- 2001 Agrapart & Fils Champagne Brut Nature Blanc de Blanc Vénus - France, Champagne, Avize, Champagne (5/3/2008)
This is the first vintage of this Biodynamic cuvée. Appley, quite red toned on the nose despite being a Bl de Bl, slightly vanillary and strongly earthy. Crisp but concentrated, dry and mineral. Very nice. Doesn't really show the signs of coming from what is generally considered a weak vintage.
Then we had a bunch of Volnays:
- 2001 Domaine de Montille Volnay 1er Cru Les Mitans - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru (5/3/2008)
Pale. Pure and bright nose of red berries; elegantly earthy and mineral, leafy - fantastic Pinosity and transparency. Light but intense, very tannic, bright and pure and absolutely enchanting. - 2003 Domaine de Montille Volnay 1er Cru - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru (5/3/2008)
Dark colour for Montille. Sweet, jammy, chemical nose; soft and sweet, not flabby but doesn't really have a Montille character to it. This was just plain weird upon opening, but with air did gain focus. Shows more '03 character than anything else. - 2005 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Les Fremiets - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru (5/3/2008)
Very dark. The nose was very sweet and darkly fruity, almost like raspberry-liqueur and showed more new oak than I expected from d'Angerville. Nice tannins, decent enough acidity to cope with all the dark fruit and sweetness. What I think this lacked was a clearly defined Pinosity. - 2005 Domaine de Montille Volnay 1er Cru Les Mitans - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru (5/3/2008)
Sweet and darkly fruity yet savoury nose, shows obvious warm year characteristics and doesn't have the pure, transparent brightness I so love in some other Montilles, but it still has obvious Pinosity. Sweet fruit, upright tannins, not terribly acidic but it is still lively. Very nice, but very young. - 2003 Domaine de Montille Volnay 1er Cru Les Mitans - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru (5/3/2008)
This was a very weird experience. Very dark colour. Very expressive and peachy nose, voluptious and full of dark fruit, lots of mulberry and even some tar - if there were more oak in it, it would have been like a Barossa Shiraz! Sweet, soft, plump - even a bit flat. The very opposite of what my experience with Montilles has previously been. 2003s really tend to be freakish.
And then we had a flight of Pommards:
- 2004 Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz Spätburgunder Spätlese trocken - Germany, Pfalz (5/3/2008)
Very light coloured. Slightly animal upon opening; but cleared up to become a peachy, red toned, sweet but leafy scent of pure Pinosity. Sweeter fruit than the Montilles tasted alongside this, but pleasantly structured and refreshing, mineral and bright. Very attractive. - 2005 Domaine de Montille Pommard 1er Cru Les Pezerolles - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru (5/3/2008)
A strange experience for Montille: dark colour. Dark fruit notes, quite a bit of oak also, masculine, brooding. Soft, plump, over-ripe and almost raisiny, lacks a bit of focus - single blind, I thought this was an '03! - 2003 Domaine de Montille Pommard 1er Cru Les Pezerolles - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru (5/3/2008)
Lifted and peachy, but pruney/raisiny, mulberry - no Pinosity in this one! Salty attack, refreshing tannins, but the acids are rather too soft for all that sweet fruit. It's not actually as freakish as many other '03s, but it does lack Pinosity and transparency. A decent wine; but not Burgundy. - 2002 Domaine de Montille Pommard 1er Cru Les Pezerolles - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru (5/3/2008)
This was just stunningly pretty! Bright, pure, transparent, mineral and elegant despite plenty of vegetal but red toned, ripe fruit. Ripe but bright, mineral and elegant. Long and refreshing though not as strongly acidic as I expected from the nose. Lovely. - 2004 Domaine de Montille Pommard 1er Cru Les Pezerolles - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru (5/3/2008)
Pleasantly vegetal, but ripe and pure Pinosity, quite dark toned fruit. Full, ripe fruit, slightly vegetal, stronger tannins and softer acidity than I expected, but well balanced and very lovable.
General remarks: I still find '03 Burgundies to be freakish. These really had no Pinosity and no real Montille-isity either. I am afraid that the '05s mostly also showed more of the vintage than the grape or area or producer - but at least there was better structure. These characters might emerge sometime, but since they are pushing the ripeness levels that I find comfortable, I might skip buying these wines even if they were available here. I wonder if it is a more widespread phenomenon that '05s taste more of '05 than anything else and that they lack transparency? I will gladly taste these wines again, because I am sure that drinking them at this stage was not a good idea, but I am a bit more hesitant in spending money on them, though I have usually loved Montille. Sadly the '01 Pezerolles was corked; but I absolutely loved the Mitans - I just love the elegant and transparent character of '01; it might be my favourite recent vintage in Burgundy!
With a wonderful dinner of calf-liver a blind red was poured:
- 2005 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru (5/3/2008)
Served blind this was quite a shock. I had tasted it once before and found it rather oaky, but with genuine pinosity underneath the oak. This time, I found the oak overpowering and it was hard to find any Pinosity or Gevrey character at all. This was blocky, powerful, inelegant and frankly "international" and anonymous in style. Plump, soft, overly oaky palate. A huge disappointment compared to my previous experiences with Rousseau and of the one experience with this wine. I hope this bottle was just in a funny phase.
