A BUYING TRIP TO BURGUNDY AND THE LOIRE

Page 7

Our sixth tasting is at -
Domaine Thevenot-Le Brun, Marey les Fassey.

We arrive here exactly an hour late - precisely the time we have arranged for the seventh tasting. So my first request on arrival at the Thevenots is to use their telephone to postpone the final tasting that day.

Would we like to taste the 2002s?

Off we go. After the tank and barrel tasting, M. Thevenot opens 14 bottles for us, 7 whites and 7 reds. I'm the world's least assiduous note-taker, but when I go to France I take notes. The Thevenots' wines are highly individual: often the reds display blackcurranty flavours which I don't usually associate with burgundy, but at the same time they are absolutely the product of Pinot Noir grapes. The whites are good too, and both the reds and the whites age well.

The Thevenots also make the best, blackcurrantiest Creme de Cassis I have ever tasted from blackcurrants grown on their estate and with marc distilled from their own grapes. Since discovering this scrumptious drink sales of Cassis have shot ahead spectacularly.

Domaine Christophe Mary, Corcelles les Arts.

This is a micro-domaine consisting of 3.5 hectares, of which 2 are en metayage (meaning he only gets half the wine because the vines belong to somebody else). So, in effect, his domaine extends to 2.5 hectares, roughly 6 acres.

He makes good reds and really thrilling whites. The quantities are tiny. He is contracted to sell a proportion of his production to local merchants, further reducing the amount he has for sale in bottle. Last year I bought 11 cases from him. This year he has allowed me 31 cases.

His range includes: in white - Meursault village and Premier Cru, Puligny-Montrachet village and Premier Cru; in red - Auxey-Duresses and Pommard. The whites are delicious young, but I feel sure they will develop interestingly if cellared. The style is fat and rich, but with really good acidity.

We taste the 2002s. The whites have attained incredible alcohol levels here - the Meursault Charmes 15.7%! Nearly all of them are over 13%. The amazing thing is, as with the reds, the wines seem beautifully balanced.

Domaine Pascal Prunicr, Meursault.

Here is a young grower who I think is going places. He is a good friend of Damien Gachot. He has a spread of wines, both red and white, from Saint Remain,

Auxey-Duresses, Meursault, Monthelie and one wine from Beaune.

So far I have only bought his Saint Remain, but I will now be buying his Auxey-Duresses, Meursault, Monthelie and Beaune. The whites tend to be quite tight in their youth, but open up with bottle age, though having said that his 2001 Meursault, which I have arranged to buy, is well developed and good for drinking now. My impression of the 2001 vintage for whites from the Cote d'Or is that they are for early drinking, approachable straight away. There seems to be plenty of fruit in the wines. I place it above 1998 in terms of quality.

Domaine Ponilean, Volnay.

Thierry Ponileau is a charming fellow, and very talkative. I always allow extra time for this tasting, because apart from the talking he also gives me a comprehensive tasting.

We start with the 2002s in barrel. Whites first, then reds. His reds when they are young are showing more and more tannin. Zac is finding this tasting hard going.

We go to his tasting room and try his 2001s in bottle. Again, grippy tannins are in evidence.

It's tough for Zac. There was rot in the grapes in 2001, so Thierry bought a sorting table to weed out the rotten grapes. His wines consistently have good colour and 2001 is no exception - rot attacks the pigments in grapes (so good colour in the finished wine is at least an indication that the sorting of the grapes has successfully got rid of the rotten ones).

There are some pieces of Comté cheese, saucisson sec and bread for us to nibble on as we taste and chat.

The tasting lasts 2 ½ hours, finishing as a special teat with his Corton-Charlemagne, of which he only produces a minuscule quantity. It is an enormous wine, with amazing length of flavour.

Domaine Didier Montehovet, Nantoux.

This domaine is run not only organically but biodynamically. Didier Montchovet used to teach winemaking in Beaune, and in fact taught Mme. Villiers at Vezelay to make wine.

The winemaking here is getting better and better. In particular the red Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune 2000 stood out on this visit: very pretty, good for drinking now, but with potential for cellaring as well.

We tasted, of course, the 2002s - the first time I have tasted in barrel here. With their Chardonnay they had two harvests. They picked early but left some bunches on the vines and then picked two or three weeks later. The wine from the first harvest tastes good, very good, with nice acidity, but not so different from other vintages. The late-picked wine is extraordinary: thick, viscous, with low acidity, demi-sec; a monster of a wine, with over 14% alcohol. The Montchovets will assemble the wine from both harvests into a single cuvee, which looks as though it will add up to something considerably more exciting than the sum of its parts.