Burgundy 2018 – A

Tank sample. Seems to be quite evolved for a 2018, but that is likely to be because it's a tank sample. Honeyed melon fruit on the nose, base notes of granola. Poached-apple palate with a light sprinkling of spice. Rounded, open and ready with a strong draw of acidity. It tastes as if the alcohol is higher than 12.5%. Seems a bit more serious than their previous Bourgogne Chardonnays. (TC)

Touch of toasted oats on the nose. Ripe honeydew melon and green apple, ripe but flashing with acidity and a touch of apricot seems to intensify the definition and prism of the acidity. Pure, arrow-straight in length while the weight and ripeness of the fruit give it breadth and depth. Really very good for a Bourgogne Chardonnay and likely to be VGV. (TC)

Bold fruit and a rounded freshness on the nose. Deep and tangy with a salty citrus draw. Pears and grapefruit peel, intense at the core and bright on the edges. Alive and really rather yummy! (TC)

Apples with a touch of crème anglais and creamy oatmeal on the nose. Soft, rounded and nicely behaved without any flair. (TC)

Broader and not quite as quicksilvery as their Bourgogne Chardonnay. Chalky grip with citrus-pith bitter-sharpness, especially towards the finish. (TC)

Cask sample. Pretty much on a shut-down, perhaps because it's a cask sample, perhaps because it's just at an awkward early stage. I wish I had another bottle to see where it heads in a few months' time. At the moment, stony in a surly way, with hard white citrus forming a crust that is difficult to chip through. (TC)

Savoury, almost, on the nose. Cream and grilled polenta and then a rich play of ripe pear and golden apples across nose and palate. Soft curve of fruit, but the wine isn’t flabby. Touch of white flower and floral nectar. Neat finish with a twist of yuzu peel. (TC)

Baked apple and a touch of walnut cream, rounded citrus lurking in the background – supporting rather than starring role, but bringing good balance to the finish in particular. (TC)

Lemon candy but on the palate there isn't much sweetness. Lots of grapefruit pith. A little ordinary. (TC)

Grainy aromas, like just-baked malted-wheat bread, and then a sweeter undertow of baked apple, both reflecting on the palate but with an added flint-sharp edge defining a gentle centre. Quiet and undramatic. Head down and doing its job, well. (TC)

Clean, green apple with a lick of cashew butter and toasted quinoa and then someone dropped in a few scrapings of lime zest. Quiet, well-behaved, textbook-proper Pouilly-Fuissé with a little cheeky flash of naughtiness. Round bottom but draws in with decent tension just in time for the finish. (TC)

Smoke and citrus leaning into clotted cream on the palate. Just something very slightly hard and metallic on the palate which seems to become more pronounced on the finish. (TC)

Wheatgerm and grapefruit on the nose, and then so much more density of flavour and character than their Les Opales Chablis. Textbook Chablis with some citrus bitterness and full, rounded spread across the mouth. (TC) 

Strong salmon pink wine in a clear glass bottle. Rhubarb in syrup on the nose, but dry on the palate and a little sour. Not fresh enough. (TC)

Cask sample. Smells almost biscuity – reminds me a bit of Jammie Dodgers! Super-sweet fruit, super-juicy, packed with strawberries and blueberries and raspberries and blackcurrants. Fun, singing it's heart out, not remotely complex but it's so damn cheerful and charming that it doesn't need to be! (TC)

Spicy, cherry-scented nose. Taffeta texture, crunchy red fruit, a lively, neat, simple but not simplistic Pinot. GV (TC)

Victoria-plum nose. Light, dry and serviceable but not terribly exciting. Pub Bourgogne? (TC)

Turkish delight and violets – a light powdery perfume that lifts like a cloud out the glass. Pomegranate fruit, like little spice-dusted rubies, folded into fine-ground chalky tannins. Lovely texture. Subtle, although not very long. (TC)

More ‘rocky’ on the nose than the Les Petites Corvées Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, and a touch of florality. The fruit on the palate has a more savoury tang – like cherry tomatoes on the vine, but the very sweet ones. And cranberry sharpness. Light sprinkle of white pepper. Really appetising. The tannins sit more firmly on either side of the fruit. Not quite as pretty but a little longer. (TC)

Lightly spicy nose with a really perfumed lift on the palate. Delicious, warm-cinnamon red-berried fruit. Ripe and round but there's an elegant carry-through to the end. Drinking beautifully already. (TC)

There's something about the nose of this wine that reminds me of wintry walks in woods popping with the red of holly berries, cold dark earth crunching frost and damp beneath feet, bare branches stark against an iron-grey sky. Really red fruit. Like shiny red patent-leather heels. Something dark and bleak earth, and something defiantly sassy. Has a bit of flair, but still with refinement. (TC)

Quite closed, but for a whiff of cherry coconut. Violet-scented dark fruit on the palate, sweet and fully round, but the tannins are quite dry and stemmy without much flex. Slightly rigid, amplified on the finish. Will relax with time and let that fruit shine. Stone and coal dust runs through the middle of the finish. (TC)

Violet perfume, scented and intriguing. Sharp, bright bite to cranberry-red fruit and tight, pepper-spiced tannins fitting the fruit like a pair of glossy leather trousers. Mouth-watering, juicy, but there's a seriousness here. (TC)

Underripe, cat-pee aromas on the nose, then a boiled-sweet quality to the fruit. A divisive personality. (RH)

A little bit closed on the nose at the moment. Dusty citrus. Not particularly intense on the palate but well balanced between bright fruit and freshness. (JH)

Smells riper than the Lettre d'Eloïse, almost exotic fruit notes, a touch of apricot. Clean, bright fruit, crisp and relatively light on the mid palate. (JH)

Zesty citrus fruit though the sulphites seem to be slightly intrusive at the moment. Creamy lemon and apricots on the palate. Fresh and correct. (JH)

The same ripe fruit profile as on the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Blanc – apricot as much as ripe citrus. Creamy and rounded in the mouth. Well balanced but without great intensity on the mid palate even though it is persistent and full fruited. (JH)

Lightish cherry red. Hint of smoky reduction as well as meaty dark-red fruit. A little bit meaty on the palate too. Nicely fresh, mildly chewy. Straightforward, needs food. (JH)

Light cherry red. Smells sweeter and riper than the Lettre d'Eloïse but on the palate it is drier and the tannins are perhaps a little too firm for the fruit depth so the finish is a bit hard. (JH)

Lightly nutty, savoury nose of preserved lemons. Savoury, lightly creamy baked apples on the palate with just a lick of spice. Forward. (TP)

Monopole. Sweet, oaky nose at this stage that will need time to settle. The palate shows the fruit to support this, fleshy pear and sweet citrus. The spice and toast of oak is very much to the fore, so definitely for drinkers who want these flavours to feature prominently. (TP)

Monopole. Subtle cherry and strawberry nose, savoury edge. Super-smooth palate, fruit driven with a little hit of sweet wood on the back end. Clean, good intensity. (TP)

Nutmeg and clove with juicy cherry on the nose. Soft and sweet on the palate, lots of sweet spice. Generous and smoky, lots of power and grip, but a little too much oak. (TP)

Very perfumed and peppery on the nose. Fleshy and muscular, with a real bit of tannin. Good fruit, sweet but not over the top. Long and rounded finish. (TP)

Smoky nose. Powerful and muscular palate, lots of sweet spice and concentration. A powerful and sweet style of Pinot Noir with lots of warmth on the back end. (TP)

Opulent oak use, sweet with incense and clove. Deep cherry fruit and some dark plum. Very strong liquorice spice through to the finish. (TP)

More lifted and ethereal than the Clos du Roi. Still clove and star anise but also layers of dried flowers and sweet cherry. Glossy, sweet and juicy. Finding balance between wood and fruit nicely, with classic Corton grip adding muscle and earthiness. Long and fine red fruits on the finish. (TP)

Dark, sweet and spicy as expected for Clos de Vougeot – dark cherry, plum and incense. Glossy entry, nicely judged toasted spices on the palate. Big lick of clove and aniseed on the finish, but the sweet fruit stands up to it. Needs a few years to integrate the oak. (TP)

Mid cherry red. Inviting sweet fruit. Moreish, lots of fruit that is just on the right side of ripeness, giving generosity and just enough freshness. Firm structure but juicy on the finish. (JH)

Touch of oxidation on this sample, though the dark fruit that is there has decent concentration. Firmly tannic, this is actually pretty long and scented. (TJ)

Very ripe cherries, smells even a touch oxidised, but that may be the sample. Fresh bottle is better but still very ripe, overripe. Chewy but a bit flat. I still wonder if the sample is slightly oxidised? (JH)

Meat, blood and bramble fruit. I think that brett may emerge on this, but right now it just has meaty complexity. Quite pinched and drying palate; these are pretty whopping tannins for Pinot Noir! (TJ)

Plum and blackberry fruit, spicy, earthy notes and flint – lots of depth. Nice intensity of blackberry on the palate, with quite fine structure that will need time. Long. (TJ)