Day 14: Taxing the tastebuds

Made a bit of a late and lazy start to the day. Eventually drove south of Beaune looking for the Mercurey venue for a regional Grands Jours tasting. I figured if the GPS could get me to the town then surely there would be signs out to the venue, as there was no street listed in the program. Nope, no signs from the main road into town, so I drove around and around until I happened upon a sagging arrow, and eventually parked almost outside the front door of the hall.

When I mentioned to the hosts that it might have been an idea to list the road in the program they replied "but this road has no name". Hard to argue with that. I would find more of those sort of roads in many other villages in the days to come!

Stand No.1 happened to be occupied by Stéphane and Cecile Aladame, a young couple who make the gorgeous 1er cru chardonnays I import from Montagny-les-Buxy.

I tried their range of 08s, with a couple of new names appearing on the labels, which have been tarted up with different colours for each cuvee. Smart. My favourites were the Vignes Derrieres and the Cuvee Selection. I hope people finally cotton onto the 06 and 07 so I can buy the 08s. Matthew Jukes went nuts for the 08 Selection at a British trade tasting, buying some and giving them a rave review.

Cecile is a sweetheart who can speak a bit of English, whereas Stéphane had always avoided any attempts. Now he is doing classes, and proudly told me: "The cat is in the kitchen." I think he's got a way to go ;-)

Cecile gave me a couple of tips on producers to check out, and I did the rounds of others I knew or had heard positive whispers. Not available but worth tasting were the Aubert de Villaine wines, two of which were lovely. Others I tried were dry, reductive, oaky or too extracted. Another had abandoned his post -- possibly for lunch, but I'm sure no one would have been surprised if he didn't return.

No point in flogging a dead horse, so I drove back to Beaune for a couple of semi-private tastings. The first was at Maison Alex Gambal, where I ran through the 08 whites and reds that hadn't been shown on Tuesday. Then I tried a bunch of 09 samples from barrel, and they were mighty impressive. They will even have a Genevrieres 1er cru after doing a swap with someone.

Back upstairs and bumped into the delightful and gorgeous Geraldine Godot, the new winemaker at Gambal. I proceeded to make up any excuse for conversation, including a cork/screwcap debate. She looked ready to thump me, which I would have accepted as some form of affection, and then Alex made it worse byremembering some 03 Bourgogne Blanc that they had bottled under screwcap. He raced off to find a bottle and to everyone's surprise the wine -- from a hot, low-acid year -- was bright, fresh and in perfect condition.

On that evidence alone Alex was convinced he should convert, but Geraldine is a tough nut, and while she conceded the nose was impressive she wasn't so fussed on the palate. I offered to debate the matter further over dinner but she saw right through me and, suitably humbled, I left with my tail between my legs.

It's only two blocks from the Gambal winery on the peripherique to the Camille Giroud offices and winery, where a full range of 08s was open for tasting, as well as two verticals and a smattering of ancient vintages.

I had some definite favourites among the 08s, keeping an eye on price, and the verticals of Vosne Romanee (02-07) and Corton Le Rognet (03-07) panned out pretty much as expected, the Vosnes looking good (an the 02 starring for me), whereas the Cortons seemed to improve from year to year, the 07 fine and subtle and showing real finesses and class.

The older wines were: St Romain blanc 99, which had a bit of an odd goat's cheese nose but was pale and quite complex, showing some baked quiche, honey and caramel notes; 1995 Volnay 1er cru Carelles smelled a bit like a Bordeaux, with sweet leather and ample but fine tannins; 1990 Nuits St Georges 1er cru Perrieres was full bodied and rich, showing some iron filings and lots of tannins still; 1978 Volnay Champans was a little tired in the fruit department, smelling of smoke, leather and blood, but still with tannin to burn; and the 1976 Lavaux St Jacques was quite appealing, with a little framboise and leather combo going on.

The evening's activities promised to be quite grand: 40 grands crus fro 2002 and 2008 at the Chateau Clos Vougeot. It wasn't until later that I realised the wines were all supplied by negociants.

I could list all 40 but that would be a yawn, wouldn't it? They were all masked, so it was interesting seeing what I liked and didn't like among the many Chablis GCs, Batards, Chevaliers, Corton Charlemagnes, etc, and for the reds the Clos Vougeots, the Charmes, the Clos de Bezes and so on. The surprises for me were how bad the two Laroche chablis were: the 08 under screwcap was flat and lifeless and the 02 was a bit oxidised. Another wine was served corked and no one complained.

I bumped into wine writers John Gilman and Bill Nanson and had a bit of a chat, and then it was off to an upstairs dining room for some speeches and a bit of food. My table included a German magazine publisher, a Czech TV producer, a couple of winemakers and one or two others, and later the winemakers were told to rotate tables and the viticulturist from Laroche joined us. There was an awkward moment when I shared my enthusiasm for the other winemaker's wine but had to play dumb with the Laroche guy!

The dinner wines were: 2001 Jadot Criots-Batard Montrachet (bit fat and flabby for my liking); 1990 Joseph Drouhin Grands Echezeaux (some loved this but I found it a bit leathery and simple); 1988 Bouchard Le Corton (not memorable but better than the others). I suspect it was a good opportunity to write off a bunch of disappointing old wines.

OK, for my own records, the 40 pre-dinner wines were:

2008 Drouhin Chablis Bougros: Rich and vibrant, with a hint of botrytis. So much fruit density and length. Great.

2008 Simmonet-Febvre Chablis Les Preuses: More refined and minerally. Still heaps of body but more focused.

2008 Henri de Villamont Chablis Vaudesir: A little toast, oats, grapefruit. Lots of body, power, a lick of honey.

2008 Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis Valmur: Much tighter. Some honey, sesame seeds. Not lacking intensity, but not exactly open.

2008 Simonnet-Febvre Chablis Les Clos: A little mealy, iodine, minerality, finesse, less intensity.

2008 Laroche Chablis Les Blanchots (s): Soft, even developed. Smells buttery and lacks intensity. Tried a second bottle: mercaptans aromas, pretty bad.

2008 Lupe-Cholet Chablis Les Blanchots: Creamy, lacks acid, almost cloying. Growing suspicion of cork taint. Second bottle shows more intensity and focus.

2008 Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis Les Blanchots: Rich, almost resiny, lots of grapefruit, quite intense mid-palate but finishes quickly.

2002 Laroche Chablis Les Blanchots: A little oxidised: fat, rich and quite awful.

2008 Louis Latour Corton Charlemagne: A little soapy, vanilla essence, boring.

2008 Roux Pere et Fils Corton Charlemagne: More intensity, honey snaps, vanilla wafers. Length. Could be great.

2008 Seguin Manuel Corton Charlemagne: Rich, intense, full bodied, with a hint of honey on the finish. Broad but not long.

2008 Corton Andre Corton Charlemagne: Paint resin -- my least favourite aroma on CC -- intense grapefruit. Lacks a bit of acid.

2008 Patriarche Pere et Fils Corton Charlemagne: Broader, rich fruit, very ripe, heading towards orange and mandarin. Presume botrytis.

2008 Albert Bichot Corton Charlemagne: Unyielding nose but an intense palate with lots of extract, but lemony, less oak. Oh, love this one.

2008 Olivier Leflaive Corton Charlemagne: Ripe, rich but good. Not too much oak. Heaps of power.

2008 Bouchard P&F Chevalier Montrachet: Power and minerality, silky, finesse, restraint. This is a class above the Cortons.

2008 Olivier Leflaive Batard-Montrachet: Quite intense on the front palate, and the flavour lingers. Bit of vanilla, green olive and grapefruit.

2008 Jean-Marc Boillot Batard-Montrachet: A little toastier on the nose, with grapefruit and honeycomb. Nice length and balance.

2008 Michel Picard Batard-Montrachet: Paint resin, sesame seeds, toasty. Meh.

2008 Louis Jadot Batard-Montrachet: Honeyed oats, creme fraiche, bit of vanilla oak. These Batards are huge!

2002 Jean-Marc Boillot Batard-Montrachet: Not tasted.

2008 Corton Andre Corton Bressandes: A little meaty, good mouthfeel. Nice intensity, some florals, silky fruit, bit of grip. Love this.

2008 Stephane Brocard Corton Bressandes: Meaty, earthy, iron filings, strawberries, pretty fine but shows a bit of wood on the finish.

2002 Louis Latour Corton Grancey: Soapy, mousy, lot of tanin. Will get more leathery. Pretty bad.

2002 Prosper Maufoux Corton: Blood, oven-roasted tomatoes, lot of tannins. Needs heaps more time.

2002 Louis Jadot Corton Pougets: Meaty, earthy, tannin overload. Leave another 10+ years.

2008 Bouchard Aine & Fils Charmes Chambertin: Fresh and pretty. Blood and juicy strawberries, bit of grip but heaps of bright red fruit, even though the colour is quite pale.

2008 Jean-Claude Boisset Clos de la Roche: Luscious red fruits, strawberries, red cherries, bit of tannin. Needs a fair bit of time.

2008 Louis Max Clos de Vougeot: Really heady florals. Love it. Pretty, intense red fruit and spice and a bit of underlying earthiness. Grip is OK.

2008 Seguin Manuel Clos de Vougeot: Really dark crimson. Very plush and sweet in the mouth. Heaps of power. So dense. Lot of acid too. Holy crap. Tannins are there but not too dry.

2008 Albert Bichot Echezeaux: Big boy. Plush, refined and long in the mouth. Linear. Lots of power. Fair bit of tannin at the finish. For the long haul.

2008 Bouchard Aine & Fils Echezeaux: Pretty nose, florals on the palate, red fruit, sappy, very fine, bit of grip, lasting tannin.

2008 Henri de Villamont Grands Echezeaux: Pretty, very fresh nose. Framboise, a little cream, smoky, hint of spice. Lovely already.

2002 Joseph Drouhin Grands Echezeaux: A little meaty, not complex, quite fine, masculine style. Not my type of wine.

2002 Bouree et Fils Charmes Chambertin: Quite pale, browning on the rim. More gamey, raw meat, iron filings, getting tired.

2002 Prosper Maufoux Charmes Chambertin: Rich, crammed with red cherries and strawberries, fine tannins and a little acid on the finish. Nice.

2002 Jean-Claude Boisset Mazis Chambertin: Very fine. Some high-toned fruit, little bit of iron filings, tough of game. Nice oak. Excellent.

2002 Michel Picard Mazis Chambertin: Meaty, animale on the nose. Quite fresh, with nice fruit on the palate. Very fine tannins.

2002 Bouchard P&F Chambertin Clos de Beze: Soft, round, roast tomato, good persistence, fine tannins, oak a little murky. Becoming meaty, more animale.

Make of all that what you will!