Arlaud, Dujac F&P, Lambrays, Lignier, Taupenot-Merme
Why, I ask myself, do Gevrey producers so look down on their Morey brethren, when in Morey it's pretty difficult to buy a duff wine, and in Gevrey all too easy? Yes folks, there's so much more to Morey than 'being a bit like Chambolle/Gevrey'. Even though Morey-based vignerons make some of the best wines from both those villages. In fact it is the smallness and relative lack of fame of the village that makes it some of the best value of the Cote de Nuits. And did you know that Morey grand cru production is nearly two-and-a-half-times that of the premier cru?
I've never yet seen the horses at Domaine Arlaud; Bertille always has them out working their socks off in the vineyards as virtually all the estate is now ploughed and worked by horse power. As ever the wines were brilliant and soulful. They are superfine in structure, fresh and many show a saline minerality. This domaine exemplifies the vintage in allowing the terroir of each village and every cru to show. It's all about the difference.
We tasted at Arlaud with Alec Seysses, then moved on to his own domaine, Dujac, where I've never seen him so enthused as he raced us through the stable of negoce and estate wines. (The estate wines are released later.) One big philosophical difference between Arlaud and Dujac is the extensive use of whole clusters at Dujac and Dujac's wines are more structured, but no less fine. None of the wines had been racked and all were showing a not unattractive reduced quality.
A slight end of term feeling as Thierry Brouin at Domaine des Lambrays contemplates retirement. This will certainly be the end of an era when it happens, but in the meantime he has made yet another sterling set of wines. In the time I've been visiting it seems to me that he enjoys a challenge and over performs in those vintages requiring hard work, experience and talent, and so it was in 2011. The wines are floral, fresh, mineral, creamy, have fabulous texture and are - in a word - terrific.
Kellen has put her foot down. The rule at Domaine Lucie & Auguste Lignier now is that wines undergoing the malolactic fermentation may not be tasted. So we retasted the 10s and some 09s and older vintages and, to be sure, this is a domaine on the right track. Come and taste with us on Thursday.
In order to make the purest Burgundy, it is necessary to be obsessed with oak and coopers, especially if you don't want your wine to taste oaky. Coopers line up at Taupenot-Merme and audition their casks every year. The best get to sell their barrels and the winner makes the custom piece for that year's Clos des Lambrays. Romain is not just obsessive about barrels, though. He's seriously organic, though despondent about yields in 2012 - down up to 80%. This domaine is like Dr Spock meets Bambi, the creation of emotional wines through use of the spreadsheet. It's weird. But it works. /CW
Tomorrow, Thursday 10 January
2011 Burgundy barrel sample tasting
12-8pm, Bishopsgate shop, walkaround
£25 per person inc VAT (redeemable against 2011 Burgundy en primeur purchases over £500)
Oh, and
Chambolle & Vosne
