The last couple of days general drinking are reported below:

Riesling Serriger Schloss Saarstein Spätlese 2005, Schloss Saarstein
Much like the last couple of bottles, and very unlike the first couple, this was delicious. It has really blossomed into a peachy lovely. Great drinking on a sunny spring day.

Crozes-Hermitage 1999, Alain Graillot en magnum
Whilst this had some decent fruit, there wasn't that much else there. It really lacked dimension and was terribly dull. I've had a mag of this before and it was delicious, so I don't know what is going on with this.

Grande Millésime 1996, Gosset
This was a tightly-wound ball of intensity, flavour and class. Really ripe but with huge amounts of acid. Fabulous length and complexity. I really thought this was terribly good (although I prefer Bille NF 96) but it needs a lot more time in the cellar.

Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume "Vignoble de Vaulorent" 2005, Domaine William Fevre
As I said when I had a bottle of this at the end of January, this is clearly the best Chablis I have ever had. So complex and stylish, so refined and elegant, so drinkable. Truly excellent wine.

Bonnezeaux 1997, Château de Fesles
An excellent sweet wine that provided me with as much pleasure as the bottle I had at christmas.

Meursault 2004, Henri Boillot
A well-made, perfectly drinkable wine which is very Meursault in character.

I haven't had access to my computer over the last couple of days, so here are brief notes about some of the tits wines I've had.

Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru les Ruchottes 2000, Domaine Ramonet
This had a wonderful, expressive nose of minerality, nuts and ripe lemon fruit. There was a good Chassagne flat Champagne aroma to it. It was really complex and stylish on the nose, with obvious concentration and class. The palate had some good weight and concentration, but was really elegant and refined. Quite beautiful, in fact. The finish was quite superb. A really great bottle of Chassagne.

Meursault les Tillets 2001, Domaine Roulot
Strangely, this seemed slightly more oaky on the nose than last time I had it. Still, very floral and mineral. Very nice fruit. Real complexity here too, and good style. Nice mineral complexity on the palate and it had real length. Lovely, but the Ramonet was better.

Cornas Domaine de Rochepertuis 1998, Domaine Jean Lionnet
A lovely nose of mushrooms and really ripe blackberries. Nice and earthy, but not rustic or dirty. Again, this was really quite complex. The palate was smooth with good, ripe tannins and plenty of fruit. Real length to the finish and a great persistence of complex, earthy flavours. Delicious. Shame Jean Lionnet retired after the 2005 vintage, make sure you buy any of this wine you see knocking around, it has always been one of the incredible bargains of the wine world. Much as I love Clape, Verset and others, I really think this is my favourite Cornas.

Chablis Premier Cru Vallions 2005, Domaine Fevre
This had a delicious nose that was so fruity it had a hint of Muscat about it. Its nutty, honey, stoney aromas showed it to be very good Chablis, though. Perhaps the palate lacked a touch of concentration, but it was a really refreshing, enjoyable drink. 2005 is very obviously a hit is Chablis.

Côte-Rôtie 1997, Domaine Bernard Burgaud
A lovely earthy nose with plenty of dark ripe fruit. Although it smelled completely ripe it seemed very restrained and balanced. The palate had real elegance and refinement, with finely-grained tannins and a very long finish. Perhaps the acidity was a tad high, but it didn't really detract from what was a lovely bottle of Côte-Rôtie. The Lionnet was better.

Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru les Cras 1995, Domaine G. Roumier
Ah what a charming nose. Ripe cherries and strawberries with complex mineral aromas. This is a real lovely, very refined and pure, but bursting with titillating pleasure. The palate sings a wonderful song of softness and life. It is incredibly silky and smooth, but is kept racy thanks to some good acidity. The fruit is utterly delicious. I knew Christophe Roumier's 95s were good but this takes the grape in terms of how much I love it. Don't get me wrong this is a freaking triple-A charm-tastic ball of love to drink now but I wonder if it might be even nicer in two-three years.

This is quite a fancy St. Joseph. I'm still drinking, hooray!

St. Joseph Cuvée des Anges 1999, Domaine Cheze
This has a very herbal fruit character, like cough sweets. There are ceps and earthy aromas with a very vague hint of bubblegum. But the nose is really good and complex, very expressive and interesting. Despite this style and complexity it still smells like a St. Joseph. Good. The palate has a very slightly angular structure and a prickle which is also very St. Joseph. It is still quite a serious wine, though. This is perfectly ready to drink and I will enjoy this as it develops in my glass. St. Joseph gets no better.

I am back drinking again. Hooray for wine! I was hoping for my first wine to be good, but I am very disappointed with this.

Savennières Trie Spéciale 1997, Domaine des Baumard
This smells rather big and powerful. A heavy nose laden with the decayed sweetness of a ripe blue cheese. There is a degree of botrytic apricot fruit on the nose as well, but it largely smells damp and rotten. I am concerned by the lack of minerality here. The palate is very full bodied, with some acidity and minerality, but it is terribly flat. There is no real dimension or excitement here, it is just a big mouthful of simple flavours. It also doesn't taste that nice, if I am honest. Doesn't taste nice seems a pretty damning quality comment to me.

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.