George put on an absolute belter for the Monday Table last night. Fortunately, a few of the boys have picked up a bottle or two of Faiveley’s Moose along the journey and it was great to see a few different vintages in the one sitting.
2012 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Blanc de Noirs Cote de Bechalin : Disgorged April 2019. Some development here. Rich and toasty. A sweet core of orchard fruits. Cut by a big squeeze of citrus. Dense, layered and long.
2012 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Blanc de Noirs La Presle : Disgorged April 2016. Intense florals on the nose, with a strong geranium scent that dominated for me. I enjoyed the palate much more than the nose and it was vinous, sappy, detailed and voluminous. The finish powered on and on.
2017 Domaine Blain-Gagnard Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru : Complex, rich and accessible. Loaded with sappy orchard fruits. Possesses a hint of spice. Good mouthfeel and volume and finishes with fresh, minerally acidity.
2017 Domaine Blain-Gagnard Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru : Ready to go and offering all of its charms. Rich and powerful white peach and preserved lemon notes. Plenty of spice and some spearmint cream too. Finishes with real authority and perhaps has just a little more grunt than the Criots?
2017 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet, Grand Cru : Seriously tight and backwards, emitting a bare whiff of smoky mineral reduction. With air you get some pure white peach fruit and aniseed spice. It is so explosive, intense and precise, but working within a narrow channel for now. Length is superb and it unfurls a little in the glass, but you sense it needs a decade to be anywhere near its apogee.
2017 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles : This was delightful. Green melon and white peach fruits. Oozes minerality in the mouth. Great shape and an intense, fruit sweet core. Layered and long and possesses exquisite balance. Fresh citrus and mineral notes linger. Very close to Grand Cru quality.
2004 Faiveley Musigny, Grand Cru: The colour was nice and bright and lively for the vintage. The nose draws you in with some decaying plant matter, smoked meats and red fruits. The palate is fresh and stony, a little lean through the mid and silky of texture. There is tart acid crunch and length is decent. There are certainly greens of the vintage evident but this is a very good ’04.
2006 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche, Grand Cru : Violets, sweet meats, dried flowers. Has a touch of earthy development. Complex and complete. Silky and expansive. Lovely balance and drinking right in the zone.
2007 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche, Grand Cru : A seductive nose of rose petals, Asian spice, blood plum and cherry. Rich, velvety fruits lap around the gums. It has savoury nuance and decent minerally detail. It is layered and very long. A good showing.
2007 Faiveley Musigny, Grand Cru: Complex aromatics of musk, beef stock, menthol, Hoisin and earth. There’s vinous sweetness and a palate that is even with a stony base. Entering a mature stage where structural elements are relaxed.
2009 Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny, Grand Cru: Cool and stony. Ample of structure yet so sensual. Rich red and black fruits abound. Light florals contribute to the wine’s highly perfumed elements. It builds through the palate, finishes with mineral cut and then fans out. Everything I want in red Burg!
2009 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche, Grand Cru . Clearly a very good wine, with intense berry fruits and loads of spice but the wine’s detail has been planed off from some oxidation and leaves too many coffee and chocolate notes. Sadly, let down by its cork.
2010 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche, Grand Cru : Complex aromatics of sandalwood, sweet cherry, rose petals and beef stock. Power with grace and perfume. Great fruit intensity and such clarity in the mouth. Deep and layered, long and expansive. Near perfect balance. A great La Tâche.
2010 Faiveley Musigny, Grand Cru: Has a core of intense cherry fruit. There are notes of menthol, cherry stone and violets too. It is deep, rich and powerful, such a wine of authority but light on its feet. The finish has a flex of sinewy muscle and such awesome expansion and length. This is starting to drink wonderfully well but is a 50+ year wine for sure.
1959 Faiveley Musigny, Grand Cru: Just a little too much mustiness from the cork. Some nutty aldehyde things and savoury development traits. A bottle we had 6 years ago was sound and very good.
2015 Faiveley Musigny, Grand Cru. Deeply pitched, dark of fruit and luscious. Real latent power here. Such great presence and volume without an ounce of excess fat. Something cool and stony lurks. Engaging florals come to the fore once you work some air into the wine. The finish drives on and on.
2017 Faiveley Musigny, Grand Cru: Quite accessible for a young Faiveley Moose. Perfectly ripe blood plum and dark cherries along with some floral spice and sweet earth. A harmonies palate that is silky of texture and sweet of fruit. It has some stony mineral detail and the peacocks tail of Grand Burgundy.
2008 Louis Jadot Musigny, Grand Cru: Not advanced but showing its age and starting to throw some sediment. A hint of sous bois along with smoked meats and freshly grated ginger. Something sweet and vinous at its heart and so silky of texture. There’s plenty of geological matter and some dried flowers. Finishes with mineral cut and spicy floral things linger.
1988 Château d’Yquem, Sauternes: The nose had some lanolin, apricot, honey and vanilla pod. The palate was calm and even and beautifully balanced. Sweetness was moderate and it finished with great energy and length.
1989 Château d’Yquem, Sauternes: A little more ebullient than the ’88. Rich, powerful and layered. Plenty of honeyed sweetness and candied citrus. Some lanolin and brown spices too. Powerful without excessive weight and supremely long finishing with exotic notes of mango and custard apple.
1877 Porto Velhissimo Riserva Particular Amondio dos Santo : Intriguing. All sorts of savoury notes…aged cheddar, grilled nuts, balsamic and bitter chocolate. It had a tinned peach kind of sweetness and a touch of rancio. It was heady through the palate and finished with bitter citrus.
