2007 Burgundy – A Stroll Through the Côte de Nuits

The Producers

Louis Boillot

The digger busy excavating

A visit to Louis Boillot was the first appointment of my week in Burgundy. He lives with his wife, Ghislaine Barthod, in a house on the edge of Chambolle and, when I arrived, I was alarmed to see a digger excavating a vast hole in their yard, working hard up against their house. The hole is to become a cellar for them to share. It looked to me as if it might become a hole to keep a digger in, as the machine teetered and rocked on the edge and more than once seemed about to tumble into the depths.

We sold the following wine in our offer of 2003 burgundy some years ago and I have received nothing but praise for it. I am glad, as it’s delicious. This one will be, too!

Vintage	Wine	Drink dates	Case size	Price In Bond
2007	Gevrey-Chambertin Les Evocelles, Louis Boillot, Burgundy, France Notes: A beautiful, heathery nose and a really rich one, of pure red and black wild fruits and wild flowers. There a wisp of Gevrey smoke overlying the aromas. The is quite a masculine mouthful as, perhaps, Gevrey should be. The tannins are so fine that they appear clay-like in the mouth. There's that stunning sauvages fruit again on the palate and a delightful juiciness from the fresh acidity. Very Gevrey; very good, too.	2012-2018	12x75cl	£297.00
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Dupont-Tisserandot

It’s the time of year to be pruning the vines. The trimmings are burnt to destroy pests and prevent disease

I like the calm that descends in Didier Chevillon’s cellars. They are invariably very cold, but I don’t think that the temperature has anything to do with Didier’s lack of animation; I just think he’s very confident about what he’s doing.

His wines are confident as well. This is an excellent source of Gevrey.

The first wine below is the flagship 1er cru of this estate, since they own such a large parcel of it.

Vintage	Wine	Drink dates	Case size	Price In Bond
2007	Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers, Dupont-Tisserandot, Burgundy, France Notes: There's a lovely brightness of wild fruit about the nose of this wine. The fruits are largely red ones and include plum, raspberry and strawberry, all made more seductive by a floral nuance. This goes in the mouth supple and cool and then coats the mouth with its concentration. There are some nutty, medium, integrated tannins and the fruit becomes blacker on the palate. This is backward and full of grip; very long, with a lovely complex finish. The aftertaste is crystalline-bright fruit.	2013-2019	12x75cl	£417.00
2007	Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru, Dupont-Tisserandot, Burgundy, France Notes: This is a touch floral, but the mainstay of the nose is a great rich weal of ripe red fruit: cherry and strawberry, with hints of blacker bramble. This is fresh right from the off. The red and black fruit flavours are married to an intriguing spice that becomes almost peppery by the finish. The tannins are rich and nutty. This cool, very long wine is already showing complexity and will only gain more interest with time.	2014-2020	6x75cl	£310.50
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Jean Grivot

This yellow wire has been installed throughout the Grivot cellars in order to earth energy that might otherwise be detrimental to the wine

That Etienne is one of the most talented wine makers in Burgundy is a given. But I have seldom been so excited by the quality of his wines as I was this vintage. Everything from the Bourgogne Rouge up was spectacular. Tasting them again in London recently only served to reveal that my first impressions were correct: that the vintage suits Etienne’s style; plus he’s making wine with an increasingly sympathetic hand. Masterful stuff.

Vintage	Wine	Drink dates	Case size	Price In Bond
2007	Chambolle-Musigny La Combe d'Orveau, Jean Grivot, Burgundy, France Notes: Really concentrated aromas to the nose here. I found red and black fruits here, but not the hedgerow berries of Gevrey, rather the fruits of the kitchen garden and orchard. There's a nutty richness here as well. Take a sip and this is instantly nutty and fresh, delightfully sliky and cool. There are some fine tannins that are beautifully integrated. The balance sets this apart, as well as that pure wave of red and black sumptuous fruit. The finish is really fresh. Lovely stuff.	2011-2018	12x75cl	£312.00
2007	Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Rouges, Jean Grivot, Burgundy, France Notes: A very floral and thoroughly delicious nose of red and black fruits, including currants and cherries. The start of the palate is pure silk: the coolest wave of cloth that breezes in and sets up shop. The mineral expression only serves to add to the sense of elegance. The red fruits become a little crunchier, but this remains a stunningly feminine example: an Audrey Hepburn of a wine!	2012-2020	12x75cl	£480.00
2007	Clos Vougeot Grand Cru, Jean Grivot, Burgundy, France Notes: N.B. The vines here are 45 years old A classic Clos Vougeot nose that's rich, wild and a touch animal. Concentrated black fruit aromas are nuanced with notes of meat, spice and cold tea. Complex stuff, then! The palate is initially creamy, the fruit of wild brambles; a fruit that's wound 'round with mineral interest. This is balanced, long and really fresh. A rich wine, perhaps a masculine one. Very fine, whatever.	2014-2022	6x75cl	£360.00
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Anne & Hervé Sigaut

A temporarily blinded cat in the Sigaut cellars

It was my second visit to the Sigauts. I visited last year to taste the 2006s, but they had just been racked and were so disturbed that I felt unable to select them for an offer.

This year, my timing was better and I was able to examine the wines properly and what a fine bunch! There are some very old vines here and M Sigaut has been consulting the phases of the moon when deciding on when to take action in vineyard and cellar (not much consulting for actions in the cellar, as this is a very “hands off” producer). I know, I know. It sounds like sci-fi. But the proof is in the bottle and here the contents of the bottle are all the proof I need.

Vintage	Wine	Drink dates	Case size	Price In Bond
2007	Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Châtelots, Anne & Hervé Sigaut, Burgundy, France Notes: A lovely black fruited Christmas cake of a nose here, full of delicious sweet spice. This goes in the mouth very supple. It seems very easy-going and come hither until the minerals kick in and one realises that there's really quite a bit of structure here. The fruit is bramble and plum and there great density to the fabulous finish. I went back and tasted it again and thought it even more serious second time around.	2012-2018	12x75cl	£411.00
2007	Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Sentiers, Anne & Hervé Sigaut, Burgundy, France Notes: N.B. This is the product of 60 year old vines There are really floral notes to the nose of this wine. I found aromas of violet with the black cherry and pepper spice fruit. This is really purposeful in the mouth. There's plum and black cherry flavour to be found, but this is set, for the time being, against a background of fine, integrated, firm tannins. There are fine minerals that lend power to the grip at the back. The finish has the compactness of youth, but boy, this has potential.	2012-19	12x75cl	£411.00
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Jean Chauvenet

Christophe Drag at the end of our tasting opens a bottle of the 2006 Nuits 1er Cru Les Bousselots that we offered last year

There are two producers to visit should you want to learn about terroir in the vineyards of Nuits-St-Georges: Robert Chevillon and Jean Chauvenet. Here Christophe drag – wine maker and son-in-law of Jean Chauvenet - makes one village Nuits and a string of 1ers Crus, all exhibiting typicity to the max.

These are classic Nuits: rich, sometimes brooding, often austere in their youth. Yet they age beautifully and are as choc-full of terroir as burgundy can be. They also offer tremendous value.

Vintage	Wine	Drink dates	Case size	Price In Bond
2007	Nuits-St-Georges, Jean Chauvenet, Burgundy, France Notes: A ripe nose. There's something meaty here: a nuance that combines with aromas of spice and fresh, tangy black fruits. Tangy again on the palate: black plums and their skins. The tannins are well integrated, ripe and medium. Lovely profile here and the wine's very long. Really fresh in the mouth. Fine village example	2011-2016	12x75cl	£180.00
2007	Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru Les Bousselots, Jean Chauvenet, Burgundy, France Notes: The nose is very aromatic at this stage, of both red and black fruit and one can smell the minerality in whiffs of smoky rock. This is blatantly structured and has lovely cassis fruit flavours. The tannins are nutty and rich and "present". This is long and backward; very fresh and pure. There is smoke again on the finish. Altogether persistent, very young and really very good.	2013-2019	12x75cl	£333.00
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Aurelien Verdet

Unwanted fruit stays on the vine to be eaten by starlings, or burnt when the pruners move through the vineyard

Aurelien’s a young man on a mission. He started out with a parcel of vineyards in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits and now runs a small negoçiant business from his brand new cuverie in a charming village called Arcenant high up on the plateau above Nuits-St-Georges. I was mightily impressed with his range of wines.

N.B. Aurelien’s truly brilliant 2007 Hautes-Côtes de Nuits can be found here

Vintage	Wine	Drink dates	Case size	Price In Bond
2007	Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru La Richemone, Aurelien Verdet, Burgundy, France Notes: N.B. La Richemone lies north of the town of Nuits up towards the Vosne border. This is prime terroir. The nose here is rich and really aristo. There's a good amount of Vosne cassis and there's spice too. In the mouth this is cool, medium weight and a touch peppery. There's that cassis again, joined by bramble into an elegant fruit package. This is subtle, with great intent and drive and persistence. This is berryish and very pretty, but not lacking anything in strength. Very long, fresh wine, with a fine mineral stamp.	2012-2019	12x75cl	£462.00
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