Last night I had another bottle of Riesling Grand Cru Rangen 2003 from Zind-Humbrecht. It was bloody awful. So hot and confected it tasted more like child's sweets than a bottle of fine wine. I hated it with a passion. So much so that the bottle still sits in the fridge with only two glasses gone from it; it'll go down the sink shortly.

Rather a nice magnum drank with our lovely neighbours.

Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru les Folatieres 2002, Gerard Chavy et fils en magnum
This has a pretty nose of melon, lemon and creamy minerality. This smells like it has seen very little new oak and it is all the better for that. It has a very light-bodied palate with plenty of fruit and minerality and a good back-bone of acidity. This is really quite a pretty bottle of white Burgundy, we all enjoyed it very much.

This afternoon's general drinking was in the company of a lovely professional couple who kindly hosted us; they are really excellent cooks - roast chicken is a truly under-rated dish especially when cooked Jamie Oliver style with lots of butter under the breast. My friends are wonderful people. We drank quite well, too.

Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru NV
This was a really good, elegant, refined Champagne. Quite refreshing and focused. I thought this was one of the best NV Champagnes I've had in a while.

Meursault Premier Cru Charmes 2000, Morey-Blanc
This was quite oaky, but it had nice fruit and a degree of mineral complexity. I liked it's length and thought it was quite well balanced.

Château Lynch Barges 2001
This was really tits out for the lads. Very buxom and up-front. Not much as far as complexity goes, but it was a good drink.

Domaine de Trevallon 1992
This was really quite Clarety. It was up for drinking and a lot of fun, both hedonistically and intellectually.

Nuits St. Georges Premier Cru Clos de la Forest 1999, Domaine l'Arlot
This was surprisingly forward, not at all quaquaversal. It was quite complex, and pleasingly soft and charming. I really enjoyed it.

Grand Puy Lacoste 1994
I was surprised this was a 1994 as it seemed really quite ripe and giving. It still had a pleasing degree of rigour, but it was not too tough.

Charmes-Chambertin 2002, Domaine Arlaud
This was really silky with svelte fruit and real harmony. It had a brilliant, complex finish of fruit and minerality. Really lovely.

This is the second year we've imported some of this via an Italian wine merchant. It is a great summery drink.

Moscato d'Asti 2005, Vignaioli di San Stefano
The nose is really floral and fruity. Yummy yummy, this smells delicious. There is a nice refreshing fizz, good acidity and lots of tasty fruit. The sweetness is perfectly balanced. There is some real depth of character with this 2005 vintage. This is really good Moscato, fizzy, fruity and fun.

I'm currently drinking a bottle of Bandol La Tourtine 2001 from Domaine Tempier, even though it is 15% I really like it. Tempier has long been my favourite producer of Bandol. La Tourtine was always my favourite of the two Tempier vineyards. Oddly I feel vaguely guilty that I now prefer La Miguoa; it is my more aromatic, elegant and refined. I feel even more guilty to admit that I now think Chateau Pibarnon is better than Tempier. I've had a lot of quite old vintages of Pibarnon in recent years and they have been completely lovely. Pibarnon is the cat's breakfast as far as Bandol goes.

On a related note, I have to say once again that I consider Bandol not only better value than Chateauneuf du Papes but they are usually better wines. There is a lot of good Bandol out there and most are reasonably priced.

I have no idea what grapes this wine is made from, if indeed it is made from grapes. The partner has been given a six pack, what will we do with them all I wonder.

Natural Sweet 2002, Buitenverwachting
It is quite orange. The nose has a lot of botrytis, acetone and vinegar smells. It also smells quite filthy. This is not a good start. The palate has a lot of sugar, a bit of acidity, but also some really dirty, off flavours. It tastes quite oxidised. It is utterly grim. Why do people people make such evil filth? No way, I am sure there is tastier diabetic piss than this wine.

I've popped my last bottle of Verset Cornas 1996. Just as with the bottle reviewed earlier this has painfully high acid levels, it is seriously unbalanced and not very nice. The levels of Brett are really distracting, too. No thanks.

I was only planning to go to three or four tastings when in Burgundy in July. I have contacted Domaine Arlaud, Domaine Roulot and Domaine Roumier to make bookings already. Then I got a call from the friendly winemaker who will be acting as one of our hosts saying that she wanted to join us on our tastings and suggested a few places she'd like to visit. Going to a tasting with a charming, beautiful winemaker (especially one who speaks French) will be great. More larks for me!

She has suggested we go to Vincent Dancer (a relatively new producer with a reputation for making refined wines), Anne Gros (a brilliant producer of Richebourg who also looks incredibly foxy in the picture on her website), Rousseau (hooray!) and Comte Armand. I've wanted to visit Comte Armand for a while; their winemaker, Benjamin Leroux, seems to have a gift of landing on his feet in every vintage. When in 2001 most of Pommard was hit with hail Leroux managed to produce a great Clos des Epeneaux that I am proud to own two magnums of as well as some bottles. I know of at least one winemaker in the Côte de Nuits who is a bit sniffy about Pommard, he claims they are not as lovely as Burgundy should be. I have to disagree when I have had such good wines from people like Armand and de Courcel. Even in bonkers 2003 the de Courcel wines were quite brilliant.

Since I'll be staying in the Domaine Dujac guest accommodation for most of the time I look forward to a tasting there. I consider them to be the best producer in Morey St Denis. Long time readers may have thought my favourite Morey producer was Domaine des Lambrays and it is true that I have a soft spot for their wines, but Dujac is really the way forward. Anyone who has tried their Clos de la Roche 1991, Clos St Denis 1995 or Bonnes-Mares 2001 must agree they are a top producer. I still might try and score a bottle or two of Clos des Lambrays 2004, though, they are good wines.

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.