Colin’s turn to host Monday Table and he demanded we explore Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. He had assembled a top range of producers over a good cross section of middle-aged vintages. The wines were indeed remarkably consistent and very good. He threw a smoky in right at the end to see if we were concentrating. What a treat to see a Chambertin under screwcap at 20 years of age!
2005 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut: Some biscuit, sweet peach and spice. Full and relatively round. You can feel the sweetness of the dosage. Ready to go.
N.V. Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 161eme : Rich and powerful and taking on some truffle development. Quite toasty and full of intense citrus flavours. Good chalky chew and a long, saline infused finish.
2020 Maison Albert Bichot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes Domaine du Pavillon : Aromas of white peach, spearmint and aniseed. The palate is rich and sappy, with a ripe core of orchard fruits. It is full, layered and persistent.
2020 Domaine du Château de Meursault Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières : Ripe white peach, plenty of brown spice and some menthol. Richly fruited with good mineral line under the abundant flesh. A touch of white pepper to the sappy, dry and long finish.
2020 Domaine Bernard Millot Meursault 1er Cru Gouttes d’Or : Notes of wheaten biscuit, lemon curd and mint. Very ripe and just a tad flat. Finishes with a chamomile infused flavour.
2010 Domaine Ponsot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, Grand Cru : A nose of sweet red jelly crystals, violets and earth. The palate is full and spicy and silky of texture. It is fine, with tangy red fruit crunch to the long and expansive finish.
2011 Faiveley Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Les Ouvrées Rodin, Grand Cru : A meaty nose, with beef stock and bloody things. Some decaying rose and foresty undergrowth. The scent of violets with air. Quite suave in the mouth. Good volume and stony structure. Plenty going on here.
2010 Olivier Bernstein Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, Grand Cru : A punchy nose of spruce, menthol, dried flowers and cola. Deep and spicy in the mouth. Rich and powerful, layered and long. Plenty still in the tank.
2013 Faiveley Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Les Ouvrées Rodin, Grand Cru : Right up there for wine of the night honours for mine. So cool and calm. An almost Musigny-like stony platform. Gentle spice, dense cherry fruit. Fabulous mineral detail. Real latent power. Builds through the palate fans out and lingers. Wonderful!
2002 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, Grand Cru : Complex aromatics of sweet earth, floral spice, freshly grated ginger and dark fruits. The palate is rich velvety and layered. It has such an engaging inner mouth perfume. Balance is spot on, and the finish drives on and fans out.
2005 Pascal Lachaux Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, Grand Cru : A dark, slightly chunky wine with plenty of Vitamin B on the nose. The palate is deeply pitched and muscular. It is rich, layered and expansive and carried by sweet, ripe tannins.
2007 Domaine Robert Groffier Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, Grand Cru : A bit of honeyed development starting to show. Gains depth and dimension with air. Plenty of sweet earth and brown spices. A gentle flex of sinewy muscle to the tail.
2009 Domaine Ponsot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, Grand Cru : A calm and even nose. Delicious red and black fruits are tinged with floral spice. It is full, fleshy and layered. There’s something cool and stony lurking. Perfectly ripe without any excess heat or fat. Beautiful flow through the palate.
1999 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, Grand Cru : The scent of fresh flowers draws you in. There’s a myriad of spices that titillate the senses. Fruit aromas and flavours have such fine delineation and definition. It is so perfumed and pure but powerful at the same time. Tannins simply occupy a space, and acidity is fine and minerally. It is liquid velvet that fills every crevice of the mouth. The finish just keeps expanding and driving on. Pure brilliance.
2001 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, Grand Cru : Sweet earth and flora on the nose and in the mouth. Perhaps a bit redder fruited than the ’99 and cool and minerally with very fine detail. Nice proportion and balance, super silky and persistent.
2002 Domaine Bruno Clair Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, Grand Cru : This was a beautiful bottle, power, grace and elegance. Nice detail of cherry fruit that have a crisp edge. Some smoked meats and ginger spice. A whiff of smoke and some autumnal leaves. Rich and velvety with good minerally cut and expansion. Perfectly proportioned. One of the wines of the night.
2005 Jean-Claude Boisset Chambertin, Grand Cru : Under screwcap this thing is motoring along nicely. A touch of Vitamin B to the aroma. Loaded with dark fruits. There’s a strand of licorice weaving through the flavour profile. Some smoked meats and earthy development. Good chew and persistence.
We finished the night with a 1908 Madeira Boal Reserva that had no producer name on the bottle. It was super intense and nutty and extremely volatile. It had limited sweetness and so much saltiness I could feel my arteries hardening with each sip.
