WTN: 2 Chambolle-Musigny 1ers, delicious Vouvray & Sancerre.

This extended weekend saw a delicious Vouvray, a lively young Sancerre and a couple of Chambolle-Musignys from Dominique Laurent's stable.

The two last were bought from the late lamented La Vigneronne in Kensington, whose flagship Burgundy source was Dominique Laurent. Even at tastings when they were young, I thought that the true geeks' criticism of overoaking was unjustified in most cases but by now the oak is so completely integrated as to be imperceptible to me. Poor corks mean that I now aim to drink them up quickly but that is no hardship .

Preamble over and now to the wines-

1995 Dominique Laurent Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru (11/23/2014)
This did not quite have the charm of my last bottle of Laurent's '96 Les Sentiers which I opened last week but it also had a crumbly cork. Based in my experience it looks as if Laurent would have done well to use better corks in the mid-90s. Colour was quite pale and the nose was at first subdued but slowly started releasing cherry, violet and varnish tinged pinot aromas which continued on the palate. This was medium/light bodied and showed some nice round pinot fruit, a little forest floor, minerals, decent acidity and length with barely perceptible traces of angular and drying tannins which were often a problem with '95s from both Bordeaux and Burgundy. Good++.

1996 Dominique Laurent Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Sentiers - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru (11/18/2014)
When I saw the leaky and spongy cork which made me struggle to avoid pushing it in, I had misgivings. However the bottle turned out to be the best, but last, of the three in my collection as if the accelerated ageing through leaking were beneficial. There were still lively acidity, saline notes and grilled meat but toned down and in better balance with the elegant pinot fruit and underlying roundness. There is now real Chambolle delicacy and charm which makes me regret not having more bottles. Decidedly many '96s are showing that they were worth the wait. Very Good.

2008 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Vouvray Sec Clos de la Bretonnière - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray (11/22/2014)
After disappointments with some prematurely aged bottles of sec from Foreau from the early '00s, this restores my faith in dry Vouvray. Colour was quite pale yellow and the nose brightly expressive with fine notes of quince, apple, pear, minerals, a dab of dry honey and first hints of wax. The palate was dry, brightly focussed, medium bodied, full of stylish nerve and tension with enough underlying roundness (gras) to support its vibrant fruit and aromas, grainy minerals, crisp acidity and firm finish. On a bottle about 30 months ago, I thought I detected a loss of bloom and roundness compared with an earlier bottle but they are back and I also feared an imminent loss of tension and vibrancy but that has not yet happened. Excellent.

2013 Bardin Jean-Jacques Sancerre Domaine Les Chaumes - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre (11/21/2014)
This was much better than the Sancerre Le Fort from the famous Alphonse Mellot on which I commented a few weeks ago. It was typically Sancerre in aroma with lively notes of green fruit, some exotic but particularly gooseberry, medium bodied, with fresh fruit, attractive minerals and juicily moreish crisp acidity, some "gras" and good grip. Good and good QPR for Sancerre at €10.

Posted from CellarTracker

The two last were bought from the late lamented La Vigneronne in Kensington, whose flagship Burgundy source was Dominique Laurent. Even at tastings when they were young, I thought that the true geeks' criticism of overoaking was unjustified in most cases but by now the oak is so completely integrated as to be imperceptible to me.

And I don't know the specifics of different wines, but wasn't he supposed to have amazing access to great grapes?

The two last were bought from the late lamented La Vigneronne in Kensington, whose flagship Burgundy source was Dominique Laurent. Even at tastings when they were young, I thought that the true geeks' criticism of overoaking was unjustified in most cases but by now the oak is so completely integrated as to be imperceptible to me.

And I don't know the specifics of different wines, but wasn't he supposed to have amazing access to great grapes?

That was indeed Laurent's claimed strength and I think it was largely true; he even produced excellent generic Bourgogne rouge. His supporters claimed that he had access to grapes at well known estates who also did domaine bottling and that he often made a better job of the wine-making and élevage than they did. He was however scorned in a lot of geek circles for overoaking and his own claim of 200% new oak together with high Parker scores did not help in these circles. I tasted most of his range from the '95, '96 & '97 vintages when they were young and was rarely troubled by the wood. It was incidentally a good study in terroir differences, the producer style variable being largely removed.