone, bottle 5 had much lower brett but it completely muffled the fruit notes and bottle 6 was the most unstable (balance between acidity, brett and fruit kept on changing in the glass) with the brett always dominating. I won't buy this producer again.