Côte d'Or

Domaine Hubert Lamy

Olivier Lamy, a gifted winemaker, has built on the solid foundations his father Hubert prepared with twenty years and more of work in the vineyards. The reputation of the domaine is now made, but the Saint Aubins, both red and white, remain some of the bargains of Côte d'Or, and challenge the supposed superiority of the grander villages on a regular basis, both in terms of young and mature wines. His winemaking style and preference is to privilege the fresh and the mineral side of his wines, and he is now down to a mere 10% of new wood, and that is with the wines in 600 litre demi-muids rather that the classic Burgundy fût.

Bright, mineral and fresh, a nice taut dry style.

Filtered the day before I tasted, but not really showing any ill-effects. Very pale, very fresh and pure, a sense of more limestone power, dry and with serious intent. Quite a cool crystalline expression, with a tiny touch of bitterness which adds interest to the structure.

More colour and a riper power. Smokey richness and sap. Still straight and pure but a sunnier, more smiling style than the Chatenière, with a rich, full texture.

Richer nose than the Frionnes, again pale and bright freshness on the attack. Positive, rock-water feel. Both big and crystalline.

From a good plot near les Enseignères, with a bit of white stone in the clay. Fresh and floral - a lovely easy, gently mineral style with a fine texture.

Domaine Fernand & Laurent Pillot

Laurent's wife Marianne inherited half of her family's property, the Pommard domaine of Pothier-Rieusset, and he and his father bought the other half. They now have a total of 15 hectares, 12.5 of which he vinifies, selling the rest off. The wines from this domaine represent excellent value, and they age very well too, despite being attractive young. Laurent's 1992 Grandes Ruchottes came top of a tasting of wines of that vintage, ahead of some supposedly much 'grander' domaines, and his 2002 Pommard Rugiens surprised many to become the wine with the highest mark in a tasting for Bourgogne Aujourd'hui - Nicolas Rossignol, who was one of the tasters, remarked to me this year 'un vin qui m'a bien bluffé'. Laurent manages to pack in a lot alongside his running of the vineyard. He has a sophisticated microlight which he flies to all corners of France, he keeps and hunts hawks, and conducts the Chassagne brass band as well as dabbling in Mayoral duties - as well as being a father.

Pale green and sparkling bright. Bright and mineral - taut as well as having good weight. Stones - minerals like a Puligny. Very pure and long.

Fat and supple. Pure clean fruit with juice and more flavour to come. Full ripe pears and a light polish of oak, a little point of sweetness trails the finish.

Initially almost as round and fat as the Chassagne, but then a little bit of mineral and the juice comes alive with a flash of purity and lift, and this drives through to the succulent finish.

As usual the main impression is of the Morgeot 'fat'. Round and flavour-filled fat which promises a lovely wine in three or four years. A tiny touch of bitterness aids the feeling of directness.

More mineral than the Champ Gains, less obvious for now at least, but perhaps with more to offer in the longer term. Edgy and herbal, with pure rocks and mineral on the mid-palate rather than spice, beautifully mouthwatering and a classic wine with a stone finish.

Big wine, and the most difficult to taste at the time. Powerful, rich, pure, very mineral, and terrific legth, but aromatically very closed and for now shows more power than delicacy. Really quite structured, tannic and taut.

Such a definite terroir - distinction. Fat and very mineral. There's a force and direction here. Gorgeous, very long. Real 'éclat'.

Not as open as the Vide Bourse, but there's fantastic depth and length. Very measured and sophisticated, grandly, elegantly long and with complex spice and rocky mineral waiting to unravel.

Domaine Henri Germain

Henri's son, Jean-François Germain now heads up this small domaine. The Chassagne vineyards came through Henri's wife, a Pillot, and Jean-François has married a Jobard daughter, so one could say they are well established. In terms of winemaking the Germains are always happy to let nature take its course, and in the vineyards they follow as natural a system of viticulture as possible. These are concentrated, tightly wound wines from one of Burgundy's coldest cellars. Slow to develop they show wonderful crystalline purity. This year to our slight surprise they shown more forward and expressive in our tastings than those of their cousin Rémi Jobard - is this an effect of Jean-François taking control? Totally delicious from the village Meursault up anyway.

Fabulous expression, always such a joy, it makes me want to dance from one foot to the other as I taste it.

Tasted when the malolactic still had 25% to go. Bright with insinuating fresh cob nut flavour, lovely weight and feel, with just a point of malic still making it rather pointed at the end - but this will pass once the malo has finished.

Pale and bright, green edge to the colour, nervy, backward, very tense and bright.

Unsurprisingly a very different style to the Germain Meursault premiers crus, with more in the way of fat and opulence, a round, softly mouthfilling wine, much less pointed, reassuring, relaxing.

The premier cru shows its class with greater breadth and reach of flavour. Complex toast, nuts, subtle fruit and mineral, lovely frehness and balance and real delicacy. Very precise and long.

Very precise again. Fleshy, chewy rich. Compact but there's so much here. A different , more mineral, lifted style of Meursault, more Puligny in style, very pure and long.

Domaine Rémi Jobard

Rémi just says: 'me, I like the 2010s because they are more concentrated - fruit and substance', saying that they have the attack of the 2009s (with ripeness) with the crunchy freshness on the finish of the 2008s. Cordon pruning has been extended over the entire vineyard. There has been no use of fertiliser since 1994, and the vineyard is grassed-over to encourage the vine roots to go deep. The entire domaine is certified organic from 2008. Rémi has two vast new presses, to enable him to press very slowly over six hours, and is sure that this has resulted in a big jump in finesse. The élevage now lasts nearly fifteen months, so as to allow the wines to develop slowly and to avoid fining. As a result these are wines which take a moment to show, but which reward the patient with complexity and great depth of flavour. Rémi has had a number of large foudres constructed. He likes the way the wines develop in these large volumes, in which the 'oaking' effect is minimised.

Tasted at the worst moment imaginable and still it showed well! It finished its malo on Thursday, was sulphited on Friday and I tasted it on the following Monday. Very precise and jewel-like, firm and transparent, despite obvious concentration it is this purity which dominates. 'There are years when the Meursaults don't have this much stuffing', remarks Rémi. At our 2010 Burgundy tasting it again showed a lovely sweet edge to the attack, togther with purity and sophistication.

Not tasted as it was in malo when I was there. Click to see other notes.

Even deeper colour than the Luraule, more toward gold. Very ripe, full and opulent, but stays very fresh. Lovely length on very pure fruit notes which edge toward mango but are a bit too 'cool' quite to be that exotic.

Pretty deep greenish colour. Finished malo a fortnight before I tasted. Lots of concentration again. Lovely volume and with a gulping sort of gourmand green fruitiness, juicy, peachy pears, yet a finish which is crystalline and pure.

Citrus, peach and a really intriguing menthol/fennel thing going on. Vibrant, rich but poised. Concentrated, complex and long. Bien fait!

Even broader than the Poruzots, but this is still a focused and precise wine. Citrus melded with peach and complex notes of subtle oak spice and a lively bright line of pure mineral. Bracingly fresh, this has all it needs to age gracefully over six to ten years.

Big wine, with a touch of smoke, complex ripe fruit, tingling balance and purity. Even at our January tasting this still had a lot of gas and was difficult to taste, but there is no doubting the combination (and balance) of ripeness, minerality and complexity.

Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot

Alongside the wines from his own vineyards, Jean-Marc also runs a successful négociant business, vinifying wines from The Côte Chalonaise with huge success, as well as other vineyards in the Côte de Beaune. In Montagny in particular, the wine is the best we have found in the appellation, and remarkably consistent from year to year.

Fat and yet completely tense and mineral. Relaxed but not fluid. Elegantly powerful and very precise. Perfect village Puligny - bien fait!

Higher up the slope again, above Combettes, and next to Meursault Perrières. Fine and fresh, a fruit that recalls juicy ripe pears but so much more, wonderfully translucent and fresh. Salty mineral in the background, glassy purity, hard not to swallow. 'A dangerous wine' says Jean-Marc, 'because you want to drink a lot of it.' Fabulous.

A vineyard that runs up to the boundary with Meursault, next to Charmes dessous. Very taut and mineral, a scrape of limestone, a touch of broad smokey background. Quite solidly stony and drily mineral, densely-packed. Powerful; 'masculine' says Jean-Marc. Very long indeed.

Up the slope from les Referts, this borders Meursault Charmes dessus. Sweeter and more flattering initially, richer, but still a sense of mineral power underneath. Very rich and palate-coating, almost oily but still mineral and straight. 'Elegant and fine', says Jean-Marc, 'power but on the side of elegance - aërien'.

Domaine Henri Boillot

Domaine Henri Boillot is now quite simply one of the very top domaines of the Côte de Beaune, in red and white alike. Henri, or 'Kiki' as he is known, is rightly proud of what he has achieved. Henri has had his son Guillaume working on the domaine in the vines for the past five years, and now he is beginning to take his place in the cellar too. Stunning 2010s in both colours.

Very pure yellow gold with green edges. Very fat and rich, but within that it has pure, crystalline mineral focus. Lovely mix of richness, volume and this driven minerality which makes it very long.

Lush and and fat on initial impact. Succulent, oyster-shell minerals. Mouthwatering, gorgeous juice with just a hint oak.

Rich yellow gold, so that the nose surprises by its taut minerality. Richness builds with subtle hints of white honey. Perfect balance and succulent texture. Very hard not to swallow. Long with tantalising pear and cirtus juice.

Bright deep yellow-gold. Rich, with quite distinct oaky notes at this stage. Brightly airy mineral middle floats above the oak and body. True class. Very long. Superb stuff.

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.

One of the hits of the 2009 campaign thanks to Victoria Moore pointing out what remarkable value it represents. The same is true of the 2010, it is mouthfilling, roundly opulent with a bracing framework of acidity - classic Côte d'Or Bourgogne Blanc in fact.

Joseph Drouhin

Despite the size of their vineyard holding, not all of Drouhin's wines come from their own domaine, but most of the other wines do come from long-term contracts, such as exists with the Marquis de Laguiche wines. In all but name these wines are 'Domaine' wines, and the vineyards are cared for and the wines vinified with exactly the same care.

Very delicate nose - verging on being scented. Mountain spring flowers. Lots of colour and sweetness in the floral notes. Minerals barely hidden. Palate is a surprise of richness compared to the airy delicacy of the nose. Very bracing as well as rich and powerful.

Broad and fat, big and blunt, a broadsword to the Garenne's rapier. Mouthfilling and fat. Classic Morgeot in the most vibrant style. Very rich finish. Very pure even though a huge wine.

Rich nose. Delicacy too, but full of depth of rich flavour, layers of fresh almond and hazelnut and bright minerals. Lots to chew on, and clearly more to come as it builds to a crescendo on the 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.

As so often a distinct greenish cast to the colour. Lively sappy mineral flavours. All of a piece, acidity well-covered, very directed. A purposeful 'knows where it is going' feel. Nearly painful... I want to swallow so badly as it is just so mouthwatering. Another great Clos des Mouches.