Burgundy 2009 E-L

Very rich nose but not unappetising. Polished and satisfying. Great concentration with precision. Tastes better than many Premiers Crus. Clearly has the structure for future development. GV (JR)

Very rich start and then the structure comes bounding out the glass like an architectural drawing. So to speak. Lemony and round. But actually, I think I prefer the freshness of the village wine! (JR)

Mid crimson. Appetising nose without quite the brilliant precision of the Meursault – a little softer and sweeter – but lots of pleasure. (JR)

Proper succulence and balance. Nutty and interesting though not fleshy. GV (JR)

Pretty rich and dense and sweet. Harsh finsh – almost sour actually. I think I prefer the more obvious fruit of the regular bottling. (JR)

Big and ebullient. Lots of ripe fruit and then a fairly obvious corset of oak but good price and honest stuff. (JR)

Quite pale. Heady and perfumed and utterly seductive – so long as you don't mind a sweet jewelly character. A little dry on the end but it’s so lovely on the nose... (JR)

Very firm and vital on the nose with attractive walnut flavours and a dry finish underneath. Good stuff! (JR)

Firm and sweet and polished. Lots of richness. Very flttering but not as dense as the Mazis. (JR)

Finished malo in summer. Mulberry and spice on the nose but pretty tough on the palate – this is no easy charmer. Long cuvaison? Quite structured even though all destemmed. It’s a terroir that gives quite a powerful wine. All in third-use casks. (JR)

First to finish its malo in June. Quite deep crimson. 30% whole berries. From around Brochon. Very sweet and juicy and lots of appeal in a second-year oak. There’s a definite taste to this Brochon terroir, she says, which her customers confuse with new oak so she doesn’t use more than a third. Blend of juicy fruit and structure. Very punchy and attractive. (JR)

Used a tiny bit of new oak because she over ordered it. 30% whole grapes. A little fresh smell of stems and then racy and juicy. Very forward and easy. Not much tension! (JR)

Which she will élevé for Dom Laurent mostly. Same wine as the one she will add to her Gevrey-Chambertin in a new oak with 60% whole grapes, very sweet and silky and exotic. Exciting! Great texture and richness, energy – opposite of Rousseau style and halfway to Bernstein... (JR)

70% whole grapes and this from new oak. Heady and sweet – the sweetness giving the impression of low acid. Quite a bit of gas. Somehow less dense than usual though certainly full of pleasure. A little bit easy. She leaves 25% stems to help her own pied de cuve. (JR)

The only cuvée with 100% stems because they were ripe (green but ripe); only here, though she’d like to do this with Clos St-Jacques one year.
Bright crimson. Really very rich, meaty and vital, lots of vitality there, well done! Very little sulphur. She is perfecting this technique. (JR)

Dark crimson. Some rather sweet oak on the nose. Juicy fruit with some sap but an overlay of this sweet spiciness – perhaps because they used so much new oak? 50% in 2009 for this cuvée. Rather dry finish. (JR)

Biodynamic. First year it has been bottled separately. Bright crimson. Very juicy and friendly on the nose. A very big step up from the village blend. Some real freshness and life here. A teensy bit dry on the end but very serious and fine. (JR)

Dark crimson. Very juicy indeed on the nose with real freshness. Round and supple on the palate. Lovely and silky – so much fruit you could drink this quite young! Very pretty and winning. Yet is expresses Vosne too. 60% new oak. Just hope it’s not too expensive! (JR)

From quite a way up the slope. Very dark crimson. A bit of sweet oak on the nose. Sweet fruit but not that much structure or grunt. Sweet, perfumed, a bit floral, but it doesn’t really seem to have a heart. I don’t think I would guess it were a Grand Cru blind. Although presumably one has to wait for it to mellow to show its best. All destemmed and quite fresh enough. (JR)

Juicy nose. Very dark. Very smooth and polished but a little soulless. Bit of a hole in the middle at the moment? Lots of sweet fruit. Good skein of polished tannins. Really very flattering – almost drinkable! Very sweet and juicy. Then just a little chew on the end. Seems to be made from above rather than below. A very agreeable, well-balanced wine without too much of anything, Excellent balance. But I’m looking for the soil and spark. All destemmed. (One-third whole grape in 2008; unusual to destem more in 2009 than 2008.) (JR)

From a parcel right in the middle at the top. Very dark. Very exciting nose with real depth. Here the polish helps! I really wish they had submitted their wine for the big blind tasting of Clos Vougeot – it would have been fascinating to see how it performed next to the others. Real energy and a bit of terroir too! Excellent. Rather more refined than most but in a Clos Vougeot context that is no bad thing. Lots of tension and length. Gouleyant. A beginning , middle and end to this wine that will clearly become even more complex. Half whole grape and half destemmed. (JR)

Greenish tinge. A caressing nose, lightly dusty herbs. Soft, slightly smudgy fruit, satsuma peel and some nectarine. Quite low key earthy character but all in balance. (TC)

Ripe and peachy on the nose and elegant. A surprising sweetness on the palate. Not sure if it is oak or lees effect. Minerality cuts in on the finish. Persistent. (JH)

Complex, lightly toasty nose, creamy, fresh and, again, rather soft. Nice flavour – citrus and creamy – but seems to lack structure at this level. (JH)

Dusty citrus and finely aromatic. Creamy, gentle but moreish. Just not really grand cru class on the palate, hence the minus.(JH)

Toasty, struck-match nose and equally – but attractively – reductive on the palate. Fine-grained texture, concentrated with lots of pure ripe citrus fruit and good length. (JH)

Sweet and ripe. Sample seems a little oxidised. Similar sweetness on the palate but finishes rather abrupt and dry. (JH)

Ripe and dark but much fresher than the Monthelie. Light and fresh on the palate, not very substantial. (JH)

Workaday and sweet and open. Easy peasy but not much refreshment value. (JR)

Firm crimson. Quite a racy nose. Very fresh and admirable. Not a silly price. Good balance though quite forward. (JR)

Light nose. Lots of texture. Serious stuff. Lots of chew on. (JR)

Blackcurrant juice. Strange, tastes more like squash than wine – light and fresh but not very winey. Light structure. Slips down but disappears rather quickly. (JH)

Dark and ripe with a touch of spice. Sweet dark fruit. Surprisingly soft and approachable though there’s enough structure for a good life ahead.(JH)

Rich, lightly spiced dark fruit on the nose. Dark and white-peppery on the palate. Dry, fine tannins. More sustained than the previous wine. Fresh but lacks verve. (JH)

Heady and concentrated and voluptuous. The oak is a bit dominant at the moment. May get there... (JR)

Dusty blackberry aroma. Very fine boned and light-footed. Silky, scented but light. (JH)

Cassis and slightly herbal but not underripe. Scented mid palate, fine light structure. Elegant, fresh but pretty lightweight. (JH)

Dark and spicy on the nose with rich dark fruit under the oaky spice. Tannins are so fine they almost disappear and it is remarkably light on the mid palate. Not thin but rather too light and finish is equally light but not short. This lightness explains the minus. (JH)

Pretty heady and sweet. Easy and comfortable. But not outstanding, Bit soft. (JR)

Very juicy with lots of fruit. A bit tough on the end. But honest and attention grabbing. (JR)

Ripe cherries on the nose and then a bit severe. Should get there but needs lots of time. Lots of sincerity here. (JR)