Marquis d'Angerville 2011 and 2003

A recent tasting at the Goring in London of Marquis d'Angerville's wines was a fascinating affair.  Centre stage were the 2011s, which tasted every bit as good as they did in November 2012.  A seamless poise and sensuality are the hallmarks of the best red Burgundy 2011s and those of d'Angerville are brimming with both.  However it was not only the vintage that was talking, each wine had its own personality, which is always reassuring in any Burgundy tasting.  Under the stewardship of Guillaume d'Angerville the wines have a level of finesse they did not before, whilst losing none of their character. In fact if anything this character has been enhanced, quite some a achievement.  Perhaps the two biggest beneficiaries over the last 8 years have been the Fremiets and the Champans, both of which have gained in stature and intensity.  Apart from completing the full move to Biodynamics, Guillaume was at pains to point out that there have been no wholesale changes at the Domaine, only several minor "tweaks."

The most exciting bit of the day for me was tasting the 2003s over lunch en magnum, the first vintage Guillaume took the reins of the estate, as it had been several years since i had last tried them.  The line up comprised of Champans, which was the most opulent and hedonistic of the three, Taillepieds and Clos des Ducs.  The last two surprised emormously as they had largely shrugged off the dominating mark of the famous heatwave vintage and offered a savoury, beguiling complexity aligned to a noticeable mineral edge that gave an impression of freshness. The Clos des Ducs, no doubt thanks to the wealth of underground springs in the vineyard, seemed the least 2003 like of them all. Layered and structured, typically brooding, this still has many years to go before being ready.  On the day the Taillepieds was my favourite, still on the young side, but it opened up more and more with every sip, exhibiting a stature and stony minerality aligned to dark sweet fruit.

It just goes to show how strong terroir handled well can shine through with bottle age, no matter how hard a vintage tries to assert its authority.  

A Marquis d'Angerville Masterclass

On Tuesday this week Guillaume d'Angerville came to London to present to journalists 16 of his wines at the Connaught Hotel. The tasting was kick-started by the thrilling 2010s. They were nothing short of magnificent even at villages level. 2010 is an excellent vintage and the Marquis d'Angerville wines are up there with the year's very best examples. The Domaine is steeped in history and has made great wines over decades but it is clear to me that, since taking over the reins in 2003, Guillaume is taking the Domaine to another level. This is not being done through wholesale changes, it largely respects the work of his father Jacques - hard vineyard work, minimal intervention in the cellar, a maximum of 20% new oak. The biggest change is the full conversion to biodynamic viticulture and this, together with Guillaume and his team's extreme rigour and attention to detail, are lifting quality through the roof.

Together with the 2010s, we were treated to a vertical of Clos des Ducs, one of the Cote de Beaune's great vineyards. 2008, 2007, 2002, 1999, 1998 and 1990.

Great wine or great winemaking rarely produces something flashy or immediate, to me it seems to be more about wines that are complex, develop in the glass and that show traits which can be attributed to terroir and vintage. There was no question that each of these 16 wines had its own and very clear cut personality - for me this is truely the magic of wine and the magic of Burgundy. My brief thoughts on the various vintages below, anyone still cellaring 1999s take note: Whilst this may be a vintage that closed down for far longer than anyone expected there are signs that, judging by Clos des Ducs at least, patience will reward you heavily.

2008 - Fresh, red fruited, so alive and uplifting, drinkable now and certainly less of the tannic structure than expected but with plenty left in the tank to age very well.

2007 - tender, fruity, sweet as a nut and absolutely perfect for drinking now over the next 5 years

2002 - closed, tightly wound and a little wild initially. After several hours this settled in the glass and some very clear crisp but ripe red fruit aromas and flavours surfaced, eventually this proved to be a beauty.

1999 - even more closed than the 2002, initially this was not my favourite wine of the line up but after 4 hours it opened up into the best wine of the flight, for me, by a distance. deep dark ripe so intense and complex. Stunning!

1998 - a little wild but none of the hard edges I was expecting, in fact this was the biggest surprise of the tasting, not the ugly duckling vintage many said it was, lively crisp characterful, intense but moreish

1990 - still a baby, the most powerful and intense wine of the lot, had not even awoken by the time the 1999 had come round.

Burgundy 2009: An interview with Guillaume d'Angerville

In which Giles asks Guillaume about the similarity between the 09 and 05 vintages, and the rise and rise of his Volnay Champans...

Burgundy 2009 - A taste of Cote de Beaune

November has come around all too quickly, but so much the better! For the autumnal colours and bright skies are a joy here in Burgundy, and the temperatures are unusually balmy. The first three days of our trip has been spent in the Maconnais and Cote de Beaune.

My expectations were, tentatively, high. These 2009s that appeared so flattering and round in May, will they have lasted a summer in barrel unblemished? The answer is resoundingly yes. Initial reports seemed to indicate a great red vintage but I have found that there are some incredible whites too. Dominque Lafon thinks is the best vintage he has made for white wine, whilst not everyone can say that there plenty of beauties up and down the Cote nonetheless. Certainly those who have picked early, before grapes became too overripe, have made wonderfully balanced Chardonnays, admittedly less racy than in 2007 or 2008 but with absolutely tremendous balance: Silky, ripe, fresh and strong mineral identity, and, it must be said, huge length of flavour even at villages level.

I have not made it to the Cote de Nuits yet but this seems to be a quite excellent vintage for Cote de Beaune reds, particularly Volnay. My tasting with Marquis d'Angerville was exhilirating. Whilst you can not really say for all of the wines that they are better than 2005, I think you can for the Champans, it was simply breathtaking. And as a whole range, from villages upwards, I think they are a hair ahead of 2005. In general the Pinots have the silkiest of textures without losing precision or characteristic varietal bitter-sweetness.

More updates from the Cotes de Nuits on the weekend and over the coming weeks look out for video interviews on the 2009s with some of Burgundy's top growers.

The grape escape: 2008 Burgundy Revisited and a peek at 2009

Narrowly avoiding the ash clouds that nearly prevented my annual escape from the London Wine Trade fair, I head to Burgundy for a chance to re-taste 2008 and take an early peek at the already well-reputed 2009s.

Most Red 2008s are now ready to be bottled and though, admittedly, its a perfect time to taste, they look fabulous, even lovelier than from barrel in November. It may not be a totally homogenous vintage but there are so many great examples of red 08s from the top producers. Every grower I have spoken to this week considers it a genuinely top vintage for Pinot Noir and I have to admit I am totally seduced, too. Such a balance of Pinot purity, freshness, ripe fruit and roundness, with a nice little tannic kick. Freddy Mugnier himself describes it as "a vintage I adore, like 2001 but better, more refined." Anyone who has been lucky enough to drink any of the quite glorious Cote de Nuits 2001s recently will know this is praise indeed.

Then there is the small matter of 2009. The most flattering vintage I have tasted at this early stage, more so than 1999, even the likes of d'Angerville's Clos des Ducs and Liger-Belair's La Romanee, the most serious of wines, were impressively forthcoming; whilst Cecile Tremblay appears to have made a sensational range from top to bottom. There is still plenty of time and elevage to go for these 2009s, I will see in November how the summer has treated them so lets not be hasty, but it has to be said in their current state they are difficult to resist: Suave, very fruity and with a smooth texture that belies their great power and persistance. Mostly it seems a decent size crop (fingers crossed this is reflected at allocation time !!) Picking date was a fine balance as fruit ripened at a pace, so it is feasible there may be one or two disappointments more than with the extraordinarily reliable 2005s, we shall see, but there will plenty of absolute crackers to feast on I have no doubt.