Buy on an apple, sell on cheese, so the old wine trade adage goes. If the Himalayan mountains of cheese consumed during the frenzy of January’s Burgundy 2011 week in London are anything to go by, a great deal of the region’s wine has been sold en primeur before it’s even been bottled and delivered. Do you need Burgundy in your cellar? No. Do you want Burgundy in your cellar? Why wouldn’t you if you love wine? As Bordeaux alienates with arrogant pricing, Burgundy has grown in stature and popularity with much improved wine quality, more consistent vintages and greater availability.

Where Bordeaux is mostly red, Burgundy offers red and white in equal measure. Where Bordeaux needs a few years to come round, Burgundy is more approachable when younger. Wines from great vintages like 2005, 2009 and 2010 need time to develop, but good vintages offer delicious wines for early drinking. The latest vintage to be offered for sale, 2011, is one of those good to excellent vintages that favours both reds and whites, with appetisingly juicy reds and mouthwatering whites in a broad price range. It has personality, and the different personalities of the growers who’ve made it shine through in their wines.

There are good reasons for buying Burgundy en primeur and not just because it’s so much more amenable when it’s young. If Bordeaux is about location, Burgundy is about allocation. Burgundy is made in small volumes. The best gets snapped up quickly and drunk or cellared. Comparatively little sees the secondary market light of day. I’m sensitive to wine merchant hype, but the trade has it right when it claims that 2011 is a seductively delicious vintage worth buying. As Charles Lea of Lea & Sandeman says; ‘2011 does not have the concentration or mass of the kind of vintage that gets called 'great', but what it does have is energy, balance and appetising charm’. A crowd-pleaser? Yes. To call it ‘charming’ and ‘attractive’ is not to damn with faint praise.

There is lower alcohol than usual in 2011, never a bad thing, along with balancing freshness and fruit. What I enjoy is the delicacy and purity of pinot noir’s red fruit flavours in the red wines. What surprises me is the sheer gorgeous fruit in so many of the white wines. Wine merchants are saying buy, because 2012 is a very small vintage and while there’s some truth in that , my view is buy because there are so many tasty wines and not all at astronomical prices. If a whole case is too much for you, why not club together with two or three like-minded friends and take the plunge. For a selection of my favourites, top values and wine merchants, check out www.anthonyrosewine.com.

Something for the Weekend

Something For the Weekend 2 February

Night In

2011 Viñalba Malbec, Argentina

To add to the satisfying quality of this delightfully succulent cherry and blackberry-juicy Argentinian malbec from Frenchman Hervé Joyaux, the Co-op in its wisdom has lopped more than £1 off the asking price. £5.79, down from £6.99, The Co-operative.

Dinner Party

2011 Waitrose in Partnership Sancerre La Franchotte, Joseph Mellot

Fresh nettle and herbal aromas mingle with an appetising gooseberry fool opulence in this Mellot family Loire sauvignon blanc, nicely balanced by a flint-sharp blade of crisp citrusy acidity. £10.79, down from £13.49. Waitrose.

Splash Out

Piper Heidsieck Cuvée Brut NV Champagne

This stylish dry Grande Marque fizz has delicate aroma of ripe apples and a full-flavoured, crisply refreshing, textured mousse of delicately toasty, pleasure-delivering bubbles. Just in time for Valentine’s at £15.49, down from £30.99, until 14 February, Sainsbury’s.

BURGUNDY ON A ROLL – THE WINES

An Introduction and a word or two of caution before the enthusiasm…

It’s important to remember here is that these wines are mostly barrel samples and as such subject to change for all sorts of reasons, not least because they are unfinished and may still need adjustments from the winemaker. They are also very young and like any adolescent, going through a process of rapid change, so what’s ungainly today may be a beautiful swan tomorrow, and possibly, though hopefully not, vice versa. That’s why the notes don’t pretend to be any more than general impressions of the overall the fruit quality at this stage.

Wines are sold by the dozen and priced In Bond unless otherwise stated, i.e. with duty (currently £22.81) and VAT (currently 20%) still to be paid on delivery. Wines marked with an asterisk show great values. Scores need to be taken with a pinch of salt for the reason already stated, that unfinished barrel samples can at best only be an impression, a snapshot in time of a wine. That doesn’t undermine their assessment at this point in time but simply underlines the need for caution if you’re thinking of buying.

One of the reasons why it’s useful to taste Burgundy en primeur is that it’s made in comparatively small quantities. The best are tasted and snapped up at this time and, unlike Bordeaux, rarely see the secondary or auction market light of day. Some will appear on wine merchants’ lists, but my feeling is that if you really want Burgundy in your cellar, go for it now, all the while bearing in mind the caveats. I have focused here on a small handful of Burgundy specialists but many of them are available in other merchants’ offers too, so do check out www.wine-searcher.com and the list of merchants on my site at http://www.anthonyrosewine.com/article/independent/rising-stars-whats-st....

The other major question underlining all this is whether the vintage really justifies buying at this early stage. Bordeaux has shown that in the last three vintages, and my guess will be in this one too, there really is no desperate urgency to buy. Yes, 2009 and 2010 were great vintages, but 2009, apart from the Parker 100 pointers, have moved little, and 2010 has gone down in price. Burgundy 2009 and 2010 on the other hand, really are superb vintages and justified the purchase. 2011 is not quite of the same order, but good enough and delicious enough in my view to go for it. To the extent that I can, I have.

The Proof of the Tasting…

GOEDHUIS

Domaine Jean-Paul Droin.

A good set of wines and you do get more flavour and power as you scale the crus through the very good Montée de Tonnerre up to the powerful Les Clos.

Favourites:

Chablis 1er cru Montée de Tonnere, Domaine Jean-Paul Droin, £180. Bright fresh aromas, lovely creamy rich fruit in apple and pear mould, juicy freshness, dry finish. 91

Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, Domaine Jean-Paul Droin, £345. Rich, aromatic, intensely rich and creamy fruit concentration with delicious flavours supported by fine spice of acidity and dry mineral structure, fine balance. 93

Domaine Billaud-Simon.

On song , very good purity of flavour.

Favourite:

Chablis 1er cru Montée de Tonnere, Domaine Billaud-Simon, £180. Fresh and savoury aromas, lovely ripe appley fruit quality, fine balance, very juicy and approachable, full of flavour and spine. 91

Pinson Freres.

Two good Chablis with a particularly powerful Grand Cru in Les Clos.

Favourite:

Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, Pinson Freres, £280. Fabulous nose, lovely rich dry mineral chardonnay fruit, really intense, delicious flavours, dry finish.

Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot.

An outstanding white Burgundy domaine making wines of great concentration and flavour with the capacity to age for a good many years.

Favourites:

* Montagny 1er cru, Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot, £130. Very attractive fresh nutty aromas, full-flavoured nutty rich chardonnay with lively freshness and nutty complex aftertaste. Excellent value. 89

Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru La Garenne, Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot, £475. Intense and complex aromatics, richness and delicacy combined with lees-derived complexity and nuttiness on the finish. 93

Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts, Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot, £475. Lovely fresh aromatic quality, nutty with crème fraiche undertones, deliciously savoury fruit and intense, mineral aftertaste. Very good indeed. 93+

Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs Canet, Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot, £480. Outstanding complex aromas, complex and intense chardonnay fruit nuttiness with underlying steely mineral girder, dry finish. 94

Domaine Jean-Philippe Fichet

Another excellent Burgundy domaine with Meursaults of typical opulence and finesse.

Favourites:

Meursault, Domaine Jean-Philippe Fichet, £270. Classic smoky aromatic meursault nose and opulent fruit with excellent flavour and balance. 90

Meursault Gruyaches, Domaine Jean-Philippe Fichet, £365. Good ripe sweet hazelnut aromas, creamy intense rich chardonnay fruit and fine blade of fresh acidity, mineral finish. 93

Meursault Chevalières, Domaine Jean-Philippe Fichet, £380. Fine, intense aromatic power, complex and concentrated chardonnay fruit with hazelnutty undertones and mineral dry finish. 93

Meursault Tesson, Domaine Jean-Philippe Fichet, £395. Yet another outstanding chardonnay from Jean-Philippe Fichet with classic meursault voluptuousness and opulence of fruit flavour yet bisected by seriously fresh acidity and hazelnut aftertaste. 93+

Patrick Javillier

This domaine seems to get better and better and has made some delicious white Burgundies in 2011.

Favourites:

* Bourgogne Blanc Cuvée Oligocène, Domaine Patrick Javillier, £150. I don’t think it’s just the name that suggest a mineral quality to this fine basic white Burgundy, because behind the stonefruity richness and purity of flavour there really does seem to be a dry flinty quality that suggests the mineral. 89+

Meursault Les Clousots, Domaine Patrick Javillier, £340. Very fine nutty nose, complex fruit richness and concentration, firm spine of refreshing acidity. 92

Meursault Cuvée Tête de Murger, Domaine Patrick Javillier, £470. Wow, this is quite something, an amazingly powerful and inviting nose, intensely concentrated and beautifully nuanced rich peachy fruit , fine balancing freshness. 94

Domaine François Jobard

Outstanding white Burgundy, lovely fruit purity.

Favourites:

* Bourgogne Blanc, Domaine François Jobard, £175. £175 for a straight white Burgundy? Well yes this is not just any straight white Burgundy but a really lovely, Puligny-like chardonnay with lots of peachy fruit flavour and energy behind it. 90

Meursault en la Barre, Domaine François Jobard, £370. Intense, smoky, nutty and leesy with exotic dried fruits cut by mineral; dry fresh finish. 93

Meursault 1er cru Poruzots, Domaine François Jobard, £530. Intense fresh and leesy aromatics, super-concentrated, fine purity of chardonnay fruit framed by dry mineral grip. 94

Meursault 1er cru Genevrières, Domaine François Jobard , £550. Super-intense fresh aromatics with lovely stonefruit richness and concentration underpinned by firm spine of acidity and fine mineral balance. 94

Etienne Sauzet (and see Loeb, Armit))

Sauzet’s wines are never cheap as a result which they have to go the extra mile and in my view they’ve done that in 2011 with some gorgeous wines

Favourites:

Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Champ Gain, Etienne Sauzet, £495. Gorgeous nose, intense, both smoky and nutty but restrained at the same time, fine concentrated fruit quality, seductively leesy complexity and mineral finish. 94

Puligny Montrachet 1er cru Les Folatières, Etienne Sauzet, £630. Subtle, intense, concentrated and complex aromas underpinned by seductively rich full-flavoured and intense chardonnay fruit that’s super complex, dry and mineral with great length. 95

Domaine Colin Déléger

Delicious, fine and precise Chassagne Montrachet from this fine domaine.

Favourite:

Chevalier Montrachet. Intense, powerful, massively concentrated, still tight with a lovely dried fruits richness of flavour, terrific mineral dry aftertaste, great length of flavour. 95

Domaine Paul Pillot

Some very fine Chassagne Montrachet from brother and sister Thierry and Chrystelle Pillot

Favourite:

Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Romanée, Domaine Paul Pillot, £465. Intense, initially austere and tight, dry mineral nuttiness with lots of potential when it starts to open out but needs time. 92

Domaine Marc Colin

Another excellent Chassagne domaine with some very good values at St.Aubin level.

Favourites:

St Aubin en Remilly, Domaine Marc Colin, £220. Fine aromatic freshness, very good chardonnay fruit quality with good stonefruit flavours, nice concentration and balancing acidity. 89

* St Aubin 1er cru Sur le Sentier du Clou, Domaine Marc Colin, £220. Similar to the en Remilly in style with perhaps a slightly greater degree of savoury acidity and nuttiness to the aftertaste as well as a fine spine of acidity. 90

Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Champs Gain, Domaine Marc Colin , £395. Really good fresh and delicate aromas, lovely purity of fruit and delicacy of flavour, with fine blade of acidity, good intensity. 1er Cru Chenevottes equally delicious. 93

Reds

Domaine Drouhin Laroze, Gevrey Chambertin

Very fine quality Gevrey with some outstanding grands crus.

Favourites:

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Craipillot, Domaine Drouhin Laroze, £395. Deeply coloured, perfumed, mulberryish, pure pinot fruit, juicy freshness and supply tannins. 92

Chambertin, Clos de Beze, Domaine Drouhin Laroze, £440 / 6. A tad closed, but bright with fine subtle perfume, long, intense bright cherry and raspberry pinot noir fruit freshness and purity, supple-textured for grand cru, firm spine. 95

Domaine Fourrier

Well, yes price is now an issue, but living up to expectations with an excellent set of 2011s, perhaps not the richness of 2009 or the staying power of 2010 but some lovely wines.

Favourites:

Gevrey Chambertin Vielles Vignes, Domaine Fourrier, £140 / 6. (Armit, £295, Clark Foyster £312). Fine fresh sweet mulberryish fragrance, really juicily seductive red fruit flavours, a touch of spicy oak, sexy style, fine balance. 90

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Champeaux, Domaine Fourrier, £350 / 6. This really has a divine perfume in the sweet fraise du bois spectrum, deliciously ripe and opulent mulberry and strawberry fruit juiciness with the silkiest soft tannins imaginable and fine balancing acidity. 94

Gevrey Chambertin 1er cru Clos St.Jacques, Domaine Fourrier, £295 / 3. Eyewatering price for an eyewateringly good wine, super fragrance and superconcentrated cherry and mulberry sweet fruit with a sexy veneer of spicy oak and the most seductive suppleness of texture. The problem with wines like these is that you want to drink them – now! The other problem is you probably can’t buy them because everyone else wants them. 95

Domaine Mortet

An enjoyable set of wines in 2011 with eyewatering prices at the highest level

Favourites:

Marsannay Les Longeroies, Domaine Mortet, £275. Deep hued, bright and spicy, very nice seductively juicy strawberry pinot noir fruitiness, both textured and vivid in style. 89

* Fixin Champs Pennebaut, Domaine Mortet, £295. Deep-hued, fresh bright and modern in style, with a lively fresh fragrance, lovely sweetly ripe cherried fruit that’s bright and juicy with a modern dusting of vanilla oak spice. 90

Domaine des Lambrays

I don’t have a problem with Lambrays, it’s always distinctive, and many wine lovers really enjoy the style, it just doesn’t happen to be one of my favourites.

Favourite:

Clos des Lambrays, Domaine des Lambrays, £495 / 6. Deeply coloured and bright with its typical root vegetable and spicy aromas (sometimes reminding me a little of peppery syrah) this is earthy and spicy with concentrated red fruit flavours, good structure and spine. 92

Flint, BBR £495 / 6

Domaine Ghislaine Barthod

A consistently good domaine making wines of good purity of pinot noir flavour.

Favourite:

Chambolle Musigny 1er cru Les Cras. Deeply coloured, concentrated ripe cherry fruit flavours, attractive purity and texture with a twist of astringency bringing freshness and spine. 91

Domaine Hudelot Noellat, Vougeot

Is this one of the most interesting up-and-coming domaines? On the evidence of this year, and last year it has to be said, the answer is a resounding yes.

Favourites:

* Bourgogne Rouge, Domaine Hudelot Noellat , £125. This has a good typical pinot noir fragrance with nice strawberryish precision and some youthful muscularity that puts it a step above your average Bourgogne Rouge. 87

Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Suchots, Domaine Hudelot Noellat, £295 / 6. Bright, vivid, raspberryish perfume, fresh juicy and vibrant red berry fruits flavours in cherry / raspberry spectrum with lovely seductive fruit purity and a sinewy structure. 93

Richebourg Grand Cru, Domaine Hudelot Noellat. £1,250 / 6. Bright cherryish-scented and vivid, there’s really satisfying high-powered richness of cherry and raspberry flavour and excellent length; still tight and with this level of concentration will need time in the cellar. 94

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard

Normally a favourite of mine, I struggled with the higher level wines, and although scoring them relatively highly for quality of fruit, was slightly troubled by some slightly sawdusty-oaky samples. Jury out for me.

Favourite:

Vosne Romanée, Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, POA. A touch of spicy loganberry on the nose, good seductively juicy fresh dark berry and loganberry fruit quality with fine acidity. 90

Domaine Jean Grivot

I am an unashamed lover of the Grivot style of pure pinot noir fruit. His wines are definitely for me, as and when I can afford them, which unfortunately is becoming rarer and rarer.

Favourites:

Vosne Romanée Les Beaux Monts, Domaine Jean Grivot, £460 / 6. Ouch! The price, that is. I love the classic red fruit fragrace, the pure raspberry fruit concentration and its vibrant energy, the delicate freshness and purity. Alas, why does the best always have to be beyond one’s grasp? 93

Echézeaux, Domaine Jean Grivot, £350 / 3. Harrumph! Price again. Bright and intense cherry-scented pinot noir and behind the fragrance really classy pinot of considerable depth and length of flavour, delicate, sinewy and powerful at the same time. 94

Domaine Méo-Camuzet

What’s not to like? Only the price really, all of which expressed as POA, so I know I can’t afford it even if I want it.

Favourite:

Vosne Romanée 1 er Cru Les Chaumes, Méo-Camuzet. Fine strawberry scented pinot noir with lovely cherry and raspberry fruit flavours, bright, fresh and elegant in style with fine balance and good structure for the longer haul. 94

Domaine de l’Arlot

Favourite:

Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Clos des Forets St Georges, Domaine de l’Arlot, £450. Dense, bright, fine loganberry scents, lovely pure vivid mulberry and loganberry dark fruits puity and richness, nicely textured with fine, firm tannins and good spince of acidity. 93

Domaine Tollot Beaut

The rather ugly big bottle aside, Tollot Beuat when it’s good is often very good value, even if the wines tend to the solid and four-square.

Favourite:

* Aloxe Corton 1er Cru Les Vercots, Domaine Tollot Beaut, £155. Attractive dark berry scented and suffused with a fine mulberryish pinot noir fragrance, this is a well-crafted red with supple juicy tannins and lively freshness for early and medium-tern drinking. 89

Domaine du Comte Armand, Pommard

Great work behind the biodynamic Clos des Epeneaux vineyard which is worked by horse to help extract the purest expression of pinot noir

Favourite:

Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux, Domaine Comte Armand, £350 / 6 (£720, Lea & Sandeman). Exuberant and vivid in colour with a distinctively spicy scented fruit fragrance, this has plenty of seamlessly fresh, juicy mulberry fruit with fine elegance, purity and balance and behind the seriousness of purpose, a satisfyingly long red berry fruit aftertaste. 94

Domaine de Courcel

A domaine that seems to be getting better as each passing year progresses.

Favourite:

Pommard 1er Cru Grand Clos des Epenots, Domaine de Courcel, £595 (£585, O W Loeb, £594, Lea & Sandeman). Fine strawberryish cented aromas, good vivid and sinewy red berry fruits flavours tinged with spiciness with youthful vigour and muscular tannins in a structure demonstrating seriousness of purpose for the longer haul. 93

FLINT WINES

Domaine Bernard Defaix, Milly

Good classic Chablis with mineral definition

Favourite:

Chablis 1er Cru Côte de Léchet, Domaine Bernard Defaix , £138. Fine crème fraîche nose, ripe lemon creamy fruit quality with lively freshness. 90

Domaine Jaeger-Defaix, Rully

Favourite

*Rully 1er Cru Rabourcé, Domaine Jaeger-Defaix, £138. Attractively fresh and full-flvoured rich chardonnay with moreish succulent fruitiness and good intensity. 89

Domaine Bernard Moreau, Chassagne Montrachet

A bit of a star, brothers Alex and Benoit. Great definition, concentration and flavour in modern style. So much so I couldn’t resist the Chenevottes.

Favourites:

* Bourgogne Blanc, Domaine Bernard Moreau, £126. Textbook juicy fresh chardonnay with lots of flavoursome peachy ripe fruit and good balancing freshness. 88

Chassagne Montrachet, Domaine Bernard Moreau, £240. Fine village level chardonnay with subtle toasty, lees-worked undertones both on the nose and the palate, giving this a degree of complexity as it veers towards a stylish dry finish. 90

Chassagne Montrachet, 1er Cru Maltroie, £185 / 6, Domaine Bernard Moreau. Fine inviting aromas, very concentrated rich chardonnay fruit with fine dry acid and mineral qualities on the finish. 91+

Chassagne Montrachet, 1er Cru Chenevottes, £180 / 6, Domaine Bernard Moreau. Fabulous supernutty and complex nose with lees-derived undertones, very concentrated, intense and nutty fruit quality with a seductive stonefruit richness and stylish dry, mineral finish. 93+

Domaine Paul Pillot, Chassagne Montrachet

Good source of stylish Côte de Beaune chardonnay

Favourite:

Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Caillerets, Domaine Paul Pillot , £198 / 6. Fine savoury fresh aromatic quality, intense and concentrated chardonnay fruit with savoury, almost angular acidity, boding well for the future. 91

Domaine Jean-Marc Pillot, Chassagne Montrachet

New cuverie in chassagne, good wine with subtle use of oak.

Favourite:

Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Chenevottes, Domaine Jean-Marc Pillot, £185 / 6. This is an enticing Chassagne from just 0.29 of a hectare with intense smoky aromas and rich smoky chardonnay fruit concentration etched with limey fresh acidity, creating a fine, sexy dry white. 94

Domaine Pernot-Belicard, Puligny Montrachet.

A domaine whose operation was taken over by Philippe Pernot in 2009 and obviously from this tasting showing he’s doing an excellent job.

Favourites:

* Bourgogne Blanc, Domaine Pernot-Belicard, £108. Attractive fresh aromatics, lighlt smoky with good crisp appley fruit and a nice appetizingly juicy quality to the chardonnay. Excellent house white Burgundy at this price. 88

Puligny Montrachet, 1er Cru Les Perrières, Domaine Pernot-Belicard,, £220 /6. Fine purity and freshness on the nose and behind it a well-crafted, intense, rich peachy fruity chardonnay with honeysuckle undertones and beautiful overall balance. 93

Domaine Tessier, Meursault.

Flint call Arnaud Tessier one of the rising stars of Meursult and on this evidence it would be hard to disagree.

Favourites:

Bourgogne Blanc Champerrière, Domaine Tessier, £120. Attractive nose, good concentration for basic village white Burgundy, moreish fruit quality. 88

Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières, Domaine Tessier, £235 / 6. Powerfully nutty and intense leesiness on the nose, very rich smoky / nutty chardonnay fruit quality blending both opulence with mineral dry characters in a seductive and thoroughly polished Meursault. 93

Domaine Lebreuil, Savigny-Lès-Beaune

Good value Côte de Beaune from Jean-Baptiste Lebreuil

Favourite:

* Savigny-Lès-Beaune, 1er Cru Les Gravains, Domaine Lebreuil, £220. Fine fresh red berry fragrance and juicy purity of strawberryish pinot nor with delicacy and a degree of concentration with an elegant structure of tannins and acidity. 90

Domaine Jean Tardy, Vosne-Romanée

Good wines made by the young Guillaume Tardy

Favourites:

* Fixin ‘La Place’, Domaine Jean Tardy, £195. Good sweet berry fragrance and ripe sweet juicy strawberry fruit too with good length and purity, a seductive expression of pinot noir with nice freshness. 89

Exhézeaux Grand Cru, Domaine Jean Tardy, £440 / 6. Bright, perfumed and promising good concentration, this delivers with a lovely cherry and raspberry pinot noir fruit quality defined by subtle oak integration, combining freshness with voluptuous texture and excellent structure for the longer haul. 94

Domaine Georges Noellat, Vosne-Romanée

New estate to warth run by the young Maxime Cheurlin whose modern techniques are winning friends, justifiably.

Favourites:

* Bourgogne Pinot Noir, Domaine Georges Noellat, £125. Fresh and fragrant pinot noir , showing at this stage a satisfying degree of juicy fresh strawberryish fruit in moreish vein. 88

Vosne-Romanée 1er cru Les Beaux Monts, Domaine Georges Noellat, £350 / 6. Bright aromatic cherryish fruit underpinned by toasty oak behind deliciously juicy mulberryish fruit pinot and showing tannic finesse and freshness. 93

Grands Echézeaux Grand Cru, Domaine Georges Noellat, £650/6. Intensely perfumed with lashings of toasty oak in modern vein, obviously needing to settle and infuse the fine concentration red fruit flavours, which are framed by powerful structured tannins and acidity. 93

Domaine Confuron Cotetidot, Vosne-Romanée

Another Yves Confuron success

Favourite:

Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St Jacques, Domaine Confuron Cotetidot, £315 / 6. Deep-hued and super fragrant with a rooty sweetness of pinot fruit on the palate tending to the dark berry / loganberry spectrum and some fairly robust tannins and acidity suggesting a wine that needs time to unfurl. 91

Domaine Hudelot Noellat (see also Goedhuis)

Favourites:

Vosne Romanée , 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts, Domaine Hudelot Noellat, £320 / 6. This shows an attractive raspberry fruit freshness on the nose, good depth of mulberry flavoured pinot noir richness with good concentration and affine spine of balancing acidity. 93+

Domaine François Bertheau, Chambolle Musigny

Very good expression of Chambolle purity and delicacy from François Bertheau, who took over from his father in 2004.

Favourites:

Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses, Domaine François Bertheau, £525 / 6 (£990. Clark Foyster). One for Valentine’s, or will be when it’s in bottle, and certainly at this price showing how much you appreciate the loved one, the perfumed, elegantly lacy charming quality of the wine, that is. 93

Bonnes Mares, Grand Cru, Domaine François Bertheau, £725 / 6 (£1,200 Clark Foyster). This is no snip either but its powerful perfumed and concentrated mulberry fruit richness and silkiness of texture are underpinned by good structure, lovely fruit freshness and subtle restraint. 94

Dujac Fils et Père et Fils, Morey-St-Denis

It would be nice to see the real stars such as the Clos de la Roche at these tastings but it’s probably too much to hope for that the Seysses family will put their limited quantity peals before us swine. Or maybe they just know we won’t be able to afford them.

Favourite:

Chambolle Musigny, Dujac Fils et Père et Fils, £250 (OW Loeb, £255). This is really pretty good value for a quality village Chambolle, with its bright fresh, stalky fragrance, its mulberry fruit appeal and overall moreish, drink-me-now seductive succulence. 90

Domaine Lucie & Auguste Lignier, Morey St Denis

Kellen Lignier is the unusual name (to me at least) of this winemaker who took over the winemaking after the death of her husband., and is now making deliciously subtle red Burgundy.

Favourite:

Chambolle-Musigny les Baudes, Domaine Lucie & Auguste Lignier, £345 / 6. Bright and freshly scented pinot noir with nicely concentrated, opulent strawberry fruit underpinned by form structure with oak, tannins and acidity yet to come together completely. 92

Domaine Taupenot Merme

High quality red Burgundy from both Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits

Favourite:

Mazoyères-Chambertin, Domaine Taupenot Merme, £550 / 6. Bright cherryish hue, very fragrant red berry perfumed and fine, concentrated bright cherry and mulberry fruit intensity of flavour with a firm spine of acidity and mineral finish. 94

Domaine Duroché, Gevrey Chambertin

I hadn’t come across Duroché’s wines before but I was sufficiently enamoured to have invested in a bottle or two of some of Pierre’s delicious and not overpriced Grand Cru. As I’m sure you’ll remind me on your next visit to Southfields Towers.

Favourites:

Charmes-Chambertin, Domaine Duroché, £275 / 6. Super raspberry / mulberry scented pinot noir with a lovely red berry fruit delicacy and charm , seriously juicy freshness and elegant structure. 92

Latricières-Chambertin, Domaine Duroché, £340 / 6. This has a beguiling, long raspberry and strawberry perfume to it and underlying its lively scented qualities a delicate yet powerful mulberry fruit freshness, great tannic finesse and a refreshing burst of acidity. Mini DRC in the making? 94

Domaine Bernard Coillot, Marsannay

Attractive , moreish pinot noir from an appellation that’s getting increasing attention

Favourite:

* Marsannay ‘Boivins’, Domaine Bernard Coillot, £165 / 12. Bright ruby, attractive cherry and mulberry pinot perfume, a seductive touch of spicy oak behind attractive berry fruit freshness. 89+

Domaine Jean Fournier, Marsannay

Another good Marsannay, delicate and poised.

Favourite:

* Marsannay ‘Echézots’, Domaine Jean Fournier, £159. ‘Echézots’ at £159 a case? Well, even if it is better spoken than written, this is an appealing red Burgundy with a pretty, raspberryish fragrance, good weight of raspberry fruit, nice crisp acidity and a degree of charm. 89+

LEA & SANDEMAN

Domaine Daniel Barraud, Vergisson

Daniel and son Julien making fabulous Pouilly Fuissé and very good Maconnais whites

Favourites:

* Pouilly Fuissé, Vieilles Vignes, Les Crays, Domaine Daniel Barraud, £183. Lovely expressive aromas, delicate subtle lees-derived nuttiness and behind it deliciously concentrated, peachy fruit with juicy acidity. 92

* Pouilly Fuissé, Vieilles Vignes en Buland, Domaine Daniel Barraud, £192. Fine nose, fresh, inviting, good length of stonefruit concentration and complexity with a lively freshness behind the nutty intense finish. 92+

Domaine Fernand et Laurent Pillot

Favourites:

Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Vide-Bourse, Domaine Fernand et Laurent Pillot, £306. Long, complex and intense aromas, rich, intense peachy chardonnay fruit quality. Complex, with real finesse and lovely dry finish. 92

Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Grandes Ruchottes, Domaine Fernand et Laurent Pillot, £321. Fine aromatic quality, complex, nutty, rich and intense fruit quality, elegant style, yet lots of flavour, finishing restrained, dry, mineral. 93

Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot, Domaine Fernand et Laurent Pillot, £321. In similar mould to Ruchottes, just lovely, a total joy to drink, even now. 93

Domaine Rémi Jobard

Impressively pure and classic, not to mention classy, Meursault, Rémi using, unusually, Austrian oak.

Favourites:

* Bourgogne Blanc, Domaine Rémi Jobard, £135. Excellent stuff this, with lovely smoky fresh aromatics, intense peachy fruit and lively fine lemony acidity bringing balance and finesse. Village white Burgundy doesn’t get much better than this. 89

Meursault Chevalières, Domaine Rémi Jobard, £345. Intense and lively aromatics behind which sits a long, smoky, buttered brazils fruit richness of flavour counterbalanced by refreshingly lemony acidity in an impressive dry white. 93

Meursault, 1 er Cru Poruzot Dessus, Domaine Rémi Jobard, £459. Fabulously intense nutty aromatics with long and seductive texture a flavour of true, opulent Meurault chardonnay cut by a sharp blade of incisive fresh acidity finishing dry, mineral 94.

Meursault, 1er Cru, Genevrières, Domaine Rémi Jobard, £474. Another delicate yet powerfully lees-derived aromatic dry white whose leesy-nutty richness is bisected by lovely freshness bringing a seamless, restrained elegance to the underlying power of this fine white Burgundy. 94

Domaine Henri Boillot, Volnay

Volnay-based Henri Boillot makes lovely pure Puligny with delicately toasty oak.

Favourite:

Puligny Montrachet, 1er Cu Clos de la Mouchère, Domaine Henri Boillot, £516. Oops just noticed the price, but never mind, this is a fabulous, intense, smoky and nutty all at the same time, with powerfully ripe, lees-derived underlying complexity behind a touch of toasty oak and gorgeously long and complex fruit, mineral dry finish. 94+

Nicolas Rossignol, Volnay

Much improved Volnay producer with some good value Côte de Beaune reds in the context of Burgundy.

Favourites:

Savigny-Lès-Beaune, Nicolas Rossignol, £129. Deep-coloured Pinot Noir from a fine Volnay producer, showing appealing red berry fruits with fresh strawberry-like flavours and juicy, crisply defined finish. 88

Volnay, 1er Cru, Chevrets, Nicolas Rossignol, £360. Deeply-coloured with an attractively fresh raspberry-like perfume and behind the aromas lots of juicy fresh raspberry and mulberry fruit with very silky, supple tannins and succulent acidity. 91

Volnay, 1er Cru, Caillerets, Nicolas Rossignol, £360. Fragrant and delicate on the nose, there’s more stuffing behind this than the aromas lead you to think, with an attractive red berry fruits flavour and seductively juicy texture. 92

Pommard 1er Cru Les Chaponnières, Nicolas Rossignol, £414. Deeply-hued, this wine, already in bottle when tasted, shows a fine black cherry and strawberry fragrance with delicious drinkable bright fruit in the cherry / mulberry spectrum of flavour, moreish suppleness and bright berry-like finish. 93

Pommard 1er Cru Epenots, Nicolas Rossignol. Ah well you can’t always get them all right all of the time. This tasted baked and jammy but we’ll put it down to a bad sample and hope to come back again when the wine is in bottle and surely much fresher. 79

Domaine Huguenot, Marsannay

Another Marsannay domaine putting out good value red Burgundy

Favourites:

* Fixin Petits Crais, Domaine Huguenot, £162. Vivid colour, attractive fresh red berry fruits fragrance and behind it some lively raspberry fruit with very nice suppleness of texture and balance. 89+

* Marsannay, Champs Perdrix, Domaine Huguenot, £174. Deep colour, fine fresh berry fruit fragrance, juicy fresh strawberry-sweet fruit freshness with lively purity of pinot noir fruit in well-crafted balanced style. 90

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Fonteny, Domaine Huguenot, £360. Vivid colour, berry-sweet fruit perfume, attractively juiucy-sweet raspberryish fruit quality with seamless character of tannins and savoury acidity. 91

Domaine Lignier-Michelot, Morey Saint Denis

Favourite:

Morey Saint Denis, Domaine Lignier-Michelot, £414. Vivid, long sweetly ripe and juicy fresh fraise du bois delicacy of perfume and flavour, fine texture and concentration of fruit with an extremely seductive richness and restraint. 93

Domaine Confuron-Cotetidot

Run by brothers Yves and Jean-Pierre Confuron

Favourites

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaut Saint Jacques, Domaine Confuron-Cotetidot, £552. Deep colour, appealing spicy fresh fragrant pinot noir, intense almost sweetly ripe juicy mulberry and loganberry-like fruit flavours underpinned by supple and seductive textured tannins and nice freshness. 93

Chames Chambertin, Domaine Confuron-Cotetidot, £858. Lovely perfume, vivid and powerful red berry fruit pinot noir concentration with grand cru structure of tannins and acidity to see it past a decade. 93+

Domaine Perrot-Minot, Morey Saint Denis

Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru La Richemone, Domaine Perrot-Minot. £798. Deep vivid dark red hue, lovely fragrance and silky-texured mulberry fruit , really fine, succulent and seductive fruit quality. Delicious. 93

BERRY BROS. & RUDD

Domaine Michel Bouzereau, Meursault

Favourite:

Meursault 1er Cru Perrières, Domaine Michel Bouzereau., £255 / 6.Very fine fresh and vivid aromatic quality with lovely richness and concentration of chardonnay fruit purity underpinned by a lees-derived nuttiness and mineral dry finish. 93

Domaine Arnaud Ente, Meursault

Favourite:

Meursault Clos des Ambres, Domaine Arnaud Ente, £297. Lovely nose with a fine, urgent lees-stirred complexity of aroma and behind it lots of powerful stonefruit flavours topped off with a fine nutty quality and a dry, intense aftertaste. 92+

Domaine Jean-Noël Gagnard, Chassagne Montrachet

Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Caillerets, Domaine Jean-Noël Gagnard, £276 / 6. Intense aromas of lees-derived oatmealy / hazelnutty complexity with a tight, youthfully coiled structure of chardonnay fruit showing caramel, grilled nuts and dry minerality. 93

Maison Louis Jadot

Favourites:

Puligny Montrachet, 1er cru Les Combettes, £300 / 6. Lovely fresh and bright aromatic quality with long, smoky-nutty richness and complexity on the palate, fine lees-stirred oatmealy character, underscored by a seamless, textured dry quality and excellent finesse. 94

Gevrey Chambertin, 1er Cru Cazetiers, £270 / 6. Very fine, perfumed nose framed by subtle toasty oak while the intense loganberry fruit quality on the palate is also nicely delineated by restrained oak spice and tight tannins, holding this youthful wine in place ready to unfurl seductively at a later date. 92+

Benjamin Leroux

Favourite:

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Les Champeaux, £222 / 6. Intense sweetly ripe fresh loganberry-fragrant pinot noir, showing dark mulberry and loganberry fruit voluptuousness and a moreishly juicy, yet grippy at the same time, textured ripeness. 92

Domaine Joseph Faiveley

Corton, Grand Cru, Clos des Cortons, Domaine Joseph Faiveley, £435 /6. No, this great wine from Faiveley is not given away, but it is rather grand to say the least, an intensely perfumed pinot noir whose lovely mulberry fruit sensuality and texture grips the tongue with a seductive caress of melting tannins and a lively bite of acidity. 94

Domaine Jean Grivot

Favourites:

Nuits St Georges, 1er Cru Les Pruliers, Domaine Jean Grivot, £420 / 6. This domaine just seems to get better every year and unfortunately its prices reflect what must be a considerable demand. Not surprising with wines like this powerfully aromatic pinot noir whose intense expression of loganberry abd dark cherry-like pinot is seamless defined by its subtle oak, supple texture and freshness. 93

Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru, Domaine Jean Grivot, £600 / 6. I suspect that Grivot will be the next domaine following in the footsteps of the likes of Cathiard and Fourrier to become limited edition collectors items. Maybe it is already. This grand cru shows super dark fruits, great intensity of flavour and despite the self-evident structure, a moreishly drinkable quality that’s as much a reflection of the vintage as the producer. 94

OW LOEB

Domaine Pernot-Belicard

Favourite:

Puligny Montrachet, Domaine Pernot-Belicard, £269. Excellent village Puligny with complexity and stonefruit concentration and full-flavoured, dry mineral aftertaste. 90

Domaine Fontaine Gagnard, Chassagne Montrachet

Favourites

Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot, Domaine Fontaine Gagnard, £320. Superb nose with lovely lees-derived, oatmealy character and fine, rich peachy full-flavoured chardonnay fruit defined by a sappy-savoury mineral acidity and nutty oak and less-derived complexity. 93

Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, Domaine Fontaine Gagnard.

Domaine Louis Michel, Chablis

Favourites:

* Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre, Domaine Louis Michel, £182. Fine nose, lovely chardonnay purity of fruit with nice nutty-leesy dryness and concentration, finishing pure, rich, flint-dry and mineral. 91

Chablis Vaudésir, Grand Cru, Domaine Louis Michel, £290. Very intense aromatic quality showing some lees-stirred complexity and equally on the palate a lot of really deliciously smoky-nutty fruit underpinned by a fine blade of Chablis steel and an inner core of strength and spine. 93

Château de Fuissé

Favourites

Pouilly Fuissé, Les Brulées, Château de Fuissé, £215. Intensely aromatic, good complex chardonnay fruit richness and intensity, very seductive stonefruit opulence and yet nice balancing freshness. 91

Pouilly Fuissé, Vieilles Vignes, Château de Fuissé, £239. Just the aromatic intensity and concentration of buttery, peachy chardonnay you hope for from old vine Chardonnay underscored by a smoky, crème fraîche quality and cut by zesty lemony freshness. 92

Domaine Patrick Javillier (and see Goedhuis)

Favourites:

Meursault Clos du Cromin, Domaine Patrick Javillier, £295. Very good complex rich chardonnay fruit character with classic Meursault opulence and intensity and behind it a lively dry, nutty, seamless finish. 92

Domaine Bernard Moreau

Chassagne Montrachet, 1er Cru Les Vergers, £360, Domaine Bernard Moreau. Lovely smoky-nutty aromas, long, intense and full-flavoured concentration of chardonnay fruit with complexity and elegance. 93+

Domaine Etienne Sauzet

Favourites

Puligny Montrachet, Domaine Etienne Sauzet, £295. The premiers crus are excellent this year, but so also, at a fraction of the price, is the village Puligny, ` really intense and full-flavoured chardonnay defined by its grilled nut richness and seamless balance. 90

Domaine Sylvain Pataille

Favourites:

* Marsannay Grasses Têtes, Domaine Sylvain Pataille, £195. Deeply coloured and intensely perfumed, this has plenty of opulent strawberry fruitiness linked to good muscular grip and freshness. 89+

* Bourgogne ‘le Chapitre’ Rouge, Domaine Sylvain Pataille, £195. Although this is the same price as the Marsannay and so on the face of it expensive, in fact it’s a special parcel of a hectare of three different ages of old vines, producing a wine of lovely fragrant loganberry and good concentration and intensity with a beguiling sweet succulence. A surprise. 90

Domaine de Courcel, Pommard (and at Flint)

Very good Côte de Beaune from Yves Confuron.

Favourite:

Bourgogne Pinot Noir, Domaine de Courcel, £230. No ordinary Bourgogne Rouge this but a pinot noir of vivid raspberryish fragrance and terrific sweet succulence of raspberry fruit with fine spine of acidity and firm grippy structured tannins. 90

ARMIT WINES

Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot

Favourite:

Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Champ Canet, £465. Intense aromatic quality, lovely rich fruit concentration and flavour, voluptuous relatively forward for premier cru but with enough spine and concentration for the medium term. 92+

Domaine Faiveley

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Clos des Issarts, Domaine Faiveley, £425. Attractive strawberry fragrance and very good red berryish expression of pinot noir with a supple, juicy, mulberryish quality and lots of seductive flesh on display. 92

Domaine Fontaine Gagnard

Favourite

Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, Domaine Fontaine Gagnard, £525 / 6. Wonderfully rich and intensely aromatic chardonnay with huge concentration, power and intensity of lees and subtle oak-derived smoky-nutty-oatmealy fruit complexity and behind the fruit a structured, mineral dimension. Amazing. 96

Also O W Loeb

Domaine Fourrier

Favourites:

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cherbaudes, Domaine Fourrier, £270 / 6. Lovely clean fresh raspberry fragrance, seductively juicy fruit with delicately spiced oak and voluptuously fleshy texture, finishing with nice fresh twist of acidity. 92

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St Jacques, £325 / 6. (Clark Foyster (poA). Extremely seductive and sexy fraise du bois perfume with loads of fleshy mulberry and raspberry-sweet fruit framed by spicy vanilla oak and good grippy tannins and savoury freshness. 94

Domaine William Fèvre, Chablis

Favourites:

* Chablis, Domaine William Fèvre, £120. Typically classic good Chablis with lots of juicy apple and pear fruit and a long incisive streak of crisp acidity. Actually ready and willing to be drunk with pleasure right now. 88

Chablis Grand Cru Bougros, Côtes de Bouguerots, Domaine William Fèvre, £520. Fine freshness and mineral intensity with excellent concentration of classic steely acid fruit and some creaminess of texture behind the apple and pear flavours of the chardonnay grape. 93

Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, Domaine William Fèvre, £300 / 6. Very intense and mineral, still tight and taut and steely dry yet with a full-flavoured richness and power of fresh pear fruit concentration that bodes well for a life of a good decade or longer. 94

CLARK FOYSTER

Domaine Charles Audoin, Marsannay-La-Côte

Favourites:

* Marsannay Blanc. Fine leesy, complex aromas, really well-crafted, modern chardonnay with lots of buttery-rich fruit flavour and complexity and good crunchy balancing fresh acidity. 88

* Marsannay, Cuvée Marie Ragonneau, Domaine Charles Audoin, £156. Deliciously crunchy raspberry fruit behind a fine aromatic fresh fragrance and lovely vivacity of pinot noir fruitiness, just perfect for an affordable house red Burgundy. 89

* Fixin, Le Rozier, Domaine Charles Audoin, £216. Vivid colour, fine fragrance of red berry fruit freshness, with exuberantly ripe mulberry and cherryish fruit on the palate framed by spicy oak and almost crunchy in its vivid flavour and savoury freshness. 90

Domaine Fourrier

Favourites:

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Champeaux, Domaine Fourrier, £516. Vivid, intense fraise du bois and raspberry on the nose, lovely seductively fragrant fresh mulberry fruit juiciness framed by sexy silky suppleness of texture and seamless fresh acidity. 94

Domaine Henri & Philippe Jouan, Moret St Denis

Favourite:

Clos St Denis, Grand Cru, Domaine Henri & Philippe Jouan, £588. Vibrant aromatic power with underlying smoky oak deliciously pure, riuch red berry fruit framed by spicy oak, a modern style with lovely seamless fruit purity and fine texture. 93