A wine drank recently that similarly tickled my lovely bits as did the Boxler was one I failed to write up here. I provide the name as a recommendation as something affordable to look out for: Riesling Grand Cru Pfersigberg Vieille Vigne 2001 from Domaine Bruno Sorg. This was an excellent dry, stylish and direct wine that slightly challenges the limits of my stomach's acid tolerance, but I bloody love it. It is a fine wine by any definition. If you are aware of Trimbach's Cuvée Frédéric Emile Riesling this is remarkably similar: very linear, direct and focused, but with plenty of concentration and a hint of fat to keep one charmed. Lovely stuff and I have a case in my cellar!

The last wine written up is my idea of a fine wine. It is balanced, interesting and beautiful. I admit some good wines may lack one of these factors, but if something is really going to do rude things to my sense of smell and taste it has to hit these spots. This is a lovely wine, it spoke of the place it was made and spoke in a thrilling and exciting manner. I was compelled; I still am compelled with what remains in my glass. I don't feel tired or generally shagged-out when drinking a wine like this, even though it is quite big and ripe, but I want to dive in for another taste and witness the interest of the cepage, thrills of the site and the skill of the winemaker. So, this tickles my fancy in a 'tits out for the boys that is lovely'-way and it is intellectually stimulating as well. What more could a growing boy ask for?

Jean Boxler hits the spot once again with a brilliant wine. The mystic code refers to the plot of the Sommerberg Grand Cru that this wine is made from.

Riesling Grand Cru Sommerberg L31E 2002, Domaine Albert Boxler
The nose is incredibly stony but has a lot of ripe fruit; grapefruit and pineapple. The mineral character is carried through on the palate, which is very concentrated and dense yet balanced by a fine acidity. Although this is full-bodied and weighty, it is completely dry. The ripe fruit stands out on the finish, which is long with fine acidity and minerality. This is a deeply lovely wine from a Riesling master that will age exceptionally well. Quite stunning in its complexity and style. I love it.

The 'general drinking' category of notes will not be quite so detailed as when I try but a single wine. It is hard to write notes at a dinner party so general impressions alone survive in my mind.

Joh. Jos. Prum Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese 1994
Quite dry, with nice balance between fruit and acidity. Very good length, still really mineral and certainly a racy, exciting wine. I enjoyed it very much.

Gratien vintage brut 1996
Very chocolaty and doughy with a slight oxidative character. Really quite woody as well. Reminded me very much of Bollinger '96 which is no bad thing. I thought this would age really rather well, but some of our number were sure it was up for drinking.

Meursault Tillets 2001, Roulot
A beautiful, compact, elegant white Burgundy. Plenty of fruit and a bit floral. The palate was very well balanced with plenty of concentration. It was certainly long. This was a fine wine.

Riesling Grand Cru Rangen 1995, Zind-Humbrecht
This was surprisingly mature, a tad oxidised too, but it was still a nice wine. Very concentrated and powerful. As it was quite mature it seemed to have lost the sweetness these wines often have.

Morey St. Denis 2001, Domaine Dujac
A lovely wine. Great fruit, impeccable balance and real silky-style. A top-flight village wine. Dujac really landed on their feet in 2001.

There was a 2003 super-Tuscan red wine at this point that I failed to write down the name of and I am not going to try and embarrass myself by remembering how to spell it. It was very hot and quite severe. That is 2003 for you.

Pinot Gris Selection des Grains Nobles Hinterberg de Katzenthal 2001, Meyer-Fonné
A sweetie to finish off with. Nice Pinot Gris fruit and really quite a lot of botrytis. It was pretty sweet.

Nuits is slightly earthier, more meaty and generally butch than wines from my favourite Burgundy villages. However, a good example will still have elegance and balance, and this is a terribly good example.

Nuits St Georges Premier Cru Vaucrains 2002, Robert Chevillon
A heroic nose, exploding with ripe fruit, earth and spicy-richness. There is plenty of good, ripe Pinot fruit there and it is also noticeably Nuits in its slightly rustic character. The palate also has a bit of toughness, with some high acidity, but the incredibly ripe fruit balances this out perfectly. It is long, harmonious and full of grace. I have not had a heroic Burgundy that was quite so beautiful since I last had the 2001 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux from Comte Armand. This may be incredibly ripe and intense, but balance is the feeling one is left with as the very long finish subsides. The elements all work together very well, and it is in no way over-powering. A serious, but lovely, wine.

In its first flush of youth this is lovely. It probably will close down for several years, but I imagine it will re-emerge as a great wine of style and class.

Much better than the last bottle of white Burgundy I had to fight my way through.

Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru La Garenne 2002, Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet
The nose is very full, concentrated with a lot of floral character. There is something almost herbal about the nose. The palate is rich and concentrated, again really floral. Nice and ripe but in no way hot; restrained, if anything. The finish is really long, with plenty of acidity and minerality. This is a fine, balanced and concentrated bottle of interesting white Burgundy. Quite lovely, really.

... but someone usually hands me a glass of something good once I've got my breath back. Oh yes, oh yes, it is another offering from Morey St Denis, not my favourite producer there (which is Domaine Dujac), but as I have suggested in the past, a damned good producer.

Morey St. Denis Premier Cru Les Loups 1999, Domaine des Lambrays
Ah... Lovely, pretty fruit. Quite ripe, but it does not hold back in the 'lovely' department. It is a bit closed at the moment, so I shall not be opening my mag of 1999 Clos des Lambrays for some time. The tightness gives it a degree of restraint that this did not have when I last tried it, then it was during its opulent, expressive and hedonistic young stage. But the degree of loveliness here is not to be underestimated. No over-ripe HP Sauce character at all, this is pure, lovely, ripe Pinot from a Burgundy village that makes beautiful wine. This once again demonstrates the wonderfulness of elegant Burgundy, and I really love it. Shame it is only a half bottle.