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Red Burgundy

Vintages:
  Some good earlier vintages - 1999, 2002, 2005, 2010 
2005 - Great vintage: benign weather conditions allowed a crop of healthy, perfectly ripe gapes to be harvested; both reds and whites are showing wonderful balance.
2010 - Very fine vintage - tiny yields, but fine, concentrated wines with good colour and the structure to give them a good future. Good whites as well.
2013 The weather was very difficult. It was a dull summer, and unhelpful weather in other respects: rain (inducing rot), hail, humidity in September (also inducing rot). Vintage charts don't rate it. But there is really nice acidity in some of the wines that has allowed them to develop really beautifully. In my opinion, an underrated vintage. 

 

I will continue to update this bit of the website! But more recent good vintages: 2015, 2019. 

Of younger vintages, for drinking now, I recommend 2017 and 2021. 

 

BOURGOGNE CÔTE D'OR 2020 Domaine Gachot-Monot
Though a mere Bourgogne, this displays proper burgundian Pinot Noir characteristics, with lots of fresh bouncy fruit.

   £18.95

BOURGOGNE ÉPINEUIL 2022 Domaine Leger
New vintage. Amazingly deep colour, and impressively concentrated flavour, considering that Épineuil is the northernmost outpost of Burgundy. 

   £19.50

BOURGOGNE HAUTES CÔTES DE NUITS "Clos du Vignon" 2021
Domaine Thevenot-Le Brun
From this domaine's best vineyard - a south-facing well-drained slope facing the village of Marey-les-Fussey. Hairy, wet dog flavour in this vintage. Quite light. Delicious. 

   £19.95

BOURGOGNE CÔTE CHALONNAISE "Clos de l'Évêché" 2021
Domaine de l'Évêché
A light but delicious Pinot Noir from southern Burgundy.

   £19.95

AUXEY-DURESSES 2017 Domaine Diconne
This is currently drinking really well. 

   £19.95

BOURGOGNE "Chant de Muses" 2020 Domaine Gachot-Monot
This comes from a parcel of vines on the edge of the village of Chambolle-Musigny, but just outside the appellation. A step up in quality from this domaine's straight Bourgogne.

   £22.50

BOURGOGNE Pinot Noir 2020 Domaine Denis Pommier
Denis and Isabelle Pommier mainly produce Chablis, but cultivate a few Pinot Noir vines. Tasting note to follow. 

   £23.50
CÔTE DE NUITS VILLAGES 2021 Domaine Gachot-Monot
This is still developing, still needing time to resolve itself and settle down. After a dull summer, with the grapes ripening worryingly slowly, at the end of the growing season there was some fine weather, which brought up the sugar levels and resulted in surprisingly rich and ripe wines at this domaine. 

   £26.00

MERCUREY "Les Murgers" 2021 Domaine de l'Évêché
Sumptuous, ripe fruit, with a judicious seasoning of nicely integrated oak - delicious! 

   £24.50

SAINT ROMAIN "Sous le Château" 2019 Domaine Prunier-Bonheur
The style of Pascal Prunier's reds is very pale - but lots of flavour.

   £24.60

SANTENAY "Les Charmes Dessus" 2022 Domaine Claude Nouveau
The village red from Nouveau is lighter, gentler than their Premier Cru Grand Clos Rousseau - lots of red fruits here, strawberries and raspberries. 2022 is turning out to be a lovely vintage. 

   £27.95

BOURGOGNE HAUTES CÔTES DE NUITS "Clos des Dames Huguettes" 2021
Domaine Philippe Gavignet
This is a reliably wonderful, reasonably priced burgundy that I have been buying for over twenty years - and it also ages well. The vineyard is just outside the appellation of Nuits Saint Georges, but produces wine similar in style, without the hefty price tag, making it excellent value. Try this wine - it's a brilliant mouthful of Burgundian Pinot Noir.

   £28.50
     

MARANGES 1er Cru La Fussière 2020 Domaine Claude Nouveau
This has moved on to the 2020, a very ripe vintage - lots of colour, sumptuous texture. 

   £28.85

CÔTE DE NUITS VILLAGES "Les Chaillots" 2021 Domaine Gachot-Monot
In 2021 Damien Gachot began to worry that the grapes would not ripen sufficiently, because the summer had been miserable - till mid-August, when the weather improved, and continued to do so into September. In the end he harvested ripe grapes with good sugar levels that produced wines with surprisingly good colours. And you don't have to wait for them before drinking - they are early maturing wines. 

   £29.00

MONTHÉLIE  2020 Domaine Prunier-Bonheur
Drinking now but can be cellared for several years yet. Pascal Prunier's patch of vines in Monthélie is not extensive, and in some years he has to buy in some grapes to make up the quantity, as happened in 2020. No dip in quality, though - this is delicious. 

   £32.85

SANTENAY 1er Cru Grand Clos Rousseau 2022 Domaine Claude Nouveau
This has moved on to the 2022 vintage. Thoroughly recommended - can be drunk now or kept for at least a decade. 

   £33.50

NUITS SAINT GEORGES "Vieilles Vignes" 2016 Domaine Philippe Gavignet
The 2017 of this wine has now all gone. I kept back the 2016, because it seemed to me that it would be slower to mature than the 2017. 

   £36.00

NUITS SAINT GEORGES 1er Cru "Les Bousselots" 2016
Domaine Philippe Gavignet
Rich, serious Premier Cru Nuits St. Georges, described by Clive Coates MW as "solid".

   £47.50