The generic Bandol from Tempier, they really have cleaned up their act (and their wines) in recent years.

Bandol 2005, Domaine Tempier
A clean nose of prune-y fruit and grilled meat, it is pleasing but a bit simple. The fruit is quite ripe, but not as crazy as the 2001's I've reported on in the past. It seems balanced and refined, if not terribly interesting. The palate has plenty of ripe fruit, quite a lot of tannin, and that is it. I am pleased this is not as Bretty as older vintages of this wine have been, but I have to say I just find this a bit one-dimensional. The older wines may have occasionally stank too much of arseholes,  but at least they had character. Clean, ripe and fruity, but just a tad dull.

I tried this at the London Wine and Spirit's Trade Fair last year, I was impressed. I am pleased the partner has purchased a few bottles. Bit pricy, mind.

2003 by Bollinger
This smells extremely fruity and very vinous, far more like wine than most Champagnes. It is dense, full-bodied and meaty, with plenty of Bollinger cold cocoa. It is quite oaky, too, but by no means excessively so. It has a very full-bodied palate, but with fine acidity and plenty of fruit. Again the palate is very wine-y. It is quite delicious, in a big, fruity, oaky way, but it still has a really fine mousse and exceptional balance. This is a really fine Champagne, amazing that Bollinger could make something so good in 2003. Not for ageing, though, drink now with a degree of confusion, as this is so characterful, but a lot of pleasure.

I've got to add to this note. This wine is bonkers, really characterful and full of flavour, style and extract, but it is damned good. I don't feel ashamed of saying this wine is wanton in its exuberance, yet has real beauty. The mousse is properly fine and the acidity is so present it hurts my fragile stomach. But, I have to emphasise, this wine is crazy, really tits out for not only the boys but the girls who like that kind of thing, too. Not for ageing, by any means, but the extreme pleasure I am getting from this wine demonstrates its ultimate fine-ness. This is far more characterful than even the 1996, and is probably as good if you drink it now. I really love it, crazy for sure, but completely wonderful. Well done Daniel for buying three bottles of this.

This wine came in distinctly silly packaging, but after the successes of some recent 1996 fizz I thought it would be a suitably grand and celebratory wine to pop at midnight. All I can say is it is not worth the sponds.

Champagne Grande Cuvee 1996, Billecart-Salmon
Ripe apples, cold cocoa and hints of coffee on the nose, this smells indistinguishable from their Cuvee Nicholas-Francois 1996. Still, it is quite complex and seems relatively open. The palate has frightening amounts of acidity, but loads of apple fruit. There is real complexity here, but no more so than the Cuvee N-F. This is certainly a very nice, complex and stylish  drink, but just not worth over double the price of the Cuvee N-F. I have to say I feel let down by this wine, but sadly it is just too good to rate as 'sub-interest', no matter how inflated an amount I paid for it.

Just a quick post to say many thanks to the 6516 unique visitors I have had to this site last year (not including non-viewed traffic), This is up from 3678 unique visitors in 2006. These 6516 visitors have made 18207 visits to my site and I have served up 74279 pages last year. I am touched that so many people have dropped by this spume of drivel and many of you keep coming back repeatedly. That being said, only 56 people have clicked on my advertising links; since they only pay out when one has earned $100, Google are yet to pay me anything. I may be an underground hit, but not with people who need wine tours, want to buy cheap wine, think they are drinking too much, or whatever Google chooses to advertise next.

Many thanks for stomaching my bonkers-ness and visiting so often. Happy New Year, one and all!

Jaboulet went through a bad patch in the late 90s, 2003 supposedly marks their return to form. This is better than previous vintages for a few years, but it is still obviously a crazy vintage.

Crozes-Hermitage "Domaine de Thalabert" 2003, Paul Jaboulet-Aine
Very dark, almost black. A rich, heady nose of porty fruit. It still has a typical cheap cologne character, which is pleasing. This does smell a bit heroic, though. The palate is very ripe, with a good tannic structure and some acidity. There is a bit of alcohol burn on the finish which tastes quite sweet thanks to this and the very ripe fruit. It is obviously Crozes, though, it has the slightly rustic tannins and chewy fruit. This is really quite good, if a touch whacked-out and crazy. I'd be interested to try the Hermitage La Chapelle 2003 after trying this, but I am told the prices are simply crazy.

This month I have buying recommendations for you, a few of which I've opened in the last few days.

Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg Vendange Tardive Trie Speciale 2004, Domaine Weinbach: Utterly brilliant late harvest Riesling. Read the note here. £60 from the Wine Society.

Nuits Saint Georges Premier Cru les Saint Georges 1995, Gouges: Serious Nuits that is approaching drinkability. A very keen price for something of this age. £46.50 from Hand Picked Burgundy.

Pinot Noir Mills Vineyard 1996, Calera: Proper Pinot from California, well up for drinking now. Read the note here. £42 from Hand Picked Burgundy.

Riesling "Polish Hill" 2006, Grosset: Bargain dry Riesling from Australia. Read the note here. £14.50 from the Wine Society.

Tandem Syrah 2005, Alain Graillot: Very reasonably priced Syrah, but perhaps not the most complex wine in the world. Read the note here. Well worth the £7.95 from the Wine Society.

A few good things yesterday. I am afraid I got rather drunk so notes will be brief. The Clos St. Hune was most disappointing.

Grande Annee 1996, Bollinger
Perfectly balanced on the edge of maturity and freshness. Really good fruit and acidity with a fine mousse. This was excellent and in top condition. Even though this had mature tones I am in no rush to drink my last bottle. Aged Grande Annee is so much better than Bollinger RD.

Riesling Smaragd Achleiten 2004, Prager
Excellent ripe Riesling nose with lots of minerality. It didn't have the white pepper character that most Austrian wines seem to have. The palate was very complex with great fruit and minerality. Very long, too. This was a really good bottle of wine.

Riesling Clos Saint Hune 1997, Trimbach
Oddly mature, petrolly nose, I was surprised this smelled so forward. The palate was bloody awful, weird fruit, poorly integrated acidity and surprisingly little length. It was very concentrated, but didn't taste nice at all. Most disappointing. I have no idea what went wrong with this bottle.

Pinot Noir Mills Vineyard 1996, Calera
Really up for drinking, this had a beautiful nose of ripe, smooth fruit and earthy tones. The palate was really silky and smooth, with great fruit and a really complex finish. Really good harmony and great style. An excellent bottle of Californian Pinot Noir, I bloody loved it.

Volnay Premier Cru Clos de Chateau des Ducs 2000, Lafarge
An utterly beguiling nose of pure fruit and minerality. This smelled simply superb. The palate was similarly beautiful, light and refined but not lacking any concentration. The acidity was perfectly balanced and it was showing really well. This was a top bottle of Volnay that I deeply loved.

Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru les Brulees 2001, Domaine Rene Engel
Ah, an old favourite. Wonderful Vosne fruit and real complexity. Very stylish with great persistence of flavour and great harmony. Top premier cru Vosne.

This is one of Australia's best wines, it is also a complete bargain at roughly fifteen sheets a bottle. Opened to have with oysters: Colchester No. 2's are the way forward.

Riesling "Polish Hill" 2006, Grosset
A lovely, fresh nose of squeezed limes and stoniness. This smells very lively and reasonably complex. It is not too alcoholic or over-ripe, which is very pleasing. The palate is very dry, but has weight from the fruit and style from the minerality. This is direct and fizzing with acidity, but fruity enough to carry it off with class. This is complex and stylish enough to go beyond almost being a fine wine to actually being fine. It'll age really well too, but I think it'll shut down in a year until it is about seven or eight. A fine dry Riesling by anyone's standards.

Tomorrow we drink a hilariously fine dry Riesling, Clos St. Hune 1997. I await its pleasures with considerable interest and only a slight amount of drooling.

We paid a visit to Oxford yesterday where we ate a truly marvelous chicken. Was nice to see the family. We drank well, too.

Morey-Saint-Denis Premier Cru les Ruchots 2004, Domaine Arlaud
Lovely rich, ripe fruit on the nose. Real complexity here, and very stylish. The palate was silky and smooth with great persistence of flavour. The acidity was perfectly balanced. This was a really stylish wine, and I greatly enjoyed it. Arlaud is one of the bargains of Burgundy, and damned good too.

Morey-Saint-Denis 2004, Domaine Dujac
Bright, ripe fruit on the nose. Very Morey, very stylish too. The palate was palate was perfectly ripe, with good acidity. This was very enjoyable, and drinking far better than Jeremy Seysses (the winemaker) said it would be when he rang as we opened it. Quite delicious, top villages wine.

Chablis Grand Cru les Clos 2005, Domaine Fevre
An incredibly nutty nose, smelt of hazelnuts with fresh lemon zest on them. It was very mineral too. The palate had real density, but was kept light and refined by great balancing acidity. This was a truly fine bottle of Chablis.

Meursault Premier Cru Boucheres 2000, Domaine Roulot
An utterly beautiful nose of stone, flowers and ripe lemon fruit. This was incredibly complex and really stylish. The palate was the epitome of balance and refinement, with lots of fruit, great minerality, lovely acidity and real complexity. It was incredibly long. Another wonderful bottle from Roulot, the man is a genius.

The final wine for christmas day. This one is a magnum.

Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru les Gruenchers "Vieille Vigne" 2002, Domaine Fourrier en magnum
A bright nose of fresh, ripe fruit. This smells very concentrated and very Chambolle. It has good minerality and a reasonable degree of complexity. The palate is very ripe, but has very high levels of acidity; this is a bit prickly. The fruit is nice, though, and there is a good earthy tang on the finish, which is adequately long. This just seems a bit out of balance to be a really good bottle of Burgundy, but it is certainly drinkable and quite refreshing.

Obviously nowhere near as good as the last one, but things that good cannot be drank all of the time.

Riesling Spatlese Graacher Domprobst 2006, Willi Schaefer
A lovely, zesty nose of lime, grapefruit and slate. This smells bursting with life and vivacity. The palate fizzes with acidity and bursts with life. It is quite ripe and very complex. This is a really serious wine, but it slips down a treat, too. I am really enjoying it, it will go very well with the gnocchi I am cooking in mushroom sauce.

... But, bollocks, I am going to try. This really is the cat's arse, opened to have with pan-fried foie gras

Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg Vendanges Tardives "Trie Speciale" 2004, Domaine Weinbach
Hell's bells, this has one of the most dense, livid and expressive noses I have ever encountered. I mean, man, it is mind-bendingly good. It has candied citrus fruit, incredible amounts of minerality and simply oozes high class action from every pore. This is the nun's nethers. The complexity and style are mind blowing, but the balance is simply beautiful. The palate? A delight! It is not terribly sweet, but it has mind-buggering quantities of acidity, minerality, extract, flavour and class. It has real density and yet dances across my palate like some schoolboy with an over fondness for flowery shirts. This is quite the most incredible Alsace sweetie I have had in years. I utterly love it, it is a hoopy roller-coaster ride of hallucinogenic drugs as far as mind-altering experiences go. I got the partner a bottle of this for christmas, didn't I do well? Drink now with extraordinary pleasure or age for seven to thirty years.

Many people have raved about the Bret Brothers, and only a slightly smaller number have then gone on to make a joke about their name. This many have lighter-fluid characteristics but it is proper Burgundy.

Pouilly-Vinzelles Climat "les Quarts" 2003, Bret Brothers
By all that is evil this has an alcoholic burn to the nose. That being said, there is plenty of stoniness, lots of white fruit and the slightly baby-vomit character of real white Burgundy. Distracting as the alcohol is, this is quite a pleasing nose, it smells a bit like Chablis Grand Crus. The palate also has an alcohol burn, but a lot of acidity, fruit and minerality. This is surprisingly complex, with some real length. Ultimately, I don't think this quite has the balance for ageing, but it is still a very enjoyable drink now.

Steak mirabeau for dinner tonight, and with it something accessible and fruity.

Saint-Joseph "Les Royes" 2004, Domaine Courbis
A charming nose of fresh red fruit with a grind of pepper. It smells pretty simple but reasonably typical. The fruit is very nice but there really isn't that much else there. The palate has hint of Syrah spiciness, but largely it displays a lot of juicy fruit. There is some length to it, which is good. The flavours are quite simple, though. However, that is what you expect from Saint-Joseph, so I cannot really complain. It is perfectly adequate, but I feel I am going to get a bit bored with this after a couple of glasses. This ranks slightly above 'sub-interest', but not very far above that.

Oh I am sorry for that terrible pun. The wine is not as worrying as the winemaker's name suggests. This comes from the Franken region so is bottled in a novelty bottle.

Silvaner Spatlese Trocken Escherndorfer Lump 2005, Horst Sauer
A weighty, ripe nose of white fruit and creamy minerality. This smells vaguely of Chardonnay, which is a bit odd. It does have a reasonable amount of fruit, though, which is good for Silvaner. The palate has plenty of acidity, but also weight and ripeness. There is both minerality and length there, but I would not call this a terribly complex wine. It is reasonably dense and fruity, but that is about it. It is very good for a trocken wine, and very good for Silvaner, but just a bit lacking in excitement and style. I suppose it is a good novelty. Don't even begin to think about ageing this, it'll fall apart within a few years.