Decided to take two weeks off and head to Noosa. It seems like half the Australian wine industry did the same as we over-lapped with team Standish and McKinley from the Barossa, the Holymans from Tassie and Colin from Adelaide. Even the board’s own Paul Hanna came up for a couple of nights. It would have been rude not to open a few good things.
We only had a couple of casualties. I have generally had good luck with the Henri Germain wines but an '07 Meursault Chevalières and '05 Meursault ‘Perrières’ were both oxidised. A 2000 Coche-Dury Meursault Rougeots had a fabulous colour but was riddled with tca.
1982 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon: Still a bit of prickle from the fizz. Complex and rich nose of roasted nuts, biscuits, brioche and honey. It is full in the mouth with good intensity and a line of mineral acidity. There are some engaging truffle notes and it guilds and has plenty going on through the finish
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2008 Pol Roger Champagne Vintage Brut: Complex aromatics of wheat biscuit, green apple, toast and preserved lemon. There’s a rigid spine of minerally acidity and rich orchard fruits in the mouth. For now it is compact and linear but there’s so much material here that time will unfurl. A great Pol vintage.
2014 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis 1er Cru Montmains: Opens up with some mild reduction. With air you get flint, mint and ripe citrus notes. It is generous in the mouth but with the mineral detail of the year. Balance is really good and it has good cut and decent length.
2014 Domaine Thomas Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes: Elegant, cool, balanced and stony. There are perfectly ripe peach and citrus fruits. The palate has perfect proportion and a lick of salty minerality. It is still very young but extremely delicious and moreish.
2014 Vincent Girardin Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières: There is noticeable wood spice on the nose. Orchard fruits are dense and sappy. It has a rigid backbone of minerals and citrus and good mid-palate sweetness. There’s plenty going on right now and length is impressive.
2014 Blain-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet: Ripe, sappy orchard fruits abound. It is relatively forward and expressive with good shape in the mouth and a kiss of minerally acidity to the finish.
2013 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon: Relatively forward and simple at this stage. Pleasant white peach fruit, some nuttiness and good underlying minmerality.
2013 Domaine Ramonet Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseignères: Lovely elegance and finesse. Pure white peach aromas and flavours are tinged with floral spice. The palate is quite rocky and balance and proportion are impeccable. The bottle was just starting to stretch out as we finished it. Magnum format please.
2010 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières: Really expressive with notes of aniseed, white flowers, white peach and citrus. It is full, rich and heady in the mouth. It has excellent richness yet there’s elegance and detail. The finish is laden with minerality. Drinking right in the zone.
2010 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre: Absolutely in the zone. The nose has some spearmint, smoke, citrus blossom and oyster shell. It is so deep, rich, intense and textural yet remarkably light on its feet. There’s a lactic creaminess but the wine is so precise and detailed. It is Grand Cru quality in every sense and has wonderful balance and length.
2010 Domaine Henri Boillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles: Off the charts good. Plenty of struck match to the aroma along with pure white peach and aniseed. It is loaded with dry extract in the mouth and has great shape with a fruit sweet heart. Length is impressive and there’s a big puff of chalk right at the end.
2009 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet: This is forward and drinking near its apogee. On the nose you get some smoke, crème brulee, white peach and aniseed. It is full and textured in the mouth with outstanding depth and good stony detail for the vintage. Acidity is relatively low but the wine has great energy and length is superb.
2008 Bruno Colin Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Maltroie: Pours out a fresh colour with green tinges. There’s some smoky mineral reduction. It is laden with sappy white peach fruit. There’s a touch of spice and plenty of minerality. The finish is precise and long. Very good.
2007 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Les Forêts: Complex aromatics of mint, mandarin, lemon and iodine. The palate is rich and full, loaded with preserved citrus and cut by minerally acidity. It has a dollop of butter and layers of flavour. It finishes with great precision.
2000 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes: Really expressive nose of smoke, almond butter, white mushroom and peach. The palate is full, rich and buttery yet fresh and detailed. It has great depth and length and is cut by a fine line of minerally acidity. There’s plenty of lingering citrus flavour.
2014 Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay: The nose has some matchstick reduction along with green melon, white peach and citrus fruits. It is relatively lean in the mouth with a heart of sweet orchard fruit and citrus tang to the finish. Needs a year or two to flesh out.
2015 Joh. Jos. Prüm Riesling Kabinett: There’s some mineral reduction to the aroma and a big squeeze of lime. In the mouth you get but a suggestion of sweet fruit that tightens quickly thanks to the wine’s chalky acidity. It is all powdered lime and slate on the finish and is a wine of excellent posture and precision.
2008 Grosset Riesling Polish Hill Clare Valley: Expressive nose of lime blossom, toast, smoky mineral and slate. The palate is bone dry and piercing. There’s a huge squeeze of Tahitian lime and it is still relatively compact and linear. Length is impressive.
2011 Domaine François Cotat Sancerre Les Monts Damnés: Ripe, rich, heady and exotic. Layered in the mouth with excellent concentration and volume and a finish that bristles with energy.
2013 Sylvie Esmonin (Michel et Fille) Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques: Quite deep and dark in the glass. At first there’s plenty of reduction but breathes to show ripe cherry fruit and spice. It is earthy in the mouth and velverty of texture. There’s good weight and depth and length is impressive. Needs time to develop complexity.
2013 Domaine Jean Fournier Marsannay P’tite Grumotte: There’s some smoke to the aroma at first and then its all black cherry fruit. There’s underlying earth and iron and the palate is fleshy with a velvet feel. Tannins are sweet and length excellent.
2009 Bernard Dugat-Py Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes: A little reductive at first but with air it blossoms. Absolutely classic Gevrey, all meat and dark fruits, tinged with earth. It has outstanding depth for its level and the creaminess of the vintage. There’s some punchy floral notes and good grip to the finish.
2008 Sylvain Cathiard Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts: The nose is quite floral with rose petal aromas and a touch of sweet earth and red jube-like fruit. It is full in the mouth and has excellent minerally detail. There’s good finesse and a lacy texture. A wine of good energy and persistence.
2007 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands-Echezeaux: Ebullient nose of smoke, stems, Hoisin and rose petals. It is full and round in the mouth with spice laden cherry fruit. There’s some meat, root vegetables and soy and whilst only mid-weight it has excellent proportion and real presence in the mouth. Texture is lacy and there’s excellent persistence.
2005 Domaine Robert Sirugue Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Petits Monts: Upon opening it was quite oaky and relatively compact. The next night the wine had opened well. There were whiffs of purple flowers and black cherry. The palate was deep and layered and had excellent underling structure. It is still far too young but all of the material is here.
1937 Domaine Armand Naulot Echezeaux: Has a really good colour and is in excellent nick. The nose has some salty seaweed notes along with liqueur cherry, leather, spice and some balsamic volatility. It is full and layered in the mouth with outstanding depth and incredible length of savoury flavours. A beautiful wine.
1999 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard: This has a fabulously fresh and deep purple colour. The nose shows some liniment, dried flowers, smoke, tar and blood plum. In the mouth it has perfectly ripe plum and cherry fruits. There’s real savoury nuance and an engaging floral spice. It has richness and power without excess weight and is a wonderful expression of Syrah that is cerebral, energetic and deeply satisfying.
1992 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque: This one is meat and one veg, all bacon fat and green bean. There some tar and a little coffee along with vinous sweetness in the mouth. It is pretty close to peak drinking and is an ok La Turque but not a great one.
2013 Albino Rocca Barbaresco: Has some sweet jube-like fruit and fresh rose petal notes. There are cedar and chestnut things going on too. Balance is excellent and there’s good flesh. It is certainly accessible and thoroughly enjoyable now but should age effortlessly for a decade.