At M.D.'s we were mainly tasting some red Burgundies. Two messages emerged for me, over and above the individual notes on the wines. Firstly, based on to two drunk at this event and several others recently I've decided I like H. Lignier's wines a lot; they have an easy, unforced purity about them that lets the fruit and terroir speak. His Chambolle Baudes is a wonderful premier cru and his 94 Clos de la Roche a great wine from what is generally at best an average vintage.

The second message I think is that 1998 is a serious vintage that merits comparison with 1999. A few 98s have been a bit awkward with quite harsh tannins, but those tend to be resolving and showing really good fruit and ageworthy balance as they do so. The 99s can look a bit precocious by comparison and good drinking though they are now, I wonder if we might soon be thinking 98 is the greater vintage on the whole.

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