Hautes Côtes

Domaine de la Douaix

Mark and Gilles Moustie are Belgians, wine and Burgundy fans. The family rented a gite for many years in the Hautes Côtes village of Arcenant, straight up the hill to the west of Nuits Saint Georges, and gently graduated from buying wines at domaines up and down the Côte to wanting to make the wine themselves. Eventually they bought some vines and a house with cellars, and set to. These three wines are all from vines they own, but they do make a little wine from bought-in fruit to supplement what is still a tiny domaine. Mark is Belgium-based, a management consultant, so it is his son Gilles who is hands-on on a daily basis. The 2009s are already on the shelves at L&S, this is an opportunity to get in on their third vintage as early as possible. These wines will be bottled in April or May. The Hautes Côtes is at 12.5% the other two at 13%. I'm pretty darn pleased with this discovery, but do note that all these wines are in quite a full-bodied style.

From a steep vineyard which faces due south over the village of Arcenant. At the top there is only 25 centimetres of soil above the rock. Dark colour and deep dark juicy fruit flavours, very pure with the mineral straightness of a wine from stone. Brilliant value.

Côte de Nuits

From two parcels of vines in Corgoloin just south of Nuits, one sixty years old, the other thirty-five. Real Côtes de Nuits class and definition here, bold ripe black fruit flavours with finesse and purity.

Eighty year-old vines from a vineyard called 'les Chaillots' in Corgoloin. Real old vines density to the black fruit palate, mineral but still quite closed. Superb finish.

Domaine Huguenot

The Huguenots can trace their history in Marsannay and working in the vines back to 1789. Currently the domaine is run by Philippe. His father Jean-Louis expanded the domaine from five to twenty-three hectares before handing over the reins, and Philippe has taken the bold step of taking all twenty-three hectares into organic production (the conversion was completed in 2010). Clearly Philippe's arrival has also been accompanied by a qualitative jump of some size, and the ranges of 2009 and 2010 wines are remarkable for value as well. All these wines will be bottled in April or May, and all are close to 13% (13% on labels).

Bright fresh crunchy fruit, a lovely fresh easy Pinot to drink as soon as it is bottled.

Firmly defined black-cherry fruit, sappy weight on palate, tastes ripe with no overripeness - perfectly pitched, precise, long.

Deep clay soil evident in the deep supple smoothness of texture. Full rich tangy fruit, powerful and racy.

Les Champs Perdrix is the southernmost vineyard in Marsannay, so on the border with Fixin, on a 'Comblanchien' (marble) subsoil. Violet edge, less large-scaled than the 'Montagne', but fresher and longer, mineral and driven. A terroir which gives more complexity, says Philippe.

Level with the centre of Gevrey at the bottom of the village. A lovely combination of straight Gevrey cassis and a slight tautening from a stony edge. Juicy, more-ish, with a chalky finesse.

A premier cru next to Grand Cru les Ruchottes. Deep rich soil. Powerful wine, deep colour and serious pull and weight. Lots of concentration and length.

Well-placed vines next to Griotte Chambertin up by the 'route des Grands Crus'. Old limestone gives lovely elegance and finesse. Deep and richly vinous, with impressivly fine tannins. Dense black fruit. Very rich and mouthcoating and very clinging fruit which makes it very long.

Henri Boillot

Henri Boillot complements his domaine wines with a small range of négociant wines of superb quality in very limited quantities. A few of the wines are offered here - an opportunity to buy some of Burgundy's rarest appellations from a top source. The Criots Batard and the Clos Vougeot were amongst the most impressive wines of our January tasting, and yes, this is the most expensive of the Corton Charlemagnes we offer, but it is also the best.

Black centre with red-black edge. Black fruit only, almost coal-black. Slight sweetness, a moment when it is slightly indistinct, then aromas build, wild flavours in a slightly nervy structure, lots here - wildcats in a sack, and time needed to tame them. From vines in le Grand Maupertui, next to Anne Gros. Over the wall it's Musigny, with Echezeaux on the other side.

Domaine Thierry Mortet

Three or four days of cold maceration are followed by two weeks of fermentation, with just a touch of cooling to keep the temperature around 31-33C (below 35, at least), then into barrel, all second use or older for the Bourgogne, with 30% new wood on the Gevrey, and 50% on the Clos Prieur. Certified organic and in biodynamic conversion. Thierry's wines are fine and precise, tangy and long, never massive, but not unsubstantial all the same.

From vines in Daix, a village in the prolongation of the Côte de Nuits to the north of Dijon, at the mouth of the valley of the Ouche, well-placed hillside vines which have always made an exceptional Bourgogne. Now Thierry has subtly changed his vinification to make this approachable younger. As he says, it is a vineyard with lovely clay soils which give finesse. The wine is richly textured, expressive, delicate and fresh - like a village Chambolle.

As usual Thierry's Gevrey is very fine and delicate, while being quite full enough. Total purity, with real character - cassis and black berries and also detailed red fruit. 'In general the 2010s are very rich' says Thierry. Fine balance.

Thierry descibes this as being the 'terroir le plus fin de Gevrey', (by which he means it gives the wines of the greatest finesse). It is a Chambolle-like in its delicacy, but with a bit more force on the finish, cherry-taut but with a cassis blackness to the expression and tangy, lively acidity.

Higher tonal register than the Gevreys, suave and round on the entry. Fine raspberry and cherry fruit, very delicate fresh and floral, lovely balance and fine long finish - a lovely, completely classic village Chambolle.

Deep colour, very rich on palate, still with very fine tannins. 'Plus massif, plus profond' says Thierry, and the depth is certainly there.

Domaine J. Confuron Cotetidot

Yves Confuron sticks to the family tradition of whole-bunch fermentation, picking very late. These are with huge body and tannins fine enough to mislead one into believing they will not last - but the Premiers and Grand Crus are ten to fifteen year wines in a top vintage. One of the very top domaines of the Côte de Nuits, and the wines are in great demand, with the Grands Crus nearly always selling out from our first offers. The Chambolle 1er Cru Derriere la Grange was a new wine for them last year, and the 2010 is again outstanding, it showed brilliantly in our London tasting. For once all the wines showed nearly as well in London as they did in the Confuron cellars, largely thanks to the warm winter which has meant the wines have continued to evolve in barrel rather than just shutting down in the cold as usually happens. The newish additions of a village and premier cru Pommard have also been remarkably successful in 2010. The Grands Crus are also available but in limited volumes, please ask if buying other wines.

Lots of energy here, fresh and taut, precise, full enough, very complete and integrated. Long.

Although this is not giving much away on the nose, the palate is a different story. Rich and full of substance, and still fresh and fine. Lots of lovely ripe tannins in the middle of the tongue, cherries and woodland notes.

Immediate Gevrey cassis, and full and charming. Long wine with a finish of fruit-filled, positively bouncy tannin.

Fabulous nose - really straight and streamlined. Authoritative fruit on the palate, ripe as well as very structured and classical. A pillar of a wine.

Very showy with all its oak, but there is lovely expression and length too with a bright, mineral finish.

After the bright dancing movement of the Chambolle 1er Cru, the Vignes Rondes seems deeply taciturn and grumpy, just a whiff of black fruits on the nose. But the palate is a different story, generous, rounded, sweet, opulent, the tannins are all there, but this is very much the suave, gentle, round tannin of the vineyards bordering Vosne rather than the aggression of some of the wines to the south of the town.

Really mineral. Extremely sophisticated gliding and lifted. Straight-backed and verging on austere, but with charm and great length.

Regal. A boundary-reaching off-drive, straight off the the sweet-spot - cassis and complex black fruit in a wonderful energy-filled blast. Huge power combined with lively bright freshness. Long-term.

On deep clay. Supple and sweet, but not just ripe cassis - there's more to it, Round, taut, pure. Big and powerful too, but in a very mineral, floating, directed, straight way.

Vibrant deep colour. So sweet and winning, and yet with a profound depth of flavour and a rich tannic density. Very pure and long on cherries and cassis. Terrific flow.

Opulent ripe fruit. Very supple and rich. The tannins are there all right, but ripe and rounded, and well-covered by the richness, which is a definite step up in volume from the premiers crus. Not that defined for now, but amazingly long and definitely impressive in terms of volume of sweet 'matiere'.

Vigorous sweet wild fruit, wafts of the orient in complex spice, a peculiar kind of eastern delight. Really sensous and yet firm and directed at the same time.

Rich, sweet, supple, starting as a very easy, typically Charmes easy opulence before the Confuron rigorous tannins kick it and propel it to greater heights than many reach. Superb example which really grips the terroir and streams it into life and length.

Domaine des Lambrays

Thierry Brouin continues to do a magnificent job at this monopole Grand Cru vineyard which is very well-placed next to Clos de Tart at the top of the village of Morey-Saint-Denis. The wines are opulent and rich yet still well-defined and freshly fragrant.

A simple delight. Not heavy, but tantalisingly springy, bouncy fruit. So lively, all over the palate with a mouthwatering, perfect juice balance.

A similar lively style to the village Morey cuvée but, of course, with more minerals, more depth, more density. Equally hard to spit because it is just so easy, so croquant. Defined crunchy fruit, and complex spice notes. Big smiles. Thierry and I agree that 'un verre appelle un autre', you want another glass on finishing the first - a style of wine we both like. Spicy long finish.

Domaine Joseph Drouhin

Small refinements continue to be made made here. The presses have been changed - a reversion to basket pressing for the reds, and for whites the presses are open - along with a number of other growers they are following the trend to think that slight oxidation of the juice before fermentation is not a problem and may add complexity as well as avoiding later problems of premature oxidation in bottle. For the reds there has been the introduction of 15-20% of whole-bunch fermentation in the Côte de Nuits wines. The house style remains one that emphasises 'the natural elegance of great Burgundies' as their new brochure states.

The usual mix of Drouhin's little bits of various premiers crus - the les Baudes, separated out in 2009, is back in the mix in 2010. Floral sweet red fruit. Quite a skein of minerality and a smooth dryness. Taut as anything, all with juice. Eye-popping intensity and delivery. Very long. Classic Chambolle, in fact.

Domaine Faiveley

The Faiveley family are the largest vineyard owners in Burgundy, owning around 120ha, spread across the Côtes de Nuits, Beaune and Chalonnais and encompassing everything from generic Bourgogne up to the grandest of Grand Crus. Their holdings supply the grapes for 5 out of every 6 bottles made by Faiveley, the balance being bought in from carefully selected contract growers.