I've just had some more Cask 21C Malvasia Madeira, it is terribly good. Straight out of the fridge it really shows that it can be a refreshing drink thanks to all of that acidity. I like its slightly off, savoury character too. Oddly, there is some fruit as well. I admit it is candied, preserved fruit, but fruit nonetheless. This is Madeira at its coolest and I love it.

This is one of my favourite non-vintage Champagne; it is a bargain when purchased in France.

Champagne Brut NV, Alfred Gratien
The nose is really quite fruity, but some toasty oak is also very noticeable. The palate also has plenty of fruit, good acidity and a finish that leaves you picking oak splinters out of your throat. The oakiness is balanced with the fruit, though, so this is really quite a nice drink.

More evidence of the super-ripeness of 2003 grapes. This doesn't really make for a refreshing drink on a hot afternoon.

Riesling Kanzemer Altenberg Alte Reben 2003, van Volxem
A very dense nose of ripe fruit, it smells quite Muscatty so overt is it. There is a bit of citric fruit as well, but it could hardly be described as a fine, elegant nose. The palate is pretty dense and concentrated as well. It is really quite rich. It has a bit of acid, but not very much. There is a touch of minerality on the finish, but I think all of the fine Riesling and terroir flavours have been baked out of this. Ultimately this is a bit heavy and ponderous, lacking the exciting, vivacious characteristics one hopes for in Saar Riesling. Sadly, I don't really like it.

Firstly, an apology. I haven't opened much wine recently as I have been unwell. I am also nearly out of white wine in the flat and it has been a bit too hot recently for red wine.

Secondly, some good news. In a month's time there should be some entertaining entries as I am off to Burgundy for ten days. I will not be booking many tastings as I really fancy taking it easy by the pool, but since I will be staying with friends there should be plenty of gratuitously fine wines consumed. I am planning on popping my last bottle of Clos St. Hune 1990. Yummy yummy (or 'sloo' as we'd say at my primary school).

I do have a bottle of white wine planned for tonight.

A couple of bottles of Burgundy in a restaurant; one good, one not so good.

Macon-Clesse Cuvée Tradition E. J. Thévenet Domaine de la Bongran 1998, Jean Thévenet
The nose was really quite ripe, but it had definite hints of oxidation. The palate was surprisingly acidic for all its weight and fat. It was reasonably balanced and drinkable at the start, but during course of drinking it became really rather oxidised and ended up tasting more like Fino than Burgundy. Much too old, really, but I would have been interested to try it a few years ago.

Vosne-Romanée 1995, Domaine Rene Engel
The nose had plenty of ripe fruit, quite exotic and perfumed. It showed a pleasing degree of maturity on the nose, quite ready for drinking. The palate was soft and fruity, with good acidity and a present but soft tannic structure. This was a really good village wine, perfect with ris de veau.

The neighbour and I are having a deeply philosophical conversation. I cannot quite remember what it was about as I have just popped a bottle of hopefully lovely Volnay. Sloo...

Volnay Premier Cru les Chevrets 2001, Jean Boillot et Fils
A beautiful nose of ripe red fruit, it has a degree of rhubarb character to it. I quite like the minerality on the finish. The nose is that of a light-bodied, hopefully lovely wine. The palate is light, with plenty of bright, fresh fruit, but sadly the acidity is a bit high; quite rhubraby, in fact. It seems a bit spiky. A refreshing glass of red Burgundy, but ultimately lacking loveliness.

Considering this wine is 14.5% I surprise myself that I like it. Moss Wood used to make both a wooded and an unwooded Semillon. They recently decided that unwooded was best and now make only that.

Semillon 2001, Moss Wood
The nose suggests this is a good fighting wine. Lots of alcohol sweetness, ripe lemony fruit and rich lanolin flavours are there. There is also a strong note of green fruit; gooseberries and kiwi fruit. The palate is big and bold, but surprisingly balanced. Lots of green fruit, powerful acidity and rich, round lanolin flavours are there. This is balanced and quite fun, even though it is strong enough to render the neighbour and me in a state where we'll be fished out of the Thames and carried home.

The neighbour is after a drink tonight, this should do just fine.

Cornas Domaine de Rochepertuis 1997, Jean Lionnet
This has a nose of soft red fruit, with hints of chocolate and beetroot. It also smells warm and peppery. Perhaps there are hints of tiredness on the nose. Yes, it is a bit tired, the palate is a touch dry. However, it still has some nice red fruit, pepper and a reasonably sophisticated tannic structure (for Cornas, that is). It is perfectly drinkable, but perhaps would have been better a year or two ago. It'll function as an after-work drink with the neighbour with no complaints from me (and hopefully none from him).

I was just looking at my wine database, specifically the distribution of regions and the varietals of all my wines. This is the regions distribution:

Here are the varietals:

As you can see, I like red Burgundy. The only other Pinot Noir I own is a single bottle of Blanc de Noirs Champagne and a bottle of red Sancerre. It is a bit of a shame I don't have one-third of my collection being Pinot Noir, but I am happy that over a third of it is Burgundy. I am also pleased with the amount of Riesling I have; some good bottles of German and Alsace wine in that 21.2%. I've got quite a lot of Mourvèdre for such a rarely-seen variety. Good, I like Mourvèdre. The amount of Rhône wine has dropped quite a lot over the past few months, thanks to me selling off some sub-interest wines.

I enjoy having these little peeks into my collection. Shame most of the wines are so far away.

Vincent Dauvissat is widely considered to be one of the best producers of Chablis. He is one of the people who ferment their wines in old oak barrels. Perhaps I am being over-enthusiastic opening this wine at a mere two years old, but it is a sunny day and I fancy a glass of something refreshing.

Chablis Premier Cru le Forest 2004, Vincent Dauvissat
There is a noticeable vanilla-y oak character on the nose. It has a lot of ripe-lemon fruit and hints of creamy minerality. The palate is very linear, with good acidity and lemon fruit. Even though this is a very direct wine it has a degree of weight. The finish is very long, with lemon fruit and minerality persisting for a long time. Perhaps this is too young to drink, I imagine that it would gain a bit of fat given time in the cellar, but it does make a great drink on a sunny day.

I've only had one other 2004 Chablis and that seemed to be similar in that it was very linear with marked acidity. It strikes me that this is a more 'classic' vintage than, say, 2002 or 2000. If I were a good customer of Chablis I think these would be the kind of wines I would stick in the cellar until they were five or so years old.

Burgundy plus a couple of wines for summer.

Morey Saint Denis Premier Cru les Ruchots 1999, Domaine Arlaud: Lovely Morey. Read the note here. £26.95 from Stone, Vine and Sun.

Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese 2004, Dönnhoff: A brilliant 2004 German Riesling. Great acidity, lovely fruit and nice richness. It will age really well, but is quite lovely to drink now. £24.95 from Uncorked.

Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 2001, Domaine Fourrier: A concentrated and stylish village wine. It is a good 2001 that is pretty much up for drinking, but keeping it a few years won't do it any harm at all. £20.50 from Stone, Vine and Sun.

Morey Saint Denis Clos Solon 2002, Domaine Fourrier: This is quite a bargain for a beautiful little village wine. £18.95 from Stone, Vine and Sun.

Moscato d'Asti 2005, Vignaioli di San Stefano: There is a lot of Moscato about, but as this is Elitist Review I import the best from Italy each year for summer drinking. It is fruity, slightly sweet, fizzy and very refreshing. The 2005 has real depth of flavour. €10.80 from Spacewine.

Other sources can be found on Wine Searcher.

I've tried this wine before, but there is no harm in giving a fuller note. I've just decanted this to have with lasagna tonight.

Bandol Cuvée Spéciale la Migoua 2001, Domaine Tempier
This has a fairly heroic nose of alcohol (it is 15%), but there is a lot of fragrant fruit there. It is also quite meaty/leathery with a big earthy character to it. It smells really quite complex. The palate is big but balanced. The high alcohol and beefy tannins levels are balanced by plenty of really quite lovely fruit and a powerful meatiness. It is very long, with earthy complexity on the finish. This tastes really lovely for such a heroic wine. It just goes to show that even though lower alcohol wines may be best, there are some good beasts available. Excellent Bandol that will age well for ten years or more quite easily.

I feel I should add that after forty-five minutes in the decanter the nose of this wine was very developed. Great aromas of dark fruit, herbs, grilled meat and earth were just bursting from my glass. Yummy yummy.

Generally speaking, I think that good Bandol is not only better value than Châteauneuf du Papes but it is also qualitatively better. Good Bandol ages really well, becoming a soft, fragrant wine that excites the mind as well as the nose. I can think of few Châteauneuf estates that have the great hit-rates possessed by Bandol producers such as Tempier and Pibarnon. You can only very rarely go wrong with these producers.

It has been years since I last tried a wine from this producer. I wonder if he still makes barrique fermented Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris... Oh dear... I wasn't a fan of them. I always remember this wine being good, though.

Riesling Grand Cru Muenchberg 2002, Domaine Ostertag
It smells of fresh melon and freshly squeezed grapes. It has a good mineral tang to the nose. On the palate there is plenty of fruit, again it is quite melon-y with freshly squeezed table grape flavours. The mid-palate builds some weight which is perfectly balanced by the acidity. The overall impression is of quite a small-scale but certainly beautiful wine. I imagine it would age very well.

Etienne de Montille took over wine making duties at the Château for the 2002 vintage. There was an immediate rise in quality.

It is a bright and sunny day here in London and we are winning in the cricket. I couldn't ask for a nicer drink.

Meursault Premier Cru les Perrieres 2002, Château de Puligny-Montrachet
The nose shows a good honey and nuts character. It is really mineral. There is some oak there, but it is gently oaky and perfectly in balance with the fruit and nuttiness. The palate is lively with acidity and fruit, but very harmonious. The fruit is really lovely, as is the concentration. There is a great long finish to this of nuttiness, fruit and minerality. This is really quite lovely. A great drink for a summer's day. Excellent.

Another Pierre Gimonnet wine, opened to be drank with roast chicken. It is also a Blanc de Blanc from Cuis. 

Brut Premier Cru Cuis 'Gastronome' 2000, Pierre Gimonnet et fils
A bready, biscuit-y nose. It has some weight and a touch of mineral complexity. The palate also has a degree of weight, but the acidity makes it a touch severe. It certainly has length and quite reasonable complexity. Even though this hurts my stomach a bit, I really quite like it for bargain (€18 in France) Chardonnay-based fizz. It will go well with food. Oh let us be honest it is also pretty good by itself.