Boring notes on Barbaresco and Burgundy that we have consumed in the past few days.
2001 Prunotto Barbaresco Bric Turot: Pretty much what you would expect at this juncture from Prunotto. Excellent winemaking on hand in all respects; the nose is a classically rendered older-school Barbaresco that still has some evolution to bring together all the elements, the flavors are deep, dark and brooding and the structure is still fairly significant if not overwhelming. All in all quite good and pretty enjoyable but 5 more years will bring greater results and 10 will put this wine is a very good spot.
2001 Produttori del Barbaresco Rio Sordo: In contrast to the Prunotto this was much higher toned, redder-fruited and more easily available in terms of both aromatics and flavor development. This, actually, was quite sexy right now. The rose petal nose has enough development that there is a touch of beef stock to it giving it some warm depth. The acidity is lifted and the red fruit is really attractive, stylish and, dare I say, nicely showy. Tannins are in that rough and tumble Produttori sort of style but are quite in keeping with the wines overall rustic charms. Good stuff for drinking now, some development ahead and will drink well for at least 10 more years.
1997 de Montille Pommard Les Grands Epenots: This was very nice. Polished red fruit with a touch of rusted iron on the nose. Very stylish, surprisingly overt mid-palate had restrained, minerally red-fruit with lots of brightness to it. Acidity and tannin were both refined and the wine had no hard edges whatsoever. Seemingly more of a Volnay presence to this than one would expect. Actually a quite delicate and refined wine with lots of charm to it. Maybe a tick short on the back end but hardly a knock against it. Nicely in the wheelhouse at this point but does not seem to be pointing downward. Good stuff from a vintage I used to really like but have been conflicted on mostly over the past couple of years.
2004 Camille Giroud Pommard Les Epenots: I have been particularly fond of this bottling for the past couple of years. Yes, it has a little herbal quality to it but I don’t find it particularly green, in fact the herbaciousness seems to cut more in a dried, herb/spice mix kind of quality that while I would not want in every wine seems to work just fine here. This is far from the seriously impacted ‘04s IMO. Ripe for the vintage notes of spiced plum, black raspberry and black currant jumble together with the spice mix notes and a little beef stock and a gravelly quality as the tannins come in on the end. Good enough complexity, fruit, ripeness and a look at Pommard here for me. Got it on the cheap and think it is a nice if not necessarily to be super long lived Burg.
2005, 2006 and 2007 Antonin Guyon Chambolle-Musigny Domaine du Village: Honestly, these are all nice and pretty amazing representations of their vintages. The 2007 is lighter, a little breezy but has wonderful Chambolle red-fruit at its heart and is sort of a lovely little delight of a wine to drink. The 2006 has a darker tone to the fruit, a little more sap to the mid-palate and a sweetness that is discernable if not off-putting. This could use a little time to settle in and will be something that works very well with coq au vin or anything sort of rich and stocky/saucy. The 2005 is a beauty that has everything you could want in a village Chambolle. The aromatics are on steroids in a good way, the wine is deep but superbly pure and it has that crystallized quality to the mid-palate that just says that this wine has a long, long life ahead of it however it might be impossible to keep my hands off of it. Too good in the here and now.
2007 Antonin Guyon Corton-Charlemagne: This takes a little while to unfurl but when it does this is one damn good bottle of wine. Probably not in the league of some of the top producers stuff but hardly a knock against this for what I paid for it. Has the richness one looks for in CC and a wealth of golden styled fruit and honeysuckle-tinged aromatics. It all gets more pronounced and focused as the wine is allowed to sit open. I have really enjoyed some CCs from 2007 and think it is a very nice combination of a vineyard’s inclination and vintage style.