Beautiful Burgundy and burly Bandol

Sometimes nothing else will do other than a bottle of Burgundy. Of course, this may remind you of how much you love Burgundy and so a follow-up bottle is required. Last night we found ourselves in this happy position and two rather fine bottles were consumed.

We couldn’t stop there. I have been in search of a new, age-worthy Bandol and Leon Stolarski had supplied me with some Château Pradeaux 2001. This seemed like rather traditional, if more than a shade heroic, Bandol which will certainly merit many more years in the cellar. I will not touch my remaining bottles for at least five years.

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Morey-Saint-Denis 2004, Domaine Dujac

I’m pleased to report there is not a shade of greenness about this rather scrummy nose of bright, fresh red fruit which has a svelte, polished character to it. I’m also finding floral hints to the nose and there is a rich minerality present as well. This is complex stuff which seems to be quite accessible and up for enjoying as far as sniffing it goes. The palate is really delivering on the pleasure front. It is charged with delicious fruit, has really silky tannins and a totally harmonious backbone of acidity. There is plenty of vivacious energy to this palate, it is suffused with life which makes me this it has a long life ahead of it in cellars of decent quality. Yeah, this is a real pleasure to drink – I bloody love red Burgundy.

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Clos Des Lambrays Grand Cru 2007, Domaine Des Lambrays

Oh yeah, grown-up Burgundy! There is really sophisticated beauty to this nose, it is throbbing with dimension and lacks nothing in terms of allure. There is all the depth of profundity you’d hope for in a Grand Cru wine, but it is totally appealing and sensuous – 2007 Burgundies can do that ‘charm’-thing terribly well. I could ask for little more on this nose, I’m smitten. It tastes ravishing. Powerfully fruity, with an intricate structure of fine tannins and fresh acidity. Drinking a wine of this stunning quality is an event in itself and as the four of us revel in its magnificence our grins just keep on getting wider. Serious, and seriously enchanting, wine. Many thanks for opening these two, Dan and Jeff.

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Bandol 2001, Château Pradeaux

After the pulsing brilliance of the Lambrays it would be somewhat unfair to make any small-scale wine follow it, but as I feel the boozy fumes emanating from this glass warm my nose I can tell this is no shrinking violet. It is a monster. The alcohol level is positively Herculean, but it is allied to a wonderful array of blackberry and black cherry fruit aromas. Plenty of earthiness here, but not any dirtiness in the Bretty sense one can all too often encounter in Bandol. It may be a beast but I’m quite taken with its nose. Wow, now this palate is a huge construction of massive tannins and intense fruitiness – it is a bold, battling bruiser. You’d have to be distinctly over enthusiastic to describe this as a beauty, but it is perfectly capable of pummelling any drinker into an impressed stupor. Yet, I do feel it has the harmony and quite definitely the structure to last and improve. This was a good buy, a Bandol producer I’ll keep my eyes open for in the future.

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