The last time I tried this wine I wasn't too impressed. I found some truly lovable elements in it, and some true Santenay earthiness and rusticity, but also found the oak much too noticable despite it only having 10% new oak and having abundant fruitiness and acidity to counter it. Bill Nanson on another forum told me to be patient with Bourées and that they are a very traditional, non-spoofulating producer and that the oak does integrate.
Unfortunately today we needed a Burgundy (it's always such a shame to drink Burgundy, isn't it?
) so I opened up one more bottle despite Mr. Nanson's suggestion of more age. Despite the again obvious oak, I did enjoy it much more than the previous time as the fruit had a high-toned brightness to it that I missed in the last bottle. The acidity was perfectly balanced to the abundant yet bright fruit. A delightfully earthy bottle that showed well with two hours in the decanter. I think I might go and buy a couple more to lay down for a few more years.
Having eaten only fish for the last three weeks, I needed a bit of beef which I stewed in wine and onions and herbs and served with saffron risotto. An odd pairing and frankly not the most successful on the food front, but the wine worked very well with it (or rather them, as the foods weren't really compatible).
-O-