Wanted to bring two of the best wines I had last year for a belated birthday celebration, but unfortunately both didn’t show as well as previous experiences. Never go back etc etc. Also had two out of six wines that were corked, most unlucky wine dinner that I’ve had so far.
1995 La Pousse d’Or Volnay 1er Cru Clos des 60 Ouvrées- France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
Popped and corked back at lunch for dinner. Not as good as my previous experience which was spellbinding. Chinese tea notes on opening that didn’t ever quite go away, still had the ethereal nature that I loved the last time but not the same energy. Some discussion on whether this was mildly corked with a hint of cardboard notes that came and went, and the muted fruit. (93 pts.)
1996 La Pousse d’Or Volnay 1er Cru Clos des 60 Ouvrées- France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
Stylistically very similar to the ‘95 alongside. Beautiful, lifted aromatics with a little VA, seamless and ethereal palate of resolved fruit with some hawthorn notes. Had the trademark ‘96 acidity. Love these makers who can make such finessed wines. Wonderful showing. (95 pts.)
2005 Lucie & Auguste Lignier Clos de la Roche- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
Popped and corked back at lunch for dinner. Silky with fresh strawberry fruit at first so some went for Vosne. Incredibly youthful still with vibrant red fruit notes. Didn’t have the fireworks of the Barthod or Pousse d’Or but the palate had the most depth. Became denser and more tannic with air. A long way to go for this wine yet. (94 pts.)
2002 Domaine Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Véroilles- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
Wow thought this was a Vosne with the floral aromatics. Deep red-fruited character to the wine, lovely tart cherry fruit. Crystalline and focused in spite of the hidden power Fantastic showing. (95 pts.)
Thanks Melvin. I always enjoy your notes. These are super informative for me as they are usually very well regarded producers without getting into the full luxury pricing model. Attainable or within reason for me to seek out and actually age and drink myself. Something to be said for this category, although your recaps tend do go without much response.
So keep posting them! They are useful and I appreciate them.
Thanks @Dan_Sch, appreciate it! My buying strategy is probably similar to yours - good producers that might be considered splurging but won’t break the bank at least! To be fair I do diligently read most things on the forum without responding as well and have gained so much knowledge. Least I can do is to provide my data points on the wines that I drink
@alan_weinberg that’s right, was a group buy that I instigated a few years back because they were going for 1/3 of the price of the original label, but unfortunately the cat seems to be out of the bag.
That’s not really correct. The grapes come from land that’s currently Domaine Hubert Lignier, but Romain passed away in 2004 so he never made any of the wines bottled under the L&A Lignier label. The family insists to this day it didn’t have as much influence on the L&A Lignier wines as people claim since Hubert and Laurent didn’t technically have access to the cellars during the dispute and Romain’s widow employed consultants to help with the winemaking.
I believe Hubert and Laurent got the cellar back in the 2009 vintage (maybe 2010). Not a subject they love discussing, for obvious reasons.
Great set of wines! With a minor exception* I’ve had all of these in the last year, and agree with you. We had the 95 and the 96 Pousse at a Gerard Potel Pousse dinner recently, and the 96 is a particular success (in an otherwise awful year). The 95 has always felt not ready to me. Like your 99 Champans, mine was also off, made worse by having been brought to a dinner with Guillaume d’Angerville. I had the 2005 L&A Lignier Clos de La Roche blind at a dinner and called it a 2014 Lignier Clos de la Roche. It’s young, but the terroir is pretty good
*I had the 2002 Barthod Beaux Bruns, not the Veroilles.
I’m not 100% sure about this but I thought Kellen’s first vintage was 2006 after a falling out with the family from which she got no help in making the wine. I thought Hubert made the 2005.
Either way, it wouldn’t have been Romain But given that the 2005 would have been bottled in 2007, it wouldn’t have been entirely made by Hubert and Laurent anyway.
Thanks for your inputs Greg and didn’t know about the workings around the Lignier bottlings as well. Great wine regardless and better to leave these family feuds aside as you alluded to.
I have had limited experiences with Gerard Potel wines, one of which was last year which bested a Rousseau of the same vintage but this bottle didn’t show as well.
