Still fresh and vigorous red with an exuberant pinot fruit at first sniff. There is a touch of orange to the fruit on the palate, slightly sour behind, though the initial attack of fruit is sweet. Sour red plums. This 2003 was picked very early, on 25th August. I did not really get on with it. Tasted Sep 2020.

Here the colour is more advanced, browning at the rim, yet with an additional sweetness of fruit on the nose. Lifted fresh plums, more acidity, yet still some tannins. A very good result from a lesser vintage perhaps? The acidity comes out more strongly with time. Tasted Sep 2020.

Pale amber colour. The first wine in the line-up delivered an immediately beautiful nose, waxy and sensual with a depth of fruit, some butterscotch notes, but with a freshness too. I like the energy behind and though the butterscotch continues, it does not in any way detract from the fruit component. Good grip. Tasted Sep 2020.

Pale amber with a light, green tint. This has a more classic Côte d’Or nose. Faint oxidation, nothing problematic. Slightly, plummy notes – Frédéric mentioned that it reminded him of tarte tatin, when opened in the morning. Fabulous on the palate though there are some orange notes of deep maturity here. Even so, it is trying to deliver layers of sweet white fruit. Pretty good finish in a sweetly, sensual style. Quite a cut above the simpler Chevalier-Montrachet Tasted Sep 2020.

Orange to amber in colour, this is clearly from a rich, sunny vintage: one can feel the sweetness here on the nose, this is very much like a mature example of a dry wine from Sauternes. Obviously, this is more the other way round, so it was not difficult to identify 1983! There is some bitter marmalade behind, and not much acidity. A really interesting experience, rather than a great wine. Tasted Sep 2020.

Deep red colour with a richer, warmer vintage nose. Plump and plummy in the fruit department, then some dry tannins, indicative of the vintage, which I spotted. This is very full though and showing well with time in the glass. 1976 has decided to come into its own after a mere 40+ years in bottle. Tasted Sep 2020.

The colour has held up, though with a lighter amber rim. The nose however shows some oxidation. So too the palate, slightly drying out though with some cooked raspberry notes sweetening the finish. This was presumably fresher when opened in the morning, but is tailing away now. Tasted Sep 2020.

Brick red with more amber rim. A very stinky nose. Dead mouse somewhere in this bottle. But the wine underneath has some vibrancy. In fact, pleasingly youthful with significant energy to the fruit, almost a Côte de Nuits sweetness and the most length to date. This cleans up very well in the glass, the mouse has been hauled off to the animal cemetery leaving the fruit to come out and play. This holds up really very well, a tribute to skilful winemaking in a somewhat rainy harvest. Tasted Sep 2020.

Pretty mid red, more amber at the edge. This has a very elegant fruit on the nose, roses, red fruit and a touch of sandalwood. Fills the first half of the mouth and is very gracious through to the finish, a very elegant, lighter vintage with blossoming red fruit to finish. No great weight or length but a good result in this usually appalling vintage. Tasted Sep 2020.

Pronounced amber colour with still a green tint. A nose of truffled foie gras to begin with. The noblest sense of vegetal perhaps. Freshens up behind in the glass. A wine of significant volume and class. Good acidity too. Ripe lemons. The only other 1963 Montrachet I am familiar with was René Lafon’s, which he did not bottle until 1968, adding in the lees of each new vintage to try to get the botrytis-laden residual sugar to ferment. It was still alive 40 years later, but I suspect it would be given more than a run for its money by this offering from Bouchard. Tasted Sep 2020.

More oxidative notes on the nose, though the colour remains fresh and attractive. Plump, vigorous fruit and some sweet strawberry notes, almost too sweet in fact on the palate, attractive long finish, though with some dried fruit notes, even dry rosemary. Intriguing, but has not quite succeeded in delivering what one might hope for from this great vintage. Tasted Sep 2020.

Perhaps the most orange coloured wine to date. The nose is taking a little coaxing, Some elegance to this, with residual youthfulness in the fruit profile, more detail. Gracious fruit, sucrosity, some acidity still, suggesting a wine of grand pedigree, notably in the particularly long finish. The Bouchard records note that the harvest began on 1st October with botrytis, though fortunately the grape skins were thick enough. Both this and indeed the 1963 and 1956 wines would have deserved their 5 stars easily, if the potential of the specific vintage were to be taken into account (which it is not in my system). Tasted Sep 2020.

I have to say, this wine fooled me completely. I rated it as coming from a much more highly rated vintage than 1956, which according to Bouchard records was the coldest vintage since 1709. The Hospices de Beaune auction was cancelled that year, the only time that has happened for quality reasons! A little paler colour. Truffles and cream, originally white fruit I suspect. Morilles a la crème more than truffles actually. There is some weight here in all departments, a bit younger than some, seems a little younger than its immediate predecessors in the tasting. Tasted Sep 2020.

Another fairly deep red with a light range rim. A full nose with some mushroom alongside the fruit, not at all unpleasing, indeed healthy for a mature wine. Then, the wine absolutely fills the mouth, and though I was initially a bit suspicious of the sweetness of the fruit, I should not have been. This is the real thing, not a nod to Dr Chaptal. At first the wine is not quite as long as it is broad, but time in the glass sees it develop in all dimensions. Great purity in this vintage, which Frédéric Weber considers to be an all-time great chez Bouchard, along with 1945. A wine which is wearing its velvet pantaloons not just gracefully but with flair. Tasted Sep 2020.

Still offering a robust, full red colour, with plenty of energy here on the nose too, and cleaner than some of the previous wines. There is an intriguing touch of menthol, in what is clearly a more austere wine than its immediate predecessor. Orange notes too, a light cream from the oak, very substantial at the back of the palate, and leaving a long finish. I was deeply impressed by this, from a vintage which has no great reputation in Burgundy and indeed one which I don’t think I have ever sampled before. Another great result for Beaune Clos de la Mousse! Tasted Sep 2020.