Barthod, Grivot, Hudelot-Noellat, Meo-Camuzet
2011 Burgundy barrel sample tasting today till 8pm
At our Bishopsgate shop, walkaround
£25 per person inc VAT (redeemable against 2011 Burgundy en primeur purchases of £500 or more)
Chambolle & Vosne sounds like a twee ITV3 detective show and Vosne-Romanee is definitely the Chipping Norton of the Cotes, packed with aristos and yes, the quality of the wines is as good as you would expect. This village produces some of the silkiest and most ethereal wines on the planet, and there's no sign of the Ginger Pig, which can be a good or bad thing according to your point of view. (Personally, I love their pork pies.) But if it's silk you're after, then Chambolle-Musigny has to be high on your wish list. Burgundy from here can be lighter than a helium balloon but have more presence than Elvis.
Speaking of presence, Ghislaine Barthod's son Clement is about seven feet tall though only a teenager, and has been sidelined by a rugger injury when we meet him. Personally I'd have been more worried about his opponents. Ghislaine's in a very cheerful mood, positively ebullient and very relaxed and, although at the end of a very long day, it's a fun tasting. The wines are mineral, with depth and lots of very fine tannin and black cherry fruit, delicate but complete.
A depressingly empty cellar greets the current visitor to Domaine Jean Grivot, due to the reduction in crop of 25% in 2012. 2011 wasn't overgenerous either, so that might account for Etienne's seeming a bit below par for our visit. The wines are amazing though, from the tarry, liquoricy Vosne Villages to the plush but fine Les Rouges all the way to the vivid, fresh and taut Clos Vougeot. Energy is the key to the wines here, as it usually is to the proprietor.
There is no better start to a day than immediate post-breakfast at Hudelot-Noellat, especially when you get there before Charles and get to watch him handbrake-turn into the car park. Even a racket of bleary-eyed sommeliers cheered up at the prospect of what lay below in the cellar. 2011, said Charles, is like 2007 with less alcohol and phenolically riper. There is, this year, a big jump from village to premier cru though the village Vosne is tremendous. What always stands out at this address is the extraction - never overdone - and the texture - delicately palate-coating - and the minerality - oyster shell in some wines.
At Meo-Camuzet Jean-Nicolas compared 2011 to 1991, but with a psychological twist. People wanted a bad vintage in both cases, but it isn't. And anyway, he thinks that some vintages override terroir. 2005 can be one example of that. Whatever he does, whether including whole clusters of grapes or destemming, what he is looking for is charm. And he doesn't have to look very far, since that is a word we have associated with his wines for years. That doesn't mean they are easy or simple though. There's minerality in spades, freshness, some big-boned wines, but all have suave, woven tannins. /CW
Tomorrow
Nuits-St-Georges
