Recent BurgundieS 25/08/2005 (TNB)

• Savigny-les-Beaune Vieilles Vignes 1993 (Camus-Bruchon) Fragrant, dry palate, quite meaty and serious. Time to drink I guess - it will never be soft and the fruit is fully mature. Rather enjoyable.
• Chablis 1995 (Duplessis) I don't often drink village Chablis. This is a good example of what you get from a good one: all the stony minerality and dryness of a premier cru but just a bit less intense and refined. Best with food.
• Volnay Vendage Selectionees 1997 (Lafarge) Seems a bit thin and mean straight from cellar, but when it warms up its fantastic: dry and succulent but with intense strawberry fruit and a bit of beetroot in the mouth. Quite structured - it will probably improve a bit yet. Am I being overgenerous with ?
• Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Referts 1996 (Sauzet) Quite tight and lean, I wondered a bit whether it wasn't a little thin when judged by the highest standards, but while not an absolute star, more and more emerged with some breathing. Very well-defined hazelnut fruit and taut acidity. Excellent wine with no sign of the problems that plague some wines in this vintage. Top
• Morey St Denis Clos Solon 2001 (Fourrier) Lovely bright, crisp red fruits. Excellent concentration and balance, great fruit but bone dry. Just a lovely village wine, I thought at first - but after some time to breath it seemed to have complexity and interest beyond that. Top
• Meursault Genevrieres 1994 (F. Jobard) Top, top quality. Creamy fruit, lean, complex and mineral - with only a slightly reduced intensity and length reflecting the modest vintage.
• Meursault Les Chevalieres 1996 (Coche-Bizouard) Very good village wine - good fruit and the fine acidity of the vintage. Delicious. A good
• Bourgogne blanc 1996 (D. Mortet) Quite rich, forward, exotic fruit. Drinking nicely. This bottle had been forgotten in a freezer overnight, and then thawed - didn't seem to have done much damage, and as my host remarked it's an easy way of opening the bottle.
• Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons 2002 (Moreau-Naudet) Pure, quite mineral, the fact that this is a "no new oak" wine very pleasingly evident. Quite a lot of richness to the fruit too, specially once it had been open for half an hour. Could probably do with a couple of years and might age well for longer. Nice wine. Bare and rising.