Last night as I dozed in bed I started thinking about one of my favourite producers: Jean Boxler. As well as being a charming fellow, he has made some of the best wines I've had from Alsace. Right through his range there are wines that both intellectually stimulate and titillate with visceral pleasure. They are not that pricey, either.

I first visited M. Boxler with a group of friends, he was an addition to our list of old favourites in the spirit of trying someone new. This was a terribly good move. We tried the 2000s and a few older wines. Experiencing the vivid, striking nature of those wines for the first time is a memory that will remain with me forever. We tried his basic wines with increasing excitement and then he explained about the different plots of Riesling on the Sommerberg Grand Cru he owned, each of which he vinified separately. The different wines from these plots were noticeably different, and a couple were mind-bendingly good. When these are bottled the only distinction on the label is a cryptic code number on top left-hand corner of the label. If memory serves the codes are: L31JV, L31, L31E, L31D and L31D2. The L31JV is a younger-vines cuvée and is a good buy. I seem to recall L31D2 was only made in the 2002 vintage. The L31E and L31D(2) wines are both made from old vines from different soil types and these are easily among the best wines made in Alsace at the moment. He also makes a Riesling from the Brand Grand Cru.

Even though he is clearly a master of Riesling, his other varietal wines are also delicious. They all have marvellous varietal character, but show a high degree of minerality and complexity. The Pinot Blanc 'B' (from the Brand Grand Cru) is probably the best Pinot Blanc I've ever tried. His Brand Pinot Gris has delicious fruit and a real creamy Alsace character. Normally heady Gewürztraminer is balanced and refined from him, but not short on style and class.

I've reported on a few Boxler wines here, jolly good they were too. Apart from that corked one (curses). If you'd like to try some of these wines I'd suggest visiting and then buying all he will sell you. Alternatively, UK readers can try here for drinking wines, and here for slightly more serious stuff. The 04 L31E will age really well. Overseas readers can search for Boxler on Wine Searcher.

PS. I must apologise for the lack on entries recently. I am violently ill and wine makes me blow bits. Quite depressing, really.

The third year we'll be buying some of this from Italy. The 2005 was very nice last year, how will the 2006 compare?

Moscato d'Asti 2006, Vignaioli di San Stefano
This seems quite a lot riper than the 2005, it seems rounder on the nose. A good rich palate with plenty of glycerol as well as a refreshing sparkle. Very nice fruit. Good length, too, but above all it is really charming. This is clearly a good vintage and we should go for it!

I was going to linger for lunch and try a few more wines. Unfortunately, I have something wrong with my stomach and I felt so violently ill I couldn't stay and try anything else.

I've been invited out for lunch, and we'll be having some interesting wines.

Champagne Blanc de Blancs Cuvée Centenaire, Alfred Gratien
A nose of ripe lemon fruit and some oak. It smells very much like white Burgundy or Grand Cru Chablis. It has a pleasing minerality to the nose. This smells great. The palate has a lot of lemon fruit and some real acidity, but there is a roundness to it which is really pleasing. This is a great bottle of NV fizz.

1996 seemed to produce high-acid wines all over Europe. I've had worries about a lot of my wines from that vintage. These two are certainly not short of tooth-fizzing action, but are really pretty good. The Nuits needed a lot of air before it blossomed.

Riesling Spätlese Brauneberger-Juffer Sonnenuhr 1996, Fritz Haag
A mature, petrolly nose, but it retains a citrus fruit zip and is incredibly mineral. On the nose it is very impressive and promises loveliness, plenty of style and complexity here. Hell's bells, that palate is acidic! There is some good fruit there, and reasonable weight and richness, but the initial impression of this is that it is concentrated lime juice acidity designed to make those with stomach ulcers howl with pain. I had a stomach ulcer fixed a few years ago so this doesn't bother me so much. I like the combination of ripe fruit, acidity and minerality very much. Even our guests (who are less completely obsessed about wine than me) were impressed with its slatey character. OK, this is for the brave, but it is certainly a goodie.

Nuits-St.-Georges Premier Cru Perrières 1996, Robert Chevillon
After leaving this to sit in a decanter for a while it shows a lovely, earthy nose of undergrowth and softy ripe fruit. It is certainly very complex and like a classic (high-quality) Nuits on the nose. The palate starts off being a tough, but with further swirling in the glass it seems a lot less butch. Not that I am denying this has a serious tannic structure, but it just seems in balance with the fruit and fine core of acidity. The acidity is definitely present, but not out of harmony. It has a lot of complexity; earth, minerals and fruit. It is pretty long, too. Certainly a good, interesting wine. I must remember that any 96 red Burgundy I open over the next few years need the aid of a decanter to blossom.

Normally an excellent wine, even if it is getting a bit pricey these days. This bottle would have been a lot nicer a few years ago.

Pouilly-Fuissé Vieilles Vignes 2001, Château-Fuissé
Quite a dark yellow colour; this makes me worried as soon as I see it. Yes, it is really rather oxidised on the nose. Oh dear. There is some weight and fatness to it, but it is basically pushing up the daisies. The palate is quite weighty, but is also totally shot. There is also a nasty, harsh acidity to it. Like an aged, corpulent harlot this repels with its sickening stench, yet it tries to tempt me to dip in just one more time, knowing that if I do the only result will be to feel violently ill.

I feel this month's recommendations are terribly reasonably priced for the quality they represent.

Champagne Blanc des Blancs Cuvée du Centenaire, Alfred Gratien: One of the best NV Blanc des Blancs I've had. Read the note here. I've just purchased three more bottles, at least one of which I'll keep for a few years. £29 from the Wine Society.

Chambolle-Musigny 1999, Domaine Fourrier: Pretty, charming and down-right enjoyable Chambolle that is ready to drink now. £19.95 from Four Walls Wine.

Chardonnay 2005, Moss Wood: A lovely Western-Australian Chardonnay that might be quite big, but it is neither short on charm nor hard-work to drink. Certainly amongst the best Australian Chardonnays. £19 from Jeroboams.

Bandol Château la Rouvière 2002, Domaines Bunan: OK, 2002 isn't quite as good of a vintage as the 1998 I had the other day, but this is a good drink that'll improve for five years. It is one of the most affordable 'serious' Bandols these days. £15.95 from Yapp.

Pinot Gris 2006, Tim Adams: A light, refreshing but characterful Pinot Gris made by the Clare Valley Master. Much better than that Italian Pinot Grigio filth. £10.49 from Noel Young Wines.

Well, the poll is now closed. I'd rather view the mere eighteen votes it generated as an indication of the difficulty of the question, rather than the minimal number of people who visit here; perhaps I am optimistic.

Of course, with so few votes no definite conclusions can be drawn from the results, but I am pleased Musigny got the most votes. La Tache is clearly a serious wine, though, and I don't hold it against anyone for voting for that Grand Cru. Quite a lot of votes for Morey-St.-Denis Grand Crus.

I got this from Horrids, of all places, and it only cost me twelve notes. This is Domaine Bunan's most serious wine. I recall it being slightly anonymous; it has improved greatly. I love Bandol, and when it is this good all of my trust in it is well-rewarded.

Château La Rouviére Bandol 1998, Domaines Bunan
This has a wonderful perfumed nose of medicine and herbs; it smells like thyme mixed with cherry-menthol flavour Tunes. In this sense it is really Bandol. However, it is extremely clean, which is distinctly atypical. It smells marvellous, most attractive. The palate has a serious tannic structure, solid meatiness, and great cough-mixture fruit, but again is really clean. It still has serious complexity, though. With impressive length too. Hell's bells, one of my ageing experiments worked! Yummy, this is a real treat of a wine. Ready to drink, but will keep.

We have a few wines planned for tonight, the first of which has been a pleasing surprise.

Riesling Spätlese Serringer Schloss Saarstein 2005, Schloss Saarstein
Unlike previous bottles of this that I have opened, this smells quite clean and has a more pronounced mineral character. It has good peachy fruit. It is obviously pretty ripe. There is a bit of spritz on the palate, along with really nice fruit, good minerality and a nice backbone of acidity. It has a degree of complexity and reasonable length. Not great by any means, but quite a nice drink.

Riesling Polish Hill 2004, Grosset
This has shut down a tad since I last had it a year ago; it has lost a bit of the lively lime character. It is still quite mineral, and it has a lot of style. Just seems awkward and middle-aged (I am middle-aged and I am awkward). I still think this has a good future in front of it and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Just age it for a bit before you drink it.

Gigondas Prestige des Hautes Garrigues 1998, Domaine Santa Duc
Robert Parker gave this 93 points and said it'd age until 2018. He is very well paid and drinks a lot of wine, of course. This honks of an extremely booze-tastic, Port-like drink; some kind of crazy fortified Mourvedre. There is really rather a lot of jammy fruit on the nose as well. It seems far from balanced. It also seems a touch mature. Ageing this has done the palate no favours, the jammy fruit is not powerful enough to balance the frankly worrying level of alcohol. No balance, rather dirty and far too muscular. If this wine knew where your stolen bottle of Musigny 2005 was and was alone in a room, blind-folded, with its hands tied behind its back and you went in with a cricket bat, you'd be the one walking out in a daze. Can that ever be nice?

When I purchased this in 2004 a noted American wine-critic described this and other wines from the producer as being better than Côte-de-Beaune Grand Crus. You just had to try them to know that was a laughable assertion, but they were really nice for the sub-twenty notes price. I put this and an old-vines cuvée wine in one of my cellars and on yesterday's visit to it I decided five years was probably quite enough ageing for a Pouilly-Fuissé; I was right.

Pouilly-Fuissé 'La Roche' 2002, Daniel Barraud
The nose is really quite big, fat and bold, with nutty hints of oxidation, ripe lemon fruit and a degree of minerality. It smells nice enough, but just a bit over-mature. It does smell like type (if mature) Pouilly-Fuissé. It tastes rather fat and nutty, again with hints of oxidation. The fruit is nice, as is the soft texture and the mineral-hints are good to taste. However, ageing for five years hasn't really done this any favours. On release this was a charming, if not terribly complex, wine of some style and verve. Now it just seems a bit tired and all the favours are somewhat disjointed. It hasn't gained anything from ageing, only lost its harmony and freshness. There is not the 'tits out for the boys'-quality it had when younger. It is a perfectly reasonable drink, and I will remain a customer of Barraud's wines after trying it, I just won't bother ageing them in future.

Today marks six years since my partner moved to England. I wanted to open something good, but I fear I have fallen slightly below par.

Champagne Brut Chardonnay 1998, Pol Roger
This has a very pure nose of lemon fruit with a hint of minerality. That, sadly, is pretty much it; it really lacks complexity. The palate also has good lemon fruit, some minerality and a hint of weight, but is really quite linear and direct. The acid is too fierce and there is not enough of anything else to balance it out. The mousse is also not as fine as one might hope for from a Pol Roger wine. It is a refreshing drink, with enough fruit and minerality to help one plough through the bottle, but it is sadly not up to the Pol standard. At least it is better than the straight vintage 1998, but I think the Gratien NV Blanc des Blancs I had recently is considerably better than this. It was a lot cheaper, too.

I've just opened another bottle of Domaine St. Pierre Cornas 1995 from Jaboulet. My last note on it seems pretty accurate to me, so I won't bother boring you by repeating more of the same. A couple of things are worth saying about this, though.

Firstly, this is a really svelte, silky and sexy Cornas. Lovely smooth fruit and a really charming tannic structure at a developmental stage that is certainly up for enjoying now. This is a truly lovely Cornas and should be enjoyed by all.

Secondly, it is really easy to enjoy this as it is a complete bargain from the Wine Society. At a shade under twenty notes a bottle I find it hard to think of a more pleasing and ready-to-drink wine that one can get quite so easily.

Oh the excitement of a new toy, I'm going to try and put a poll on this page. I want to know what your favourite red Burgundy Grand Cru is. There is an option for if you cannot decide. I'll leave the poll running for two weeks (until 29 March 2007) and then post the results. If you want to put a reason why you chose a particular vineyard, please feel free to leave a comment. Oh I hope this works.

After the severe disappointment of the Van Volxem I am pleased have a wine that is really terribly good. Quite reasonably priced at eighteen notes a bottle from the wine soc. This is the kind of thing we like!

Riesling Spätlese Graacher Domprobst 2005, Willi Shaeffer
A wonderful, rich nose of luxuriously ripe fruit; peach, grapefruit and even mango. This smells like a very ripe spätlese. Even though this is very fruity it is not short on mineral complexity. This a really charming, harmonious nose. The palate is really beautiful, very ripe, but beautiful. There is a lot of peachy fruit, a great mineral character and really fine acidity. It is extremely well balanced and very long. This has the harmony and balance to age for a very long time. This is a top bunny wine. The only fly in the ointment as far as me enjoying this so very much now is that it means I only have one bottle left. Curses!