Domaine Direct’s superb 2015 Burgundy Tasting at Brunswick House
Domaine Direct’s superb 2015 Burgundy Tasting at Brunswick House
DOMAINE DIRECT, 10 – 12 Emerald Street, London WC1N 3QA
Telephone: 020 7404 9933
E-mail: alexandra@domainedirect.co.uk
Hilary Gibbs, gérante at Domaine Direct, selected a handful of wines from her deep stocks of 2015 Burgundies. This elite Burgundy specialist is first port of call if you are looking to stock up with great wine. Here are my brief notes on the wines on show. A veritable cornucopia of styles, give DD a call if you would like to buy some of the wines. I know I have!
NB – all prices are shown per bottle ex VAT; Minimum order: one case (12 bottles equivalent); Delivery is free in London postal districts and free elsewhere in mainland UK for all orders with a value over £300.00 ex VAT.
Whites
Mâcon Verzé, Domaine Nicolas Maillet £15.75
A little too oily and rich with some nutty notes rather stepping on the toes of the fruit notes. 16.5/20
Mâcon-Milly, Clos du Four, Domaine Cordier Père et Fils £16.75
Rather more balanced, with ripe fruit and also enough acidity to work. Fit and bright. 17/20
Montagny, Le Clou, Domaine du Clos Salomon £15.00
Bright and with firmer acidity and punch. Nice, superbly chalky and vibrant. Impressive value. 17.5/20
Rully, 1er Cru Montpalais, Domaine Jean-Baptiste Ponsot £18.75; Magnum £44.00
Marzipan-y, too oily and ripe for me. Too exotic and too out of balance, but some might like it. There is certainly still some acidity. 16?/20
Viré-Clessé, Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon £21.50
Rather more structured and dense with tough skin notes and a lot of muscle. A little too over the top for me for this shape of wine. 16+/20
Mercurey, 1er Cru Clos des Barraults, Domaine Bruno Lorenzon £29.00
Rather tough, ‘sweet’ and a little too out of balance. A touch oily and floral. Not enough acidity or bite for me and too much structure. 16+?/20
Pouilly-Fuissé, Les Plessys, Domaine Dominique Cornin £22.50
This vintage suits this style of wine more than the more fertile plots and the minerality is working in harmony with the richness of fruit. 17.5/20
Chablis, 1er Cru Côte de Lechet, Vieille Vigne Réserve, Domaine Bernard Defaix £21.50
Very ripe, juicy and sweet and rather atypical and oddly New Worldy. Not my style. 16?/20
Chablis, Grand Cru Grenouilles, Domaine Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin £45.00
Brilliant succulence and while there is a distinct lack of acidity, there is a fabulous whoosh of cool, juicy fruit. Drink soon, but this is a thrilling a decadent wine. 18/20
Auxey-Duresses, Les Boutonniers, Domaine Jean & Gilles Lafouge £23.50
Crunchy and sour, and weirdly pine needle-y, this is a strange resinous wine and it is not delicious. 15.5?/20
Auxey-Duresses, Patience No.8, Domaine Agnès Paquet £26.00
Rather blunt, structured and lacking in balancing flesh, this is a nice wine but it is all sinew and muscle. 16.5+/20
Saint-Aubin, 1er Cru Clos de la Chatenière, Domaine Hubert Lamy £39.50; Magnum £89.00
Very smart with just the right amount of balance between the fruit and austerity. Still needs some time to evolve as the acid could soften a little but impressive. 17.5+/20
Chassagne-Montrachet, 1er Cru Baudines, Domaine Thomas Morey £42.50
Brilliant flesh and excellent weight and acidity, this is very much worth the ticket price given its exquisite flavours and this is down to this stellar vineyard which always performs well in warmer vintages. 18.5+/20
Chassagne-Montrachet, 1er Cru Vergers, Domaine Bruno Colin £55.00
Very exotic and ripe and perhaps a little too forced and tropical, this is a heady, oaky wine with a lot of honey and power. Bit OTT but certainly impactful. 17.5+/20
Chassagne-Montrachet, 1er Cru Blanchots Dessus, Domaine Coffinet-Duvernay £48.00; Magnum £104.00
More sweet corn-y and herbal, this is not my style of Chassagne with less juiciness and more skin. There is a bitterness here which is rather off-putting. 16+?/20
Meursault, Domaine Henri Germain £37.50
Beautifully lush and welcoming on the nose, but with superb, mouth-watering acidity, too, this is a stunning wine which performs way above its village level. 18/20
Meursault, 1er Cru Charmes, Domaine Buisson-Battault £57.50
Rather calmer than the name might suggest, you have to go searching for the flavour here which is a little dull considering its standing. 17.5+?/20
Puligny-Montrachet, 1er Cru Champ Canet, Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot £55.00; Magnum £118.00
Rather lush, rich, very flamboyant and layered, this is forward and very attractive, but there is some grand acidity here, too, so it should last well. 18+/20
Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Combettes, Etienne Sauzet £109.00
Looking a little too open and a touch oxidised, this is an awkward wine with some huge acidity and I venture that another bottle might show better. No score today
Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru, Domaine Rapet Père et Fils £68.00
Pretty dramatic and balanced and rather nicely weighted between acidity and also fruit, underpinned by fit minerality. Rather good wine and a bargain for a Grand Cru. 18+/20
Reds
Bourgogne Epineuil, Domaine Dominique Gruhier £15.95
Rather attractive, floral and obviously light and fragrant, but there is plenty of intensity of fruit here, too. A bargain. 16.5/20
Rully, 1er Cru Molesme, Domaine Jean-Baptiste Ponsot £19.75
Too sinewy and austere and the tannins outweigh the fruit. 15.5+/20
Givry, 1er Cru Clos Salomon, Domaine du Clos Salomon £23.00
Very impressive with superb fruit quality and also generous oak. Really well balanced and ageing perfectly. 17+/20
Mercurey, 1er Cru Champs Martin, Domaine Bruno Lorenzon £29.00
Very full and intense and lacking in charm and poise this is a gruff wine. 15+?/20
Auxey-Duresses, Domaine Jean & Gilles Lafouge £21.00
Too dirty, earthy, too feral and stinky. 14+?/20
Chorey-lès-Beaune, Domaine Tollot-Beaut £24.00
Brilliant balance and epic freshness. Simply stunning and a little too young, but thrilling. 17.5+/20
Santenay, 1er Cru Grand Clos Rousseau, Domaine Thomas Morey £29.00; Magnum £65.00
Smart balance and nice weight and juiciness, this is a good wine with some latent power, too. 17+/20
Chassagne-Montrachet, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Bruno Colin £26.00
Tense and rather too tough and forced, this is a wine which has been slightly too extracted. 16.5++/20
Volnay, 1er Cru Taillepieds, Domaine Roblet-Monnot £68.00
Tough and vegetal and too austere and tannic, this is a very dry and over-macerated wine. Not pretty but certainly powerful. 16.5++?/20
Morey-Saint-Denis, Domaine Géantet-Pansiot £33.00
Not a great bottle – too blunt and tannic, this is a tough wine with too much aggression. I am sure that this is a rogue bottle. 16.5+?/20
Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Alain Michelot £33.00; Magnum £73.00
Too tough and hot on the nose and too reductive and blunt. Shame. 16++/20
Chambolle-Musigny, 1er Cru Feusselottes, Frédéric Magnien £57.50; Magnum £121.00
Stunning perfume and rather softer than many of the other wines, while this doesn’t have the tannic make-up of the others it is flatteringly juicy and attractive. 17.5/20
Gevrey-Chambertin, Mes Favorites, Domaine Alain Burguet £42.00
Rather floral, but a little too sour and skinsy on the palate and it this element takes over the flavour too much. The nose is a problem with feral notes interfering too much. 15.5+?/20
Gevrey-Chambertin, Mes Cinq Terroirs, Domaine Denis Mortet £52.00
Beautiful nose and seriously well-balanced palate, this is a fabulous wine and while it is easy to see just how sensational it is now, it is a crime to open it before another five years. 18.5+/20
Gevrey-Chambertin, 1er Cru Lavaut St Jacques, Frédéric Magnien £50.00
Another smooth wine which turns super-dry on the palate after a second, this is off-putting and rather too aggressive. 17+?/20
Charmes-Chambertin, Grand Cru, Domaine Géantet-Pansiot £117.50
Beautiful nose and superb amplitude of flavour on the palate, this is a sensational wine with awesome potential and an epic feel throughout. 18.5+/20
Echezeaux, Grand Cru, Domaine Henri Naudin-Ferrand £117.50; Magnum £243.00
Very dry and rather restrained on the palate, this is a blunt wine with too much extraction and not enough flesh. Powerful and tough, but with little redeeming fruit, this is a difficult wine. 16.5++/20
