Dinner with an old friend in NYC. We ate and drank very well - started with duck rillettes and some cheeses from Murrays with the whites, then roast chicken with the Burgs.
2006 Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Les Barres
60 year old ungrafted vines, 100% Pinot Meunier. This is flat out phenomenal. Layers of citrus and red fruits merging seamlessly with fresh baked bread, chalky minerality and a gingery seasoning, all in a very polished, finessed package that conveys flavour with a sense of weightlessness. Tremendous balance and depth, and a finish that just keeps going. Wow!
2008 Edmond Vatan Sancerre Clos la Néore
Full of fresh, tart citrus fruit over stony mineral notes and a powerful verdant green topnote that only becomes more dominant with air. This is really grassy, though by no means underripe. There's a sense of real lightness to the flavours with bright acidity that keeps it very refreshing and slightly tart on the back end. Really nice with a Chavignol goat cheese on baguette.
2008 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Cherbaudes Vieille Vigne
Really loving the 08 Fourriers. This one's quite a step up from the Gevrey VV (which is a fantastic wine itself), showing a beautiful fragrance of red fruits, flowers, faint touches of spice and savoury earth. There's a sense of incredible freshness and clarity to the flavours; flavour conveyed with a real finesse and lightness of touch and it's a wonderful drink now, even though it's very primary.
2008 Roblet-Monnot Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds
Very much like my last experience with this. Incredibly pure, bright red fruited and black cherry flavours with herbal and floral seasonings, and a base of vividly stony minerality. Light on its feet, superbly balanced and very refreshing. Fantastic wine.