In April 2010, Club Vice President Jasper Morris presented a range of under rated Burgundies. Club member Gerald Sacks was there and has compiled the following tasting notes.
1. Bourgogne Rouge Les Bons Batons. Patrice et Michele Rion 2007.
The only wine of the tasting that was bottled under screwcap and the grapes had been picked in August after a fine, warm early summer but a damp cool July and August. It was very translucent and light purple in colour with a pleasant, simple, fruity nose and hints of raspberry. In the mouth it was surprisingly full with good fruit and refreshing acidity. The tannins were light and this is a delicious, simple wine for early drinking, which will probably improve over the next 2-3 years.
2. Côtes de Nuits Villages Chantemerle, Sylvain Loichet 2007.
A deeper purple and a quieter nose but hints of plums and violets. Fuller in the mouth with good acidity and a savoury, pleasant finish and good length. Light but richer and more concentrated than Wine 1. Needs 2-3 years.
3. Santenay Clos des Hâtes, Domaine Hubert Lamy 2007.
Purple in colour and the lightest and most tranlsucent of all the wines with a good bouquet of raspberries and a hint of oak on the nose. It was full in the mouth with a good balance of rich fruit and acidity and a good, long finish. This was a charming and supple wine with lots of finesse and was the most appealing of the 2007 wines. 5-10 years.
4. Pernand-Vergelesses Ile de Vergelesses 1er Cru, Chandon de Briailles 2007.
Light red-purple in hue with an extraordinarily intense perfume of tinned strawberries and boiled sweets! The wine was astringent in the mouth with harsh tannins adding to the acidity and overwhelming the fruit. Perhaps this wine will age well and come out of its "shell" but the kindest thing that can be said now is that it is a good "food wine"!
It had been vinified with the stalks, which may account for the hard tannins.
5. Pommard, Clos des Epeneaux, 1er Cru Domaine du Compte Armande 2006.
Deep red and brilliant with a heady, complex bouquet of cherries and truffles. A noticeably more mature and subtle fruity bouquet than the above wines.
Full, rich and delicious in the mouth with a perfect balance of sweet fruit and fresh acidity, underscored by silky tannins and a long, lingering finish. This wine captured all the ephemeral qualities of fine, red Burgundy - an exceptional, delicious wine with a long future ahead of it!
6. Vosne Romanée, les Malconsorts, Nicholas Potel, 2006
Light red with a purple rim, a reticent nose of violets, plums and damsons but full and intensely fruity and rich in the mouth and the fruit was balanced by the good, fresh acidity - it was supple, heady and had a long, delicious finish. Another wonderful wine with many years ahead of it!
7. Nuits St Georges, Les St Georges, Thibault Liger-Belair, 2006.
A deeper, darker red than the others and still closed but with subtle hints of stewed fruits on the nose. It was big and full in the mouth with good fruit and acidity and powerful tannins and good length. Overall this was a rather heavy and coarse wine but it had good length and and promise. Needs a few more years.
8. Gevrey-Chambertin, 1er Cru Clos St Jaques, 2000.
Red-brown with mature, rich fruits on the nose - and lots of warm "farmyard" elements!
Full and supple, rich and sweet in the mouth and well-balanced. It was a mellow, fully mature Red Burgundy with a good long finish and is à point. Drink up!
9. Santenay 1er Cru Selection Nicholas Potel 1976 (Magnum)
Brown-orange in colour with a heavy, coarse sediment. The nose was watery and weak and redolent of stewed prunes and caramel. In the mouth it was surprisingly pleasant and still had some sweetness. The finish was slightly astringent but this had once been a very good wine and had retained some elegance in its old age!