This is part of our 'good wine at fifteen quid' purchase. What a good purchase it was.

Savennieres "La Jalousie" 2005, Domaine du Closel/Chateau des Vaults
One thing you can say without fear of contradiction about the nose of this is that it is quite characterful. It has Chenin Blanc sulphur and wet dog aromas, plus some baked apple fruit. It is really quite mineral, and has a nice sweetness from its relatively high alcohol content. There is a pleasing degree of complexity to the nose of this, even if it doesn't smell entirely nice in a conventional sense. Despite the ripeness and weight of this wine, the palate is quite elegant. It has good minerality and fine acidity running through it. It also has those slightly off flavours that Savennieres can often have, but we like those really. There is real extract and flavour to this wine, very characterful, and it is quite complex. This is a very nice wine, I am pleased.

I've been given some wine; lucky I was given it as I am broke from ringing up winemakers in France on my mobile, fool that I am, I've got Skype. The wine is de Courcel Pommard Premier Cru Rugiens 2003. As you can tell by the note, I think this is a really top wine. Indeed, I'd go as far as saying it is the second best Burgundy 2003 I've had.

Yves Confuron who makes the wines at de Courcel turned up late when we visited to try the 03s. He was miserable as sin for the first fifteen minutes of the tasting before our incredible enthusiasm for his wines got the better of him and he became almost charming. As you may recall, 2003 was a really hot year, and most of the Burgundy I've tried from this vintage suffers from this heat. Yves harvested late (!) and didn't acidify his wines (!!) and yet they are completely brilliant. They may be big, almost monstrous, but they have a wonderful harmony and balance which is simply superb. The depth of fruit and tannic structure of them are utterly beguiling, and the complexity and style are without fault. Great wines, by any definition of the word.

Now, I have three bottles of this Rugiens and I am really tempted to open another, so much do I love them. However, this wine will be even better in another ten years, so I must wait. My friends will have a lot of fun when I am old and knackered in 2018 (I'll be forty-five that year, hell's bells) and have three bottles of this nectar to pop. I cannot recommend highly enough that if you see any de Courcel 2003s you snap them up. Ideally then give them to me, but I'll understand if you keep them as they are freaking tits. The Rugiens is undoubtedly the best, but the Grand Clos des Epenots is not far behind. Even the more minor wines are brilliant and worth paying for; we were surprised by the downright decadence of even the village Pommard. Buy them, if you can, and if you cannot make friends with someone who has them.

So what was the best 2003 I've tried? Clos des Lambrays 2003 (sorry Jeremy). In this difficult vintage they landed not only on their feet but were also passed a glass of something good to drink as they hit the ground. This wine really is the cat's arse. The good thing about Clos des Lambrays is it is quite a big Grand Cru which is (largely) in one estate's hands, so they always have plenty to sell and it is not too difficult to find on the market. They also charge very reasonable prices for what is usually very good wine, and what was buttock-spankingly good in 2003. So this goes down as a top recommendation as to how to blow your pennies as well.

Apart from these two (and a few Dujac's that I will write up when I get around to trying them again; the Clos St. Denis was damned good, but Clos St. Denis for heroes. Beautiful heroes, though) you can largely skip 2003 Burgundy.

I was given this bottle to prove that 'Claret can be very good'. Now, as I have said before, I hate Claret. This makes me wonder why someone would give me something they know I'll hate. Do they, perhaps, hate me? Do they want me to suffer? It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so bad.

Chateau Gloria 1971
The nose is quite Cabernet flavoured, it also smells quite a lot of cabbage. It has quite a pronounced vinegar aroma, which is a tad distracting. That being said, the nose is not so bad; there is some fruit, a degree of cedar-wood complexity. Not so bad. The palate, on the other hand, is bloody awful. It is dried-out and tough, with a really nasty vinegary finish. It tastes absolutely disgusting. This demonstrates all I hate about old Claret; it is dry, fruitless, acetic, and downright nasty. I hate it. Sorry, anonymous donor, but this is really horrible. The finish is worth torrents of abuse I am not capable of spewing. No. And I really mean No.

I like Collioure, good Collioure obviously, it is a relative bargain for the quality one can obtain. Mas Blanc and Rectorie are the best producers.

Collioure "Cosprons Levants" 2002, Domaine du Mas Blanc
A rich nose of ripe, dark fruit. It is quite meaty and earthy with a good herbal character. This smells reasonably complex, good. The palate has a massive structure of ripe tannins and earthiness, with lovely dark fruit and a reasonable degree of acidity for a wine so ripe and buxom. There is a a degree of complexity to the finish, and it is reasonably long. I've just been told by one of the neighbours that this isn't very tannic, but I cannot agree; I think he has been eating too much salami. I think this is quite tasty, it has a nice savoury character which is most pleasing.

Well, it only cost seven quid, what can you expect?

Riesling Clare Vallet 2006, Tim Adams
Quite fruity, quite acidic, quite simple. Slips down reasonably well, though. Its refreshment value is all that brings this above sub-interest, it is frighteningly one-dimensional.

I went out to lunch with Peter Sidebotham of Hand Picked Burgundy. We went to Andrew Edmunds. I feel the need to point out I paid for my share so glowing I will be about the company; my editorial independence is not for sale.

Meursault Premier Cru Charmes 2004, Domaine Latour-Giraud
This had real baby vomit characters, proper white Burgundy. It had good minerality on the nose and a nice purity of fruit. Perhaps not terribly expressive, but quite charming. The palate had a good grip of acidity and nice minerality, with good fruit and real length. Again, perhaps not the most complex of wines, but as far as I can understand scoring wines I agreed with Peter's 3+/5. This was proper, charming, ultimately pleasing Burgundy that didn't demand too much and gave more than one expected. The quality comment is: really quite good, which was a 'good thing' for the knock-down price we paid. He made a good buy on some 2006s from this producer the very day before, if you want to check his list in a few years' time.

Marsannay 1999, Meo-Camuzet
There is no denying this smelled of arseholes, it was quite dirty and Bretty. Reminded me quite a lot of Pibarnon 1993, but that is not a bad thing. Underneath that the fruit was charming, and this was just on the right side of maturity. The palate was quite smooth, and showed a reasonable degree of complexity for a Marsannay, but it was perhaps a tad dirty to be a truly great bottle from that appellation. The finish was quite charming, though, and this slipped down a treat with what was a very pleasing meal.

If you are dropping by Andrew Edmunds in the future you might want to try the Clos des Lambrays 2002, this was a real bargain at the price they were offering it for, and it is tits wine.

Perhaps it is rude of me to comment on the company, but I am sure he'll welcome another link to his site. Peter was one of the most honest and direct wine merchants I have had the pleasure of meeting. A couple of times he mentioned wines he had purchased and for a second I found myself thinking, "You are not selling that shit are you?", before he went on to say they were not good enough for his customers and he'd be putting them straight into auction. This is a great attitude, and far too uneconomical for him to be making an honest living out of his business. I have purchased some top bunny wines from his company, and probably will again. If you need some advice about buying properly mature, proper Burgundy (best of all) by the bottle I suggest you drop him an email or drop by his site. His prices are reasonable and he is a top chap with the correct attitude about wine. I will point out (again) that I paid for my half of the meal (again, my editorial independence is not for sale), it was a pleasure to do so, enjoying a good meal with someone who understands the beauty, pleasure and (above all) fun that fine wine can provide made it worth every penny.

I'm on the train on my way home from central London using my new toy to post this, it is an Eee PC. The Eee PC has a perfectly usable keyboard even though it is miniscule, and connects to my N95 3G phone for surfing on the go with only a minimum of arcane instructions to be followed. I've installed Scribefire as a blogging client, which is a Firefox extension so even works on the diminutive specifications of the Eee PC.

The Eee PC is just great, and I heartily recommend them to anyone who needs a secondary computer that is very portable. I would suggest that if you get one you invest in one of the high capacity batteries that some places are just about to start selling as the battery life of the standard unit is a bit woeful. Still, it works just fine for a couple of hours blogging or surfing on the go. My tasting notes will be that bit fresher from now on as I can post from anywhere. New toys, fun or what?

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.