Burgundy 2018 – Ba–Bi

More steely than the Chassagne, more herbal. Creamy texture, mouth-watering freshness, moreish and mealy on the finish but not a great deal of intensity. Persistent, though. (JH)

Creamy citrus freshness with a hint of cedar and a touch smoky. Quite oaky on the palate but more in texture than flavour. Plenty of tension, just enough fruit weight. (JH)

Tank sample. Mid crimson. Dark-fruited and ripe but not over-ripe, just smells rich. Dark fruit on the palate, generous and with just the right firmness of smooth tannins for harmony – even now. Juicy and rounded. (JH)

Bottled. Deep cherry red. Spicy and dark-fruited. Peppery and has a freshness on the nose that suggests stems, but his wines are destemmed. Savoury and chewy on the palate, full-flavoured rather than elegant but likely to become more so. (JH)

Tank sample. Mid to deep crimson. Rich and dark on the nose. More marked intensity and freshness than on the village wine, firmer texture, slightly chewy, and needs more time. A little bit of heat on the finish but the fruit is lovely. Persistent too. Complete and GV. (JH)

Blend of casks from Gevrey. Pressonnier and Grands Champs.
Pure dark fruit. Juicy, almost savoury and still has lovely freshness. Dark, fresh fruit, ripe tannins. And a savoury, spicy finish. (JH)

Quite high up the slope above Brochon. Queue de Hareng. Barrel sample.
Beautifully scented, dark-fruited and a light stony minerality to balance the fragrance. Dark, savoury fruit, mouth-watering freshness and cool dark finesse on the finish. Dark-fruited yet light on its feet. Firm, dry smooth texture. (JH)

85-year-old vines. 1.5 ha (3.7 acres) total. 40% new oak. Light toast. Barrel sample.
Very interesting aroma because although the fruit is so dark, it is not sweet. Intense black cherry. Generous yet tightly wound thanks to the freshness and the cool tannic finesse (and probably also the cool temperature of the barrel sample). Wine is capricious, volunteers Denis Bachelet. Precision in the fruit. Already relatively open yet promises more. Dark-fruited elegance. (JH)

15 cm of soil over really compact subsoil that you cannot plant without a mechanical digger. Hard like Comblanchien. 350 m elevation. They have been campaigning for this to be elevated to a premier cru for some time now. Made since 2011 (but there’ll be no 2019 because too little was produced thanks to coulure). Barrel sample.
Light, fresh and more red fruited on the nose than the Gevrey Vieilles Vignes. Delicate red fruits, scented and with a stony freshness that is more mineral than fruit. Super-fine texture, plenty of tannin but it’s so fine you barely see it and there’s excellent freshness. An aérien wine. Elegant and long and already open and expressive. (JH)

Vines mainly planted in the 1920s. Cool spot next to Mazis and Chambertin so usually a bit closed. Barrel sample.
A half-way point between the red sweetness and lightness of Les Evocelles and the darker character of Gevrey Vieilles Vignes. Bachelet suggests that clay soils give a more ‘masculine wine’ and he is reducing the amount of extraction – less pigeage and pressing earlier. Firm, structured but just right for a different style, there’s a firmness that is the terroir expressed not the extraction overdone. Dark fruited under the structure and in balance for a long life. Persistent. (JH)

50% new oak and Bachelet gives me a blend made in his pipette. Barrel sample that was, like all his wines, racked after malo so he can get ‘pure wines and no reduction from the lees’. Barrel sample.
Generous in fruit immediately, both red and black. Savoury and spicy on the palate, generous but more sinewy than I expected from the nose thanks to the tension in the tannins and the acidity. Savoury and long, dark, spicy and elegant. So cool and elegant. (JH)

Fine, sleek and smoky. Good and mouth-filling. A very satisfying wine, even if not a long-distance runner. Very flattering and easy. (JR)

Cool nose with lightly oaky notes. Rich and sweet – maybe a bit too much so? Full on. (JR)

Tank sample. Lean and light with a chalky streak but not that much intensity. A little weak on the finish. (JR)

Sweet, almost coconut nose. Very charming but perhaps purists would prefer just a little more savour and less oak. There is no shortage of acidity though. (JR)

Full, opulent with quite a bit of savour. Pure pleasure already! Long and rich. I could hoover this up this minute. (JR)

Cask sample. Smoky savoury nose. Creamy, lightly floral palate. Pretty intense and finely etched. Quite an early developer. (JR)

Blackberry, plum and smoke. Slightly rustic tannins just detract a little from an otherwise straightforward burgundy. (TJ)

Cask sample. Dark crimson. Rich and full of fruit and nicely judged substance and texture. Good savour. Much better value that JN Gagnard’s Tavannes tasted alongside, I’m afraid. GV (JR)

Touch of oxidation. Density of black, smoky fruit is more than matched by the blocky, firm tannins typical of Maranges. True to the appellation, but not a lot of fun right now. (TJ)

Rich crimson colour. Slightly muddy nose and a bit severe on the palate. Quite demanding to taste. (JR)

Fresh, green-fruited and a touch cedary on the nose. Riper and more orangey on the palate with a light and well-judged reductive smokiness. Tight and long. (JH)

Toasted almond, touch of butter, cream and ripe lemon. Quite rich palate, with attractive tension and length. (TJ)

Mealy and oaky on the nose. Citrus and even a hint of fresh pears – perhaps that’s the lees. Taut, very crisp but with the fruit weight to balance it. Not sure it is worth the premium compared with the village Meursault though it does have great length. (JH)

Herby citrus. Light but fresh because of that. A bit dilute. (JH)

Bottled. Sweet and broad. Immediate pleasure plus an agreeable slug of acidity and texture, but definitely Mâconnais. GV (JR)

A hint of spice on the nose suggesting some oak here. But discreet. And a light-touch smoky reduction. A big step up from the Mâcon-Chaintré Pierres Polies, tight and mouth-watering and long finish. (JH)

Cedary citrus without the smokiness of Sur La Roche. More creamy on the palate, rounded out without any loss of freshness. (JH)

The oak is more obvious here than on the Sur La Roche but it’s attractively so in a delicate cedar and oatmeal character, allowing the stony citrus to hold its own. Creamy texture, moderate intensity but QGV. (JH)

Bottled. Honeyed fruit plus a reductive note. Pretty exciting blend of elements all in the right place. Splits the difference between a Mâconnais wine and one from the Côte d’Or. Opulent but not fat. GV (JR)