...to the argument

Marie-Pierre Germain 2009 Bourgogne Rouge (Burgundy) – A bit tough, despite a quite pleasant sand art-like procession of layers of fruit. Eventually, though, the structure pummels and then desiccates. Maybe more time will help, but I don’t know that I see the balance for aging; maybe best to manage this wine with food, rather than cellaring. (10/11)

Maréchal law

Maréchal 2007 Bourgogne “Cuvée Gravel” (Burgundy) – Surprisingly harsh and gritty; whether a stage or an endpoint I don’t know for sure, but I do know that I’ve been pretty disappointed with this wine for the last few vintages, in youth or near-youth. Have they changed, or have I? (9/11)

Monot prix

Gachot-Monot 2006 Côte de Nuits-Villages (Burgundy) – A little bit gangly and awkward, but the sinews are good. Red berries tinged with hints of black’n’blue, snappish tannin in a thin wedge, good persistence with a tart afterthought. More time? Sure, I suppose. I don’t know this producer well enough to even guess. (8/11)

The Burgundian prince

Thibault Liger-Belair 2007 Hautes-Côtes de Nuits “Le Clos du Prieuré” (Burgundy) – Gentle strawberry/raspberry tartness, balled up tight at points but westering into softness at others. Very pleasant, not really much more than that. (7/11)

Lambots field

V. Girardin 1996 Pommard Clos des Lambots “Vieilles Vignes” (Burgundy) – Soft and anonymous, and not exactly unmarked by the supremacy of aged wood over aged whatever-else-there-once-was. For reasons that seem inexplicable to me, at some point around the time this was released I bought a bunch of Girardin, and I’ve regretted each as every purchase as I’ve opened it in the years since. These are not wines for my palate, at all. (7/11)

Souvenir or far

Lucien Boillot 2006 “Les Grands Poisots en Souvenir du Beurot” (Burgundy) – My last bottle of this was clinging to life by its well-chewed nails. Not so this one, though it most definitely shows the early tendency towards oxidation common to pinot gris from all but the most ideal sites. Waxed almond and a golden sunset glow still indicate a wine in the waning hours of its life, but at least it’s now clear that a bottle performing up to abilities will show quite well. (6/11)

Rully good

A&P de Villaine 2006 Rully Les Saint-Jacques (Burgundy) – Exquisitely balanced and poised, yet the wine’s more of a warm embrace than it is a chiseled statue or graceful ballerina. Supple fruit with swirls and shades of amber, copper, and silver floats in complete serenity amidst a deft collusion of acid and gentle, antiqued wood. This is breath-catchingly lovely. (6/11)

Miss

Domaine de la Cadette 2007 Bourgogne Vézelay “La Châtelaine” (Burgundy) – More advanced than I’d expect…maybe the dreaded premature oxidation, maybe a sign that the wine wasn’t meant to age, maybe just this bottle. It’s still OK, after a fashion, it’s just heavy and ambered in a way that doesn’t really suit the sharp-edged raw materials. Lemon still hangs about, tart and biting, but then there’s thus thud of bronzer.(6/11)

Domaine de la Cadette 2008 Bourgogne Vézelay “La Châtelaine” (Burgundy) – Salt-spicy but hollow, and a little metallic. There’s more water here than wine. Probably the worst bottle I’ve had yet, so it’s either closing or dying; I lack experience with the wine over longer periods to make an informed guess. (9/11)

Les Clous train

de Villaine 2005 Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise Les Clous (Burgundy) – I’ve an odd sensation drinking this, as if I’m confronted with the rush of a suddenly-returned memory I didn’t know I’d forgotten. I drink precious little chardonnay of any non-sparkling type, and even less white Burgundy, but my more formative wine years were full of the stuff. Some sort of…well, I wouldn’t call it a “need,” exactly, but more of a satisfied conclusion, has been fulfilled by this wine. It doesn’t hurt that it delivers so much of what I actually like about good white Burgundy without burdening itself (or me) which the majority that I don’t. Beige earth, French horn mushrooms, ripe in both the agricultural and temporal senses of the word, draped with “fruit” but really much more about beautifully-rounded texture and poise. (5/11)

Hello to Pa, too

Haisma 2007 Gevrey-Chambertin (Burgundy) – Dark fruit, though far from opaque, with the slender musculature of a runner. Mushroom dust, some earth. There’s wood, yes, but it’s young Burgundy. Wood’s not uncommon at this stage. Structurally sound. I’ve never heard of this guy, but on a sample size of one, he might be worth watching. (3/11)

Tripoz fermented

Tripoz Crémant de Bourgogne Brut “Nature” (Burgundy) – I forget to search for a lot number before this bottle hits the recycling, but based on some hints (the presence of a different, and more modern, label in the same store where I bought this), I think it’s probably the release previous to whatever’s current as of February 2011. In any case, it’s like a dog that quickly lifts its head to see who’s come into the room, realizes it’s no one particularly interesting, and returns it chin to a position of paw-top boredom. I saber this open, and so the first sips are full of froth and rapidly-expelled aromatics. There’s grass, yellowish melon, some tartness. But then, as the bubbles settle down to a more restful stream, the wine turns innocuous. It’s pleasant, agreeable, easily digestible, easily forgotten. The Doris Day of crémants. (2/11)

The imaginary invalid

Girardin 1996 Santenay “1er Cru” La Maladière (Burgundy) – Completely overwhelmed by soupy woodiness. Bad wine, bad winemaking, bad bottle…don’t know, but this is wretched. (12/10)

Boillot boy

L. Boillot 2006 Bourgogne (Burgundy) – Corked. (12/10)

Snip, snip

Davenne 2008 Saint-Bris “Vieilles Vignes” (Burgundy) – Extremely restrained. There’s a lovely undertone of minerality, but it’s papered over, and there’s nothing going on above it. This could be a lot more interesting than it is, I suspect. (11/10)

Miss Châtelaine

Domaine de la Cadette 2007 Bourgogne Vézelay Blanc “La Châtelaine” (Burgundy) – Sharp, angrily acidic, full of underripe heirloom pommes and none of the helter-skelter terroir that has so often characterized this wine, which I very frequently adore. Bad vintage, or bad batch? Doesn’t matter…after two bottles of identical form, I’m fobbing the rest. (10/10)

Haegelen, just a little bit

Haegelen-Jayer 1999 Nuits-St-Georges “1er Cru” Les Damodes (Burgundy) – Starts a little tentatively, then grows into its maturity. Soft, lavender-hued fruit and rich, tilled soil abound; the wine’s gentle, but there’s a strength behind it as well, though the muscles might not flex as they once did. Fully mature, but note the caveat: this bottle is a recent acquisition from closeout and so I cannot verify its provenance. (10/10)

Michael, Royaux the boat ashore

Fèvre 2004 Chablis “Champs Royaux” (Chablis) – A forceful mineral hash leavened by a surprising thickness and a buttered corn quality that seems to be de rigueur at this house, even though I’d really prefer they leave it out. (9/10)

Hospices by hospices

Hospices de Beaune 1993 Marc de Bourgogne (Burgundy) – As red-Burgundian as a marc can be, full of the lovely blended fruit and autumnal richness of a nicely-aged wine and a warmness that never tips over into burn. (8/10)

Or, chat high

Barthod 2002 Chambolle-Musigny “1er Cru” Les Chatelots (Burgundy) – Primary, still, with a New Zealandish aroma of beet-infused macerated berries, but then plunging down a rollercoaster of earthy aromatics and portended complexity. Young, still. No surprise there. (8/10)

Moor or less

de Moor 2007 Bourgogne Blanc Chitry (Burgundy) – Light complexity – Complexity 101 – with a quartzy, light-then-flat-then-light-again texture, all skew angles and occult tangents, yet somehow formed and whole. Peachy? No, not really. Perhaps apricotty, but then maybe it’s crystallized. Or maybe not. Enjoyable. (7/10)

de Moor 2007 Bourgogne Blanc Chitry (Burgundy) – Overwhelmed with VA, stench, degradation, and awfulness. From the same case as the previous, very intact bottle. (8/10)