Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot Clos de la Chapelle Domaine du Duc de Magenta 2002

The first vintage I ever tried of this wine was the 1995. It was part of a big Burgundy promotion we were holding at the shop and we'd knocked about £5 off the price. I loved it instantly. I revisit it whenever possible. The only disappointments I've had were from corked bottles.

Gaining a deep gold but still bright and glowing almost.

The nose is subtle at first, chantilly and wild mushrooms on toast, giving way to exotic, spiced pineapple. Heady, decadent. Small whiff of vanilla oak at the end, though this seems to be consumed by the everything else as the wine opens.

Every sip is different. There's a sweet ripeness of fruit hat hits first, softening and stretching into layered pineapple with cinnamon toast and chantilly cream. Buttered mushrooms as well. Rounded. Everything develops and flows beautifully, with wild woodland notes on the edge of all that's within. Tremendous lift, balance and length. Stones in a stream as it ends. This is delicious.

*****

Tasted 12 March 2011 at Luvians Bottleshop

 

Pontet-Canet 1995

A wine I know well, and have probably noted before. There you go.

Still dark with ruby rims.

Smoked cassis with tones of cedar and leaf tobacco.

Tasting brilliant - softer and more harmonious than last time I tried it. juicy cassis and blueberries wrapped in tea leaf-velvet. Rather scrumptious.

****

Tasted 6 Feb 2011 at Shorehead

 

Oops, I did it again.

Fell totally out of step with blog updates. Really sorry. I am also sorry for using a Britney Spears song title to apologise. Quite a lot upcoming, however, so please keep checking in. Ta.

Morgon 2008 Marcel Lapierre

Low sulphur and sans sulphur wines have been a mixed bag for me. Fourrier is the only domaine I've tried that seems to consistently triumph with his techniques. Others have been re-fermenting, off-putting messes. I'm curious about some of the wines that Jamie Goode has tried, as he's all over the natural wine thing.

The colour on this is fantastic. It shimmers with bright rubies and violets, depending on how the light hits it.

I get something different with each sniff. At once it will be earthy with coffee grounds and then on the next whiff bright cherries and cranberries with notes of violets.

The palate is light and rustic, flower-laced red fruits, a bit of wet stone and a good, earthy mouth feel. The fruits are bright, and while there's not an enormous amount of power, there's a tremendous sense of energy and lift. Nebulous, eh? It's difficult to explain, but there you go. Perhaps the best example is that the finish is more an echo of the mid-palate than any sort of end palate. What lingers longest is the humming brightness of the fruit and the grip that's wrapped around it. Impressive, and probably the finest Morgon I've ever tasted.

*****

Tasted 4 Feb 2011 at Luvians Bottleshop