Pinot Noir at The Square

It has taken me far too long to get around to writing up this splendid lunch, generously hosted and organised by a great wine lover who also supplied all the bottles. The theme was a simple one - Pinot Noir.
All the wines came from either Champagne or Burgundy. The venue was The Square, certainly one of London's best and the kind of place where the logistics of 16 wines and 15 people is carried off in a relaxing and efficient way. The food was tremendous as always.

To "kick things off" with the canapés we had Philiponnat Royale Reserve Brut, a soft and creamy Champagne that worked well pre-food at lunch as there is a decent dosage in there and the acidity isn't prominent, very good.
The first course was a tremendous Grouse Pie, delicious and done with a great deal of finesse. The three flights of red Burgundies that followed were all served blind but with many a theme to ponder, a lot of thought had gone into this! With there being a few of us supposed trade "experts" in attendance the initial comments were, rightly, expected to come from our seats. Over the course of the meal we did pretty well with a combination of educated guesses and the odd stab in the dark!! In the first flight you could find several themes, one vintage was different, two were 1er Crus etc.

Gevrey-Chambertin Mes Favorites VV 2001, Domaine Alain Burguet had lovely soft fruit, was very true to 2001. Primary with a dash of orange zest. Very good.
Gevrey-Chambertin 1999, Domaine Claude Dugat was the first glass I finished, never a bad sign, very drinkable, elegant and complete if not overly complex.
Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers 1999, Domaine Philippe Leclerc this was a step up, good weight of fruit, a little drier than the previous two, bigger also, classy. Very slightly oxidative with a developed note at the end, I liked this, certainly not a fault. Impressive.
Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos de Varoilles 1999, Domaine des Varoilles The only one of the Domaines in this first flight that I know well. This was possibly the stand out, though very different in style from the Cazetiers, very pure and poised. Good acidity and focus, very fine.

The next course was now upon us Roast breast of Yorkshire Grouse with Croustillant of the leg, baked Celeriac and Blackberry. We were also into a flight of pure Grand Crus, always a good thing! As you can see the themes continued with different Crus and different vintages. One of the main surprises in this section was that the 2005's were showing as much fruit as they were, it certainly caught me out.

Echezeaux Grand Cru 2005, Domaine Jean Marc Millot was inky in Pinot terms, rich, very fine, excellent freshness of fine and forceful red fruit, splendid.
Chambertin Grand Cru Clos de Beze 2002, Domaine Drouhin-Laroze was fresh too, soft, expressive and surprised me as it did not have the "animal" I have come to except from 2002. Good.
Grands Echezeaux 2002, Dominique Laurent a massive surprise for me as I have found the Laurent wines far too much for me in the past, too thick, too rich and over the top. This was not. A lovely loose and drinkable structure, some development and orangey, red fruit, good balance, it did develop in glass quickly which may not be the best sign but it is in a good place now and was very enjoyable.
Grands Echezeaux 2005, Domaine Henri Villamont had the biggest and driest of the structures but then it is 2005 and it is from a very fine Terroir. This was how you would hope and expect it to be, big, quite bold and ready for a long future. There is a little bit of polish there too. One to watch.

A brillaint but very un-Square like course follwed - Cheese and Ham on toast. I could eat it every day! Oh and more themes!!

Romanee Saint Vivant Grand Cru 1998, Domaine Poisot This was a totally new name to me. A producer who until 2009 (it might be 2010) had sold the vast majority of his crop to a large negociant but had some older stocks that our host had found. The wine was good, excellent from now on. There was a slight minty note, it is a little "high", almost some eucalyptus.
Vosne Romanee 2007, Domaine Sylvain Cathiard ok, so this is the "joker" in the flight. There was a tiny hint of coffee and mocha from oak but otherwise this was not over oaked at all. Lovely intense fruit and a expressively elegant finish. Fine effort from a vintage I increasingly love for the purity of Pinot character.
Romanee Saint Vivant Grand Cru 2007, Domaine Follin-Arbelete It's not a competition but if it were this might have had the overall gong for "WOTD". A very fine, deliciously rich without going over the top, wine that had lots of class. A real Grand Cru intensity and depth. Very fine.
Romanee Saint Vivant Grand Cru 2003, Domaine Poisot so a different vintage of the RSV from Poisot. This was very complex, inky, fruit laden (the fruit being a little mulled), savoury sweetness, not very long on the finish, good but very much a 2003, lots of extremes. The wine as a whole was decadent and good.
A really brilliant pudding followed - Brillat-Savarin Cheesecake with Pink Champagne and White Peach, Lemon Verbena and Peach Sorbet. To accompany we had three nicely contrasting Champagnes.

Delamotte Rose NV a wine I know well and one of the only Rose Champagnes to be made the "proper" way. This is mellow whilst soft and almost strawberry fruit but dry. Showed really well.
Gosset-Brabant Grand Cru Noirs d'Ay NV was a first for me from this house, may be it was all the wines before but something made me think of a dry pineapple like flavour, drier than the Delamotte, really good, must try more from them.
Egly-Ouriet Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru Les Crayeres this might just have grabbed the most attention of the Champagnes. Really delicious, richly fruited with raspberries but not a touch of sourness.
What a splendid lunch, good conversation, a lot learnt and a very generous host!

Burgundy - Day 1 - Jourdan, Arlot, Matrot, Varoilles and Ch de La Tour

Having arrived in Dijon on Sunday afternoon via the Eurostar the evening was spent planning the week: tastings and visits, charging cameras, laptops and phones. Alison (C&B Buyer) has been many times before but as it was my first visit I was less sure what to expect.

Day 1
En route to Gilles Jourdan in Corgoloin we drove down the Route des Grand Cru taking in the various communes as we went. I found this invaluable as a way of getting my bearings and trying to make the maps in my head make more real sense. If you are after pomp and ceremony
Gilles Jourdan is not the man for you (The U2 ring tone was a surprise!) but if good burgundy at a good price from a smaller commune is, then he’s a producer to get to know. Gilles was first introduced to C&B by Clive Coates MW and it has been a great little partnership since. The cellar is small the holdings not grand, by Burgundy standards, but the results are elegant and superb. There are a few wines in the range but the main ones have become real team favourites; Bourgogne Rouge, a Cotes de Nuits Villages and then two single vineyard wines (also Cotes de Nuits) – La Montagne and La Robignotte. The 2008’s were really good with great contrasts between the wines. We also re-tasted the 2007’s which Gilles is very proud of. The last wine tasted was a bottle of La Robignotte 2000, really showing what Gilles can do. A good visit to a grower I have bought from myself.

From Corgoloin we went back up the RN 74 to our friend Olivier Leriche at Domaine de L’Arlot in Nuits St Georges (NSG), Olivier had been over to London recently and it was good to seem him again. We tasted the wines in the cellar as is the usual drill in Burgundy especially when tasting straight from the barrel. The NSG Clos du Chapeau got things going and right through that to the Petit Arlot (young vines of Clos de Arlot), Les Petit Plets (young vines of Clos de Forets St Georges) and onto the Clos de Arlot and Clos de Forets St Georges themselves the wines gradually got better and better. There is a really elegant style here with balance the key…very good wines. Olivier was kind enough to show us the Vosnee Romanee Suchots and the Romanee St Vivant as well, both of which showed the Domain at their very best. Having “done” the 2008’s we discussed the older vintages and as L’Arlot keep a little back (we’ll offer some soon) we chose to try a couple of wines from a trickier vintage, 2004, Les Petit Plets and Clos des Forets St Georges where both developing well with great red fruits and a touch of decadence. As a contrast next on the agenda was a Clos des Forets St Georges 2003 – hedonistic and my tasting note starts Rich, Rich Rich. From there we decamped to Olivier’s living quarters for a “light” four course lunch with his charming wife Florence – lunch was accompanied by the 2008 whites we hadn’t yet tasted, NSG La Gerbotte and Clos de Arlot, both were stunning and in many ways the La Gerbotte stood out (great salad of walnut, leaves, light walnut oil, cheese and apple worked really well). The lunch was brief but there was just time to try another tricky vintage in the form of Clos de Arlot 1998 which was elegant, harmonious and sensibly “under” extracted……an estate making good wines and in very good hands.

Down the road to Thierry Matrot in Meursault……already running a little late - a feeling we got used to!! Thierry started by saying how difficult a year it had been – not quite the positive marketing we’d hoped for….but actually what he was saying was very true…the harvest looked like it was going to be very awkward but then as September arrived so did the sun and three glorious weeks made for perfectly ripe grapes. Thierry has a lovely area in the cellar in which to taste - Thierry’s range of wines is expansive from Bourgogne Blanc (fresh and ready to go, in screw cap) to Meursault Charmes, the tasting note for which starts “YUM!”. If ever someone deserved to have some Grand Cru vineyards it is Thierry. I thought the white highlights were St Aubin (such an under-rated appellation), St Romain (had a few good ones during the week, value to be had), Meursault Charmes and Puligny Les Combettes. There is real refinement here and never an over oaking of the lemon fruits. Having said that there is one “Technical” wine (Thierry’s phrase) that has a real oaked richness and is called Puligny Quintessence, 50% Chalameux 50% Garennes and 50% new oak…something lost in translation possibly but the point is there. The reds were good too, particularly the Volnay Santenots and Blagny 1er Cru Sous les Bois. Thierry’s wife Pascale (the Domaine is Thierry and Pascale Matrot) was also about and I look forward to seeing them in January in London.

Back in the car and up the road this time, not doing so well on the Carbon footprint, past Gilles Jourdan and Arlot to Gevrey Chambertin to see Domaine de Varoilles – we were met by the ever Charming Swiss owner Gilbert Hammel, I think Varoilles is a really good Domaine that is much lesser known than it should be. The wines have a more opulent rich and hedonistic feel than many of the Domaines we follow, later in the week - Day 4 – we tasted the 2001’s and 2002’s with great results, this was about the 2008’s. The wine showed well and Gilbert gave us something of a master class in oak barrels by showing us samples from the many different types of barrels, some with differing lengths of seasoning and others with more of less toasting. The differences at this stage can be quite marked but later when the blending has been done harmony can be achieved. All the wines except the Charmes Chambertin are Gevrey Chambertin; Clos de Meix des Ouches (a Monopole) and 1er Cru Champonnet were both structured and rich with good tannin but there was a real step up to the 1er Cru Monopoles of La Romanee and Clos de Varoilles itself with the Grand Cru Charmes Chambertin doing as you would expect, by the time we’d finished tasting it was dark but there was still one visit to do and dinner to follow.

I was starting to get a bit of first day palate fatigue but arrival at Francois Labet’s Chateau de La Tour situated in the Clos Vougeot vineyard seemed to perk me up. Francois views that differ from some on winemaking and has two separate “hats” – one Chateau de La Tour Clos Vougeot and the other Domaine Pierre & Francois Labet based mostly around Beaune. Francois has been organic since 1992 and this year started to encourage the growth of natural grasses between the vines to compete with the vines. He also sees 2008 as like 1996 and said there was a very long fermentation for the whites. There is no green harvest (taking bunches of the vines to help others ripen) and no de-stemming (grapes and stalks go into the vats). Francois’ whites where lovely and opulent. We then moved onto the reds and saw a really good concentration and a tight structure..these aren’t even “born” yet after all. There was a new wine though, a Gevrey Chambertin Vielles Vignes from 3 different locations. The Clos de Vougeot itself was impressive with big fruit but also real balance and charm. The Clos Vougeot Vielles Vignes even more so…we then had a small taste of the 2009 Clos Vougeot which was little more than impressive grape juice at this stage – it has been through fermentation but not Malolactic..and so off to dinner back up the road in Dijon at Francois lovely house. Whilst on the topic of Dijon it is so weird that the city all but ignores its closeness to some of the most prized vineyards in the world…more interested in Mustard and Museums!

Dinner was a real treat with Francois his lovely wife Miriam and daughter Lorraine, we were very well looked after….we started with Meursault Tillets 2006 – Taut lean and just as I like it served with Chestnut soup and truffle shavings…delicious. Clos de Vougeot V V 1990 - Touch of age on the rim but otherwise good colour to the core, eucalyptus and licorice with a lovely fruit sweetness, masculine and in great spirit will last and last. Served with awesome truffle mash (there’s probably a phrase for it but that’s what it was) and the most tender Lamb….stunning. Then as the cheese was readied Francois inleashed a bottle of Clos de Vougeot V V 1959 – most encouragingly there was a really similarity of character with the 1990. The wine was alive and well, served blind I do not think I would have said it was older than 1970…thank you Francois. Dinner was rounded of with Lorraine's chocolate pudding and some Vin Jaune. A wonderful evening and a great way to end the first day in Burgundy!!