May Day weekend drinking

Red-wise we ended up with an '85 Courbis Cornas which was singing - really vibrant colour, powerful nose- roasted meat, plum/cool blackcurrant fruit, smoke. Super-elegant - a lovely acid backbone (some might say it's slightly too high acid but works wonderfully with food) and huge persistence; a dark raspberry/loganberry perfume lingered in the mouth for ages. Tannins fully resolved but I think this will roll on comfortably for a while. I shall look forward to the others...
 
Nigel Lierop said:
TN on the Comtes as requested...!

Initially relatively closed; some toastiness and white/yellow fruit (apricot..?). Really opened up with time in the glass; super-toasty, lime zest, a hint of coconut, vanilla cream. Very fine in the mouth; elegant, fine mousse, chalky texture. Lovely fizz but, perhaps heretical to say, I'm not convinced that at this stage there's 3/4x pleasure to be had vs last night's PH NV. Guessing that this has plenty more to give, though no sin to open it now! FWIW our last bottle last August felt more open, though that was drunk from a Zalto Universal whereas this was from a John Lewis Swan white wine glass which is a little smaller..
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I have some of this! Let’s discuss this in five years time......
 
Opened this to drink during a Zoom quiz this afternoon, and glad I did. Zingy...

2013 Marie-Pierre Chevassu-Fassenet Savagnin Côtes du Jura Granges Bernard - France, Jura, Côtes du Jura (5/3/2020)
Really good - perfect balance between citrus refreshment and yeasty interest. Bitterness and mould are predominant, but with moreish salinity - preserved lemon? Long and addictive. (92 pts.)
 
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To go with this little Mound of Murguez we’ve opened this little beauty up. The cork was dried out but the wine is fantastic. Pairs perfectly with the spiciness of the sausage. There is still so much cedar and tannin but plenty of lively rich secondary aromas of spice and still some dark fruit. It pairs so well that I’m having trouble keeping my hands off this combo! Not sure the sausage or wine will last until my wife gets back from the garden...
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CaliCab at 13.1%. Lovely.
 
A Langhe Nebbiolo 2018 from Sottimano. Very young of course and ideally should have been left; but I still derived pleasure from the red fruits and aromas.
 
Colin Bradley said:
I've only had a Piuze wine once, Alex - it was a village level wine from some lieu-dit I'd not previously heard of and I really liked it too.
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I'm a fan of PP - another one of the micro-negoce brigade. He has a villages cuvée Fyé which has been consistently good or better & continues to be reliably priced. His 1er crus are VGI but pricy, we've recently finished off our Butteaux '11 stash. Never tried his grand crus - the prices are farcical. If you like Aligoté, it's worth tracking down the '1953'.
 
  • 2007 Geantet-Pansiot Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Baudes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru (03/05/2020)
    2/6, very good cork.
    Pale/medium garnet core, pale garnet rim. Whilst still youthful this has blossomed beautifully since last tasted (10 years ago!). The nose shows piercing, pure strawberry fruit, florals (roses almost), quite spicy. It is medium bodied, with bright, pure red fruit on the mid-palate, turning savoury as the fresh/vibrant acidity kicks in, all cradled by soft tannins. The finish is long and harmonious. Now drinking beautifully, not that there's any need to hurry (93 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
 
Russ Sainty said:
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Our hare is ready of a treat tonight! First one of a couple brought from the domain in 2003.
Will report how it goes with slow roasted lamb with boulangere potatoes.
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As many of you liked the idea of us drinking the Jamet 1999, Côte Rotie,I thought I needed to post some sort of note. We drunk It over two nights and decanted before for around 3 hours.
It is certainly a monumental wine. There’s lots going on, but this bottle seems all about structure, with a steely edge, a deep meaty length. There’s fruit yes but it reveals itself slowly. It was the full 3 hours before there was any nose at all. fruit profile towards the black end of the spectrum with a meaty edge. Overall contemplative but not totally joyous.
It was consistent on the second night.
I think we’re drinking this too early as there were no secondary notes to speak off. I’d not have put this as 5 years let alone 20. Of great quality but difficult point in its ageing, perhaps.I won’t be opening another for a few years.
 
It's Fran's birthday today so a few nice things have been planned. I'll be cooking up a menu with food from our favourite holiday places. So some burrata from Apulia, with Sicilian Camone tomatoes, Bavarian white asparagus, Maine Lobster tails, fillet of Shetland beef, some Gariguette strawberries from Provence and finally a chocolate souffle made with Valrhona chocolate from the Rhone). Should be very nice indeed. Wine wise we'll be having a 2002 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee, a 1998 Conseillante and a half of 2005 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. Looking forward to the last one as I bought two for a song a few years ago. Not sure the person selling knew what they were. The last one was one of those wow wines that sticks in the memory!
 
A restrained weekend here, drank a bottle of Xinomavro young vines 2018 from
Thymiopoulos. Delivered at 10am from TWS, opened at 12pm to have a glass with lunch. The bottle felt cool to the touch so I thought it was good to go but it started off jammier than I expected. Returning to it in the evening colder it was more elegant, crunchy and restrained. A very good wine for not much money (£11).

Tonight we have having ribeyes with chips and béarnaise. Trying to decide between Segla 2010, Dujac MSD 16 or 17 and Roumier Chambolle Musigny 2015. All young but should imagine steak friendly - the Dujac 16 was a delight late last year.
 
All the talk of Meursault led me to procure(thanks Mike H) and open a regular Jadot, which I had not had a bottle of since the Winerack days.
It was really lovely, though if picky a bit sweet as find with most 2015 white burgs.
The major difference between it and the other two Chardonnay’s was the mouthfeel and texture of a classic wine, the Penfolds in particular was exposed as a bit of a thin dud seemingly having gone backwards since I purchased and initially enjoyed it on the back of Tom C’s write up.6E37480B-5FAE-44C6-852A-336B1405DD4A.jpeg
 
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A couple of wines not previously posted here. The Musar half was drunk earlier in the week whilst on a Zoom with Gaston, which was fascinating. The 07 lovely but still so young. The Gevrey was sadly, but not unexpectedly, past it. It had started to seep. Really enjoying English wines just now. The Frei was a huge chocolate bomb.
 
Jonathan Mitchell said:
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A couple of wines not previously posted here. The Musar half was drunk earlier in the week whilst on a Zoom with Gaston, which was fascinating. The 07 lovely but still so young. The Gevrey was sadly, but not unexpectedly, past it. It had started to seep. Really enjoying English wines just now. The Frei was a huge chocolate bomb.
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I drunk the 2001 Musar for the Zoom meeting. It took a while to get going but was lovely musar with an almost burgundy weight.

are you doing the Rioja one this Wednesday?
 
Gareth Powell said:
It's Fran's birthday today so a few nice things have been planned. I'll be cooking up a menu with food from our favourite holiday places. So some burrata from Apulia, with Sicilian Camone tomatoes, Bavarian white asparagus, Maine Lobster tails, fillet of Shetland beef, some Gariguette strawberries from Provence and finally a chocolate souffle made with Valrhona chocolate from the Rhone). Should be very nice indeed. Wine wise we'll be having a 2002 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee, a 1998 Conseillante and a half of 2005 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. Looking forward to the last one as I bought two for a song a few years ago. Not sure the person selling knew what they were. The last one was one of those wow wines that sticks in the memory!
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Lucky Fran (and Happy Birthday). You deserve a drink after pulling that meal off.
 
Russ Sainty said:
As many of you liked the idea of us drinking the Jamet 1999, Côte Rotie,I thought I needed to post some sort of note. We drunk It over two nights and decanted before for around 3 hours.
It is certainly a monumental wine. There’s lots going on, but this bottle seems all about structure, with a steely edge, a deep meaty length. There’s fruit yes but it reveals itself slowly. It was the full 3 hours before there was any nose at all. fruit profile towards the black end of the spectrum with a meaty edge. Overall contemplative but not totally joyous.
It was consistent on the second night.
I think we’re drinking this too early as there were no secondary notes to speak off. I’d not have put this as 5 years let alone 20. Of great quality but difficult point in its ageing, perhaps.I won’t be opening another for a few years.
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Yep - it’s a bit of a brute. But many 99s are. Even Graillot Crozes is only now just coming round.
 
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Oliver Coleman-Green said:
A restrained weekend here, drank a bottle of Xinomavro young vines 2018 from
Thymiopoulos. Delivered at 10am from TWS, opened at 12pm to have a glass with lunch. The bottle felt cool to the touch so I thought it was good to go but it started off jammier than I expected. Returning to it in the evening colder it was more elegant, crunchy and restrained. A very good wine for not much money (£11).

Tonight we have having ribeyes with chips and béarnaise. Trying to decide between Segla 2010, Dujac MSD 16 or 17 and Roumier Chambolle Musigny 2015. All young but should imagine steak friendly - the Dujac 16 was a delight late last year.
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Decided to go for Fourrier G-C Cherbaudes 2014 which seemed more fitting for our sixth wedding anniversary. This has lots of spritz so just given it a good ol’ shake.
 
A couple of Beaune's from the weekend both finished off earlier this evening - I was trying to come up with something along the lines of older/newer 'bones' but gave up on that !

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Both much enjoyed in their own very different (obviously !) ways. The Le Grappin 2012 is perhaps my best ever (as in enjoyed) Le G wine to date. Seriously good. Initially served maybe too cold reminded me hugely of Chablis, and a top Chablis at that. Really, really supa tasty good. Salut & chapeau Andrew & Emma.

The Epenottes is an interesting one. Ballot-Millot I guess best known for their whites (Meursault ?) but this red is a great drink - unfortunately (for now) my last bottle. I was amazed to see a wine of this age on a merchant's 'everyday' list a year only or two ago at a very good price & couldn't resist a 6 pack - think they may have come from the cellar of the merchant's proprietor/boss. One bottle corked (merchant reimbursed without issue - quickly) but others all good. Very deeply coloured, stinky, vegetal, secondary aromas/flavours - tangy '96 acidity evident, persistent, long. Very tasty. Need a few more me thinks. Open question, thinking aloud, why are Beaune wines so seemingly under rated, under the radar, good value - as maybe NSG wines are for the CdN ?

Couple of other wines before the above at back end of last week:-
Domaine Cornu-Camus 2018 H-CDN Blanc - as previously this 'humble' wine is, without doubt, my personal white wine of the YTD, no question. Just brilliant & amazing qpr. My last bottle of 6 bought direct last Sept drunk way too quickly/easily. When I'm next in Burgundy I'm going to re-visit this lovely family before I do anything else !

Domaine Pierre Damoy 2009 Bourgogne Rouge - my favourite BR of current times. No shrinking violet this one but impressive nonetheless. Very akin to a Gevrey, naturally, bats above its 'humble' status pour moi. I like Pierre, he's a good guy, and under rated & unfairly criticised in some quarters for me.
 
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