Red Burgundy 07, tasted april 11th 2010
Bourgogne rouge, d’Angerville
Quite acidic, some oak, tight length with blackcurrants and cherries. Refreshing and elegant.
Bourgogne rouge, Barthod
More accessible fruit, fuller mouthfeel. Fine cherries in the mouth, a slight hint of toffee that I could well do without, still fine wine.
Bourgogne rouge, N. Rossignol
Lighter style, pretty and easy, slighty simple and diffuse. Drinks well.
Bourgogne rouge, Heresztyn
Good quality, quite firm mouthfeel, slightly extracted but well balanced.
The problem with BR in Norway is that the price structure makes these wines problematic QPR; forking up 50% more may make a quite significant rise in quality on many occasions.
Beaune Toussaints Premier Cru, Morot
Main criticism here is that the wine stands up a little short. Otherwise it has a beautiful, floral nose with fine grip in the mouth, delicious and suave with wonderful raspberry aromas and well judged balance.
Savigny-les-Beaune Dominodes PC, Clair
Darker and deeper, perhaps a tad too much oak for my taste, but delicious dark fruit on the nose, good grip and finisih, but slightly hollow midpalate, better nose than taste. Doesn’t carry all the way through.
Savigny-les-Beaune Narbanton PC, d’Ardhuy
Not very excited by the nose here, slightly unfocused and unclean, and I’m not completely convinced it’s just a matter of reductive winemaking either, though that definitely is part of it (and time/air will clean things up). Distinctly bird cherry (prunus padus). Good structure, maybe air and time will bring this round?
Volnay, Moestue (a Norwegian importer who owns a small parcel, vinified by Jean-Yves Devevey).
Pure, though a slight butterscotchy note. Slightly simple, fine balance though, but difficult to asess as it is definitely simpler (and cheaper) than the two following Volnays.
Volnay Champans PC, d’Angerville
Slightly closed on the nose, very fine in the mouth, focused and intense with distinct cherry notes. Sweet fruits, fine length and far more accessible in the mouth than indicated by the nose. Delicious.
Volnay Clos de Ducs PC, d’Angerville
Family likeness, but a step up, tightetr and sharper style, great intensity and very fine precision in the finish. Delicate nose with hints of wild strawberries, delicate and intense at the same time. Great wine.
Vosne-Romanee, Cathiard
Slightly warm fruit, stunningly precise fruit with superb precision. Some spices, closes slightly in the glass (I kept my pour for quite a long time in the glass). Time needed here, great village quality and extremely attractive wine.
Vosne-Romanee, Grivot
More rustic and grainy, somewhat more extracted and clumsy. Recognizably Vosne (this seems to be a vintage that clearly presents terroir). Some oak, I’m not totally sold on this (but it is a fair bit cheaper than Cathiard….). Tous le jours, c’est le meme chose.
Vosne-Romanee, Daniel Rion
Tight and fine mouthfeel, more chewy and oaky, good wine, but without the lasersharp precision and elegance of the Cathiard, but again, unfortunately, price…
Vosne-Romanee Les Suchots PC, Hudelot-Noellat
Slightly mute, fine grip, concentration and length is there, very fine length, but slightly ”not there” currently. Mighty grip in the finish, slightly reductive, needs time, this will be great I think as all the components are there and the balance is fine.
Gevrey-Chambertin, Clair
Some aniseed, dark berries in a blackcurrant way. Fine minerality, cleaner and more focused style than Clair’s Savigny. Slightly short perhaps, but still fine.
Gevrey-Chambertin, Mortet
Less oak than when the father ruled, but still quite a bit, and I’m still not a Mortet convert. Slightly spicy style, seems to carry the oak well, but still not how I prefer my Burgundies. Was pretty well shown up by the following wine:
Gevrey-Chambertin, Rousseau
Acessible and clean, very focused, slightly earthy style with nonchalant and sneaky length. Nonchalant class. Beautiful grip in the mouth, long and a very excellent village. I’m glad I secured a bottle of the Clos des Ruchottes 07 for my own cellar……
Nuit St Georges Clos de la Marechale PC, Mugnier
Pretty complex, minerally, easygoing and elegant for a NSG. Mugnier seems to be back on track in the elegant style I love.
Nuit St Georges Les Bousselots PC, Chevillon
Slightly commercial, hot and short. A light wineyard OK, but still a slight letdown from Chevillon. Not a bad wine, but slighly simple and ought to be better.
Nuit St Georges Les Chaboeufs PC, Confuron
A surprise. Slightly sweet, but tight and compact fruit in a well balanced package here. Minerally and seductive (not always an obvious association neither with NSG nor with Confuron) wine. Very fine.
