Burgundy Part 2 - Maison Ilan

It is now Sunday evening in Burgundy and I have managed just one previous post on this trip - which only goes to show what a busy time it has been. Yesterday was a case in point, where two planned grower visits turned into four, resulting in an eleven hour day and a late dinner. Today has been more relaxing, with a long lunch on the sun-drenched terrace of the delightful restaurant St. Martin in Chapaize, followed by a mini tour of the highways and byways of southern Burgundy (detailed commentary provided by Monsieur Bennett). Tonight, we will enjoy a supper of cold meats, cheeses, salad and a few more bottles of wine, then it's an early start tomorrow morning, for the journey back to Nottingham.

I'll have plenty to write about over the next few days. Meanwhile, here are a few thoughts on a visit to taste the wines of Maison Ilan in Nuits Saint Georges.

I first heard of Ray Walker around 2 years ago, when he posted on the wine-pages forum about his desire to go and make wine in Burgundy. Apart from the fact that he is from California, I knew very little else about Ray. For some reason, I assumed that he was retired from the Rat Race and just fancied trying his hand at making wine in his dotage. In fact, he has just turned 30, with a background in real estate and finance - and didn't even have an interest in wine at all until around 5 years ago! Rather than repeat the story, I'll just refer you the the Maison Ilan website. There's a good blog, too (linked from the main website). For now, here are my notes from a rather special tasting of Ray's wines.

Morey Saint Denis 1er Cru Monts Luisants 2010

Bright, super fresh, ripe red fruits, redcurrant and an interesting lemony quality (probably due to the malic acid). Very nice.

Morey Saint Denis 1er Cru Les Chaffots 2010

Savoury, herby, meaty aromas, with lots of redcurrant and raspberry. Again, plenty of malic acid, which only serves to give it even more lift. Delicate and expressive.

Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Corbeaux 2010
Prickly, light, full of cherry fruit. Nice!

Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru Aux Charmes 2010
Sweet raspberry fruit aromas and flavours. Very substantial, hugely enjoyable, with great promise.

Le Chambertin Grand Cru 2010
This is big, concentrated and crammed full of fruit. Incredibly elegant, long and utterly delicious.

Ray Walker and his 90 year-old grape press - a bargain at 400 Euros!

Then we were treated to 3 wines from the 2009 vintage, from bottle.............

Morey Saint Denis 1er Cru Les Chaffots 2009

Aromas of mocha, meat and hugely concentrated fruit, with an enticing vanilla/custard note. The palate is silky, with very fine tannins, juicy cranberry and redcurrant fruit and all manner of exotic spices. A fabulous wine.

Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru Aux Charmes 2009

There's a hint of fine Calvados, and again a strong whiff of mocha, but the fruit just sings. Wonderful Pinot Noir character, with immensely concentrated sweet, savoury fruit and breath-taking complexity. Opulent, but so completely elegant, with a finish that just goes on forever. For me, this was a truly profound wine.

Le Chambertin Grand Cru 2009

I didn't really manage to write anything coherent about this wine, although I do remember it was a bigger wine than the Charmes - richer and even more concentrated. But quite frankly almost as good. Frankly, to have the opportunity to taste two such profound wines, one after the other, was a very rare treat indeed. Stunning wine(s).

Always allowing for the fact that Ray Walker has yet to actually bottle his first vintage (he gave up on the first attempt at bottling the 2009's after 20-odd bottles, as the corks hadn't been paraffin-treated, so weren't going in properly) it really isn't too hard to imagine him becoming a very big star in Burgundy, in a very short space of time. Of course, there's many a slip between cup and lip, but this is a man who clearly knows what he wants, and is willing to put in as much work as is needed to get it. He's clearly had some great luck, not just in obtaining financial backing for Maison Ilan, but also in being able - in his first year of making wine - to source grapes from some of the finest vineyards on the Cote d'Or. But they say you make your own luck, and Ray is clearly a very driven man. The fact that he appears genuinely modest about what he has achieved in such a short space of time just makes you want even more for him to succeed.

That's it for now, but here are a couple of nice photos from our trip (and there's plenty more whey they came from)..............

This magnificent animal pulls the plough in the vineyards of the biodynamic 
Domaine Romanée Conti
           

A few wines tasted recently

Over the last three weeks I seem to have gone from intensive holiday blogging to taking a complete holiday from blogging! To be honest, although I have been busy doing lots of other things, I've also been a bit lazy. When the sun is shining and the weather is hot (and we've at least had a decent amount of that, so far this summer) it can sometimes be a bit of an effort to make yourself do something that you know you really should do, but don't actually have to do. I've spent far too much time enjoying Le Tour de France, The Open Golf Championship and various other sporting extravaganzas - lazy, I know, but we all need to chill out occasionally. We have also been tasting through quite a few sample wines (of which more, in a future post) and enjoying the delights of our new gas barbecue - possibly the bargain of the year at £100, from wilkinsononline. It's brilliant - here's a photo of my new pride and joy......

Nevertheless, the longer I go without blogging, the more I feel I'm letting the side down - after all, I have millions (well, tens, at least!) of followers, hanging onto my every word! So I'd better get the ball rolling again. I'll start with a few thoughts on some nice wines tasted over the last couple of weeks at Nottingham Wine Circle....

Michel Lynch Reserve 2006 Graves

Glory be - a white Bordeaux that really hits the spot! Actually, I seem to have a better success rate with the whites from this region than the reds, 90% of which leave me wondering how on earth they gained the reputation they have (and I'm talking classed growths, as well as the lesser wines). Anyway, this had lovely aromas of licourice and fennel, cloves and woodsmoke, with lemony, minerally fruit and classy oak - a really complete nose.The palate was just as good - spicy, herby, rich and warming, with a core of citrus fruit, subtle oak and a backbone of minerally acidity. Lovely stuff, which makes me think I should explore white Bordeaux a little more.

Domaine du Closel "La Jalousie" 2000 Savennieres

Wet stone/slate, wool and herbs - a classic Chenin Blanc nose. Gently oxidative on the palate, with not a lot in the way of fruit flavours, but lots of complex mineral and secondary notes - stoney, cheesy, even sweaty. If you've never tasted lean, austere, steely Savennieres before, it probably sounds awful, but it isn't - it is wine for contemplation (and food). Austere, but classy.

Schug Chardonnay 2005 Carneros, California

Oaky, in a typically Californian style, but not big. Classy Chardonnay fruit and evident (but not clumsy) oak and deep, mineral flavours, like a weighty Meursault. Not exactly subtle, or even particularly complex, but an impressive, enjoyable wine.

Domaine Bachelot Vieille Vignes 1996 Gevrey-Chambertin

Boy, this was a stunner - rich and fruity, with a seductive lick of oak vanillin. The palate was amazingly bright, fruity, full of vitality and with a huge backbone of intense, mouth-watering acidity and intense fruit flavours, laced with cloves and flowers. Amazingly elegant and right at the peak of its drinking window (though it will hold for a good few years, I guess). A brilliant and beguiling wine, which probably wouldn't convert lovers of new world Pinot, but is a Burgundy lover's delight. Village Burg doesn't get much better!

Noel Verset 1996 Cornas

Oh my goodness, what a lovely wine! Aromas of lilies, bacon, herbs and spring flowers, with a waft of slate/schist minerality. The palate is savoury, but oh-so fruity, in a slightly rustic, tangy sort of way. Which is just how a great Cornas should be - at ease with its imperfections and effortlessly seductive. It has stunning acidity, with lovely, complex flavours of apple, bramble, cassis and spices, with just the right level of tannin to keep it all together. A gorgeous wine and a great match (and indeed the equal) of the Bachelot Gevrey.

Dr Hermann "H" Riesling 2009 QBA

This is the first Mosel Riesling from the 2009 vintage I have tasted and - for a humble QBA (in theory, the most basic level in the German wine hierarchy) it was brilliant, and easily a match for many a Kabinett and Auslese I have tasted. It is aromatic, slatey, orangey and even winey (in a primary, grapey sort of way). The palate is packed full of bright, minerally, lemon and apricot-tinged fruit, with fantastic acidity. It alsmost seems a shame to drink this at such a young age, because it will certainly improve and evolve with a few years in bottle, but it is just so lovely now. Young Riesling at its best.

Clemancey Freres 1984 Fixin-Les-Hervelots

26 years of age and still going strong - well, sorf of! It had a pungent, almost gassy (if you get my drift) sort of stink, when first poured, along with forest floor, old wood and decaying fruit. in other words, when the gassy notes "blew off"(!) it was a classic old Burgundy, and really quite alluring. Peppery, spicy, almost Syrah-like fruit, yet very light and even austere, with minerality and acidity to spare. Elegant, in a grand old dame sort of way.

Clos des Papes 1996 Chateauneuf du Pape

My note was rather brief, but you'll get the picture. Bretty and funky, but full of fruit. Fresh - even light - but hugely elegant, in the typically "Burgundian" Clos des Papes style, with lovely acidity (a rare treat in Chateauneuf), good balance and good length. Lovely to drink now, but will certainly keep a while. Does Clos des Papes ever make a bad wine? If they do, I've yet to taste one. Shame their prices are now heading for the 50 quid-a-bottle mark.

Over the next few posts, I'll tell you all about a couple more visits I made whilst on holiday in France, plus a trip to London, where I was on the judging panel of the Beziers White Wine Competition(!)