Fine Bottles of Mature Burgundy, Bad Bottles of Natural Wine & More...

Mikke invited to an impromptu tasting dinner in the midst of summer. Due to holidays we were four brave tasters to arrive at Mikke to eat and drink well - as usual! :-)

We started with
1996 Cuvée Nicolas Francois Billecart, Billecart-Salmon
Out of a half bottle this is almost fully mature with nice notes of tangerines, almond biscuits, red apples, slate and gravel. Very fine. A lot of fudge appears with air.
The taste is elegant and pure with notes of tangerines, lemon peel, herbs and gravel. A fine acidity. A long, slender finish. Very, very good.
90p   (tasted 2013/07)

2011 Cuvée Julien, Jean Francois Ganevat
This Jura Pinot (11,5%) is apparently a rave on the natural wine scene. I wonder why, since it is a crappy wine. The nose is light, anemic and unripe with notes of lingonberries, dry licorice, gravel and lots of sour milk. Yeasty. With air the sour milk note keeps getting larger and larger. No, no, no.
The taste is tight, dry and hollow with notes of lingonberries, cranberries and gravel. A high acidity and dry tannins that are not integrated in the wine. The finish is rather short (thankfully!) and ends with a bitter note. This was not a bad bottle, just a bad wine, it got worse, keep on reading...
No filtration, no fining, no sulphur, but no character, no charm, no joy either.
60p   (tasted 2013/07)

Sadly, the bottle of 1964 Meursault, unknown producer was corked. Even sadder, you could feel that it was a fine mature white Burgundy beneath the cork damage.
Luckily, the two next bottles made us smile.

1992 Meursault Charmes, Roland Remoissenet
When I tasted this nine months ago that bottle was more evolved than this one. This has a deep, creamy, fresh nose with notes of lemon cream, peaches, dry fudge, sea shells and some matchbox aromas. Gorgeous. There is some maturity but it behaves like it is 10 years younger.
The taste is pure, racy and intense with notes of lemon cream, cap gun smoke, yellow apples and lots of chalk. The finish is long and focused. A very fine acidity. Really fine. Shared WOTN for me.
92p   (tasted 2013/07)

2004 Meursault Charmes, A. Buisson-Battault
This new producer for me delivered a fine Meursault with a nose full of William pears, summer flowers, warm grass and smoke. Young and delicious.
The taste is big, steady and tight with notes of lemon cream, candied orange peels, smoke and warm grass. A long, intense finish. This needs 6-8 years in the cellar. Has potential though.
89p   (tasted 2013/07)

Time up for some mature Burgundy!
1943 Pommard, N. Vernaux
I brought this bottle, since I had a hunch that it would be old bottles on the table. The nose is mature and round but with a fine sweetness and notes of mashed raspberries, old leather, muscovado sugar, cigar ashes and autumn leaves. A good warmth. Keeping up well all night.
The taste is sweet, round and with a fine warmth to the fruit. Notes of forest floor, cigar ashes, old leather and dried herbs is detectable when the wine is swallowed. Still some signs of tannins in the finish. Medium long and warm. It feels like an old Burgundy, but the dark colour and the sweetness makes one wonder if there was something added in the process...?
89p   (tasted 2013/07)

1929 Charmes-Chambertin, unknown producer
From a half bottle. At first it smells like an old Madeira with tea leaves, nuts and dried fruits. But with air it fattens up and instead there are notes of candied orange peel, forest floor, ripe lingonberries and autumn apples. Not complex, but alive and interesting.
The taste is mature (!), rather slender but with fine notes of dried red fruits, cigarette ashes, undergrowth and violets. The finish is long and ends not in the least dry. And it doesn´t just keep, it actually gets better during the evening. There is something special with old Burgundy!
85p   (tasted 2013/07)

1964 Clos de Vougeot, Paul Tribourg
A fine bottle from a great vintage! :-) The nose is cool, deep and fresh for its age with notes of ripe lingonberries, raspberry candy, forest floor and a hint of mint. A very fin maturity. A high, intense nose. Very, very good.
The taste is cool, elegant and fine with notes of lingonberries, dried strawberries, pine needles, forest floor and beet juice. Has a very fine, lively sweetness. This could still be kept for 5+ years.
91p   (tasted 2013/07)

Next up was two older gentlemen from Bordeaux, who were in pretty good shape - I guessed 1985 or 1978...
1966 Château Pichon-Lalande
A deep, finely mature nose with soft notes of cedar, red and black currants, rosehips, leather and some coffee aromas. Gentle, mature and very nice. Fully mature.
The taste is tight and dry with lots of red currants and notes of graphite, autumn leaves and cold coffee. Soft tannins. A very nice mature Bordeaux.
86p   (tasted 2013/07)

1966 Vieux Château Certan
This is a different creature though. Riper, deeper, sweeter than the Pichon-Lalande. Gorgeous notes of plums, tobacco, red currants, dark fudge and forest floor. A very fine sweetness to the fruit. In a very fine stage maturity wise. Deep and fine.
The taste is big, deep and sweet with lovely notes of red cherries, plums, tobacco, minerals and autumn leaves. A fine seedy note in the finish, which is long, warm and generous. Really fine. Shared WOTN.
92p   (tasted 2013/07)

2009 Les Chalasses Vieilles Vignes, Jean Francois Ganevat
Since we were whining so much over the Jura Pinot, Mikke had to prove to us that they at least make a fine Chardonnay, so he kindly opened this bottle. Much better than the Pinot but still nothing to go ga-ga over. The nose is young, fresh and focused with notes of gooseberries, lemon candy, white currants and some smoky aromas. A fine spiciness. Very good.
The taste is tight, fresh and cool with notes of orange peel, tangerine, candle grease and smoke. Good acidity. Still very young, this could turn out nicely. But with no sulphur what so ever added, how will it age?
86p   (tasted 2013/07)

NV J´en Veux!!!, Jean Francois Ganevat
We couldn´t let go of the Pinot, now when we had tasted a good wine from Ganevat, so Mikke was ever so kind to fetch a bottle of this. I just wished he hadn´t...
This is apparently made out of 17 different local grapes. At university I had a friend who made his own wine from a wine kit. This wine smelled exactly as the wine he made. Yeasty, light, unbalanced and with notes of eraser, dried lingonberries and yogurt. Smells like a Belgian lambic beer. No, no, no, no.
The taste is dry, hollow and simplistic - it´s basically lingonberry juice (and not a good one at that) without substance, interest or character.
The emperor has no clothes... This must have been made like this...
55p   (tasted 2013/07)

1979 Clos Laurensanne
The state monopoly used to bottle a lot of inexpensive Bordeaux in Sweden. Usually fairly priced and often worth at the time. But you shouldn´t cellar them this long...
A dry, empty nose with some dry red currant scents and shrivelled autumn leaves.
The taste is as the nose - dry and empty.
53p   (tasted 2013/07)

2009 Forster Stift Rieslaner Auslese, Reichsrat von Buhl
As a sweet ending this Rieslaner was poured. The nose is pure, lovingly upfront and juicy, full of green apples, ripe pears, lemon peel and almond paste. Very good.
The taste is cool, fine and ripe with notes of tangerines, green apples and lemon cream. A fine, but not searing acidity. Medium long and fine. A nice ending of a great evening - thanks Mikke!
87p   (tasted 2013/07)