Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (96)

5 Star Wine. Very pale colour. Hyper elegant nose, impressive nervous tension, despite 13.3 alcohol and 3.15 pH, really lively, white fruit – this vineyard is really coming into its own since the vines hit 20 years old. A little touch of barrel; biscuit, but the wine is really together, beautiful texture and stretches out exceptionally well across a very long finish. Tasted: September 2018.

Wine Advocate (92+)

A beautiful wine, Ente's 2018 Meursault Clos des Ambres unwinds to reveal aromas of pear, orange oil, wheat toast, chamomile and subtle hints of praline. Medium to full-bodied, bright and incisive, with lively acids and chalky structuring extract, it's an elegant, nicely concentrated rendition of a cuvée that I've always particularly enjoyed chez Ente. I suspect it will develop very nicely with some time in bottle.

Decanter (97)

Toasted hazelnuts and pecans on the nose, charry, buttery almonds, green apple so much aromatic complexity. Caramel, bitter lemon, orange, brioche/patisserie elements, like a buttery hot cross bun, some truffle too. Racy, piercing acidity hits the palate straight away along with such tiny, frothy bubbles that fill the mouth. The spine and tension is there, driving the wine forward with a clear vein of citrus acidity - a shot of lemon and lime, while still having the undercurrent of toasted, salty nuts. Nuanced and characterful with a hint of sweetness, sharpness and raciness all giving nuance and interest and building to an impressive whole. Well controlled with balance, construction and a gourmet feel. Made with Premier and Grand Cru grapes: Pinot Noir grapes from Mailly, Cumières, and Chigny-les-Roses, and Chardonnay grapes from Avize, Chouilly, and Vertus. Grapes are aged 12 years on their lees. Dosage 3g/L. Recently disgorged January 2023.

Matthew Jukes (19+)

The latest release of R.D. – Bollinger’s iconic ‘Recently Disgorged or Récemment Dégorgé’ wine is something completely out of the ordinary. My one-word description for this sensational wine is ‘controlled’. I say this because what I adore about every single vintage of R.D. which I have tasted (and there have been many – see below) is the seeming lack of control in every sip. R.D. should be and usually is an absurdly decadent and unpredictable wine, firing off ostentatious flavour and extraordinary detail in every direction. This is why I love it so much and also why I only open it on very special occasions! What is remarkable about this particular vintage is its restraint and levity coupled with the extraordinary length of finish. After 14 years on lees, this wine is as power-packed and energised as it could possibly be and with the extra edge and vivacity coming from a fulsome percentage of Verzenay Pinot fruit (29%) added to the usual heartbeat coming from the Aÿ Pinot core (26%) this is a dynamic red fruit-dominant cocktail. The overall blend is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay coming from 14 Crus with 91% Grands Crus in this vintage. The dosage is a keen 3 grams per litre and all disgorgement is done by hand, as usual. But in 2007 the result is atypical, enchanting, surprisingly refreshing and amazingly delicious. I opened this bottle at 11.00 am and did not stopper it for a full 12 hours. I even sneaked half a glass with a chicken curry at supper time and it worked like a dream. This is not a massive firework of a wine that explodes gloriously and then is gone. Instead, it is a blazing torch of flavour with phenomenal persistence and balance and this makes it unmissable in every serious Champagne lover’s cellar.

Jancis Robinson (18.5)

Cask sample. Quite a price! Transparent crimson. Very dense nose with more layers than most of the 2018 red burgundies I have tasted so far. Pretty rich with grand cru density. Very well done. Actually the best Clos des Epeneaux I remember tasting en primeur. Long, rich, opulent but all in a convincing structure. Very long in fact.

Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (95)

(5-Star Wine) An attractive faint green tint to the colour. The nose shows no signs of heat or heaviness. This is magical on the palate, absolutely fills the mouth, ripe lemons on top of rich pear fruit, but nothing peachy or over-ripe. A brilliant example of Charmes, as the vineyard and the vintage are completely in harmony. Drink from 2026-2035.

James Suckling (98)

A firm and vivid Champagne with a precise, focused palate. Full-bodied and dry. It’s very layered and bright with light pineapple, peach, praline, cooked-apple and stone aromas and flavors. It’s very subtle and focused at the end. Integrated with richness and high acidity. Good depth. Reminds me of the 1995. Very clean. Solid. Lovely to drink already, but will age nicely.

Vinous (91-94)

(half of these vines are 70 years old, the other half 60): Moderately saturated medium red. Musky, soil-driven scents of fresh red fruits, crushed rock, flint and rose petal. Penetrating and sharply delineated, offering terrific intensity to its flavors of red berries, sappy cherry, minerals and blood orange. At once salty and juicy, this very long wine leaves the palate perfumed. Stehly compares this wine to a Musigny in its youthful strictness, and it strikes me as a classic young Clos Saint-Denis that will need time in bottle to expand. Stehly used to work mostly with spicy Cadus barrels for this wine but now uses one-third each Berthomieu and Tonnelerie du Val du Loire for his Clos Saint-Denis, as he feels these barrels are at once sweeter and more delicate.

Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (91-92)

(5 Star Wine) 10% new wood, about to be bottled. A similar rich crimson purple colour. A savoury and stylish deep red fruit on the nose, with spice behind. A pretty fantastic example of Chorey with life and depth, dark cherry fruit. Excellent tension, I think this will be gorgeous. Long, fine and sensual. Drink from 2026-2030. Tasted: November 2023.

Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (89-92)

Fullish yellow, some apples but riper here than the Coteaux Bourguignons. A little touch of oak, 25% new. This really comes into its own on the palate, still showing some oak and a bit of bacon fat but the ripe apples now give it plenty of flesh. Not mainstream but a thoroughly interesting wine. Picked a week before the reds. Drink from 2024-2027.

James Suckling (96)

A vinous Champagne with so much depth and soft power. Hazelnuts, apricots, peach pits, lemons, pomelos and seashells. Round, creamy bubbles. Complex, but with wonderful drinkability. Converges with precision at the end. Very deep. 80% pinot noir and 20% chardonnay. Blend of 2 solera systems of perpetual reserve, started in 1990. Drink or hold.

Vinous (93-95)

The 2021 Vosne-Romanée Aux Brûlées 1er Cru has an exquisitely-delineated bouquet with black plum and raspberry fruit that unfold with each swirl of the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with a slightly flinty opening, compact, quite peppery with a deepening and rather grippy finish. There is something sultry about this Aux Brûlées, a Premier Cru that will repay 4-5 years in the cellar.

Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (94)

Pale lemon in colour. A very stylish nose, more elegance than the Referts, and a little fuller in body than La Garenne. The Champ Canet manages to be both floral and with an ideal ripeness of fruit on the nose, pure white orchard fruit across the palate, and backed by well-judged oak in the usual Jean-Marc Boillot vanilla style. Good clean acidity to finish, properly persistence. Drink from 2029-2035. Tasted: October 2023.

Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (94)

Pale in colour, with a particularly attractive nose, discreet but with a fine balance between summer flowers and ripe apples. Not over demonstrative on the palate, but the fruit fills out the palate with complex nuances in the orchard fruit profile, and exceptional length. Drink from 2029-2037. Tasted: October 2023.

Vinous (97+)

Krug's 2004 Vintage is absolutely mesmerizing. Layers of bright, chiseled fruit open up effortlessly as the wine fleshes out with time in the glass. Persistent and beautifully focused, with a translucent sense of energy, the 2004 captures all the best qualities of the year. Moreover, the 2004 is clearly superior to the consistently underwhelming 2002 and the best Krug Vintage since 1996. Readers who can find it should not hesitate, as it is a magical bottle.

Jancis Robinson (19)

A blend of 198 wines from 11 different years, with the youngest the acclaimed 2012, back to a precious, powerfully aromatic lot of Verzenay Pinot Noir 1996. The final blend – 52% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 13% Meunier – was bottled in 2013 and aged for seven years in Krug’s cellars in Reims. Yields in 2012 were 20% lower than usual because of a succession of meteorological events including frost, rain, storms and hail in winter and spring 2012, followed by the driest ripening season since 1974. Notably intense aroma with crème pâtissière dominant. Masses of extract and remarkable acidity underpinned by great depth of flavour and beautiful balance on the finish. I think this is going to be a really great, glamorous Krug Grande Cuvée that will continue to develop in bottle for many years to come. I suspect it will be even more enjoyable from the end of 2020. The length on the palate is remarkable. This is magnificently precise, a great tribute to the work of the old cellarmaster Eric Lebel, who is still in the background, and a wonderful welcome to his successor Julie Cavil, who has been learning from him since 2006.

Vinous (92-94)

The 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet Virondot 1er Cru, which unlike the other Premier Crus was taken from barrel, has a lovely bouquet with hazelnut, orange rind, wet granite and just a touch of praline. The palate is very well balanced with an irresistible peachy entry that segues into a gorgeous quince-tinged finish. Often one of the Domaine best offerings, this Virondot is another to add in a succession of great wines from this climat.

James Suckling (97)

Grilled bread with flowers, pears and apples. Lots of perfumes. Lavender and some herbs and nutmeg. The palate is tight and solid with fine phenolics and a long, intense finish. Pure and extremely linear and lively. Sophisticated and thought-provoking. Drink or hold.

Vinous (91-93)

(these 18-year-old vines are planted to three clones): The most reduced of these 2014s on the nose, but still with captivating scents of black raspberry, licorice and pungent crushed-rock minerality. Delivers a wonderfully silky texture enlivened by harmonious acidity. One senses a strong rocky element and yet the wine shows no edges. This seamless wine boasts a long, rising finish featuring a hint of dark chocolate and noble tannins. A beauty, and clearly a bottling to follow as the vines continue to mature.

Matthew Jukes (19.5++)

By contrast to the Bollinger, Comte is not a one-off, nor anything out of the ordinary. It is a label that all committed Champagne lovers adore. Predictable perhaps. But, of course, one thing does vary, and that is the vintage. The ‘worst’ Comte I ever tasted was rather lovely. The ‘best’, and there have been many (1959, 1966, 1996, 2002, 2006) are all sublime and you can now add 2011 to this list. Taittinger always seems to shun the spotlight, unlike Dom Perignon and other more attention-seeking brands and this modesty rather suits this House. I did something that I never do after first tasting my sample bottle. I was so shocked with the sheer class that I sealed the bottle with a simple Champagne stopper and then tasted it again and again over two days. The stress-testing sorts the wheat from the chaff. It is unlikely that anyone who bought a bottle would do this. Still, I like to see how a potentially great wine evolves, opens up, sometimes falls over, and sometimes blossoms over a few days because it gives me an indication of its potential and its true baseline of quality. The fruit is so tense, grand and layered it is remarkable. The flavour, the fizz, the length, the momentum and the overall halo of greatness did not change one iota over nearly 60 hours of being open with no preservation whatsoever. This is a genius, B de B and while it tastes scintillating now, I am confident that it will amaze Comte fans for decades to come.

Vinous (94+)

(50% vendange entier): Bright medium red. Very complex, subtle aromas of raspberry, flowers, licorice, minerals and menthol opened nicely with air. Boasts terrific inner-mouth menthol-and-spice tension, with its juicy dark berry fruit still wound up but already showing a captivating restrained sweetness. Finishes with terrific saline grip and length, the suave tannins perfectly buffered by fruits and minerals. Delivers the energy of the vintage in spades without being particularly austere.

Vinous (96)

The 2015 Brut Coeur de Cuvée is a pretty dense wine that belies its deceptively mid-weight structure. What surprises me most about the 2015 is how closed it is. In most years, especially warm years, Coeur de Cuvée is quite a bit more open and voluptuous, but the 2015 does not come across like that at all. Rather, it is super-classic in bearing, with tons of gravitas from the 60-year-old vines just waiting to emerge. There are non of the awkward herbal notes that penalize so many wines. Bright saline notes extend the finish effortlessly. The 2015 is a brilliant Coeur de Cuvée.

Vinous (92)

The NV Brut Grand Cellier is bright, effusive and wonderfully charming. White flowers, chalk, mint and lemon confit give this mid-weight, nervy Champagne tons of energy. All the elements are so nicely put together. I especially like the energy and crystalline purity here. There are a lot of terrific wines in this range, but the Grand Cellier is quintessentially Vilmart. This release is based on 2019, with the addition of reserve wines from 2018. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged: May 2022.

Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (93-95)

From the lower part of Le Charlemagne. There is a regular cuvee too. Lively fresh primrose. At the moment the oak shows a little stronger than the wine on the first nose. The fruit is pretty substantial on the palate, starting at the front, then gracefully continues through to a stony and salty finish. Drink from 2030-2038. Tasted: November 2023.