Tasting wines in a hot room is tough work. I hope I teased out something worthwhile.
Starter:
2002 Josef Biffar Deidesheimer Kalkofen Riesling Spatlese
Served blind I wasn't sure what to make of this. It had Riesling fruit and Riesling acidity, but a healthy dose of the Chenin Blanc woolies. Weird wine that was still quite enjoyable.
The main event (all wines served blind):
2001 Joseph Drouhin Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru
Clear ruby color. Earthy, funky nose with hints of sweet fruit. Seems completely resolved and mature if not balanced quite right. To be fair this bottle (and the next) were served too warm, and subsequent flights were placed in the fridge for a few minutes which did a world of good. Still I don't think this bottle has aged the way it should, as I have had much better examples of this wine.
1999 Amiot-Servelle Chambolle Musigny
Clear ruby color. Meaty on the nose with more obvious fruit (red) than the Drouhin. Very simple on the palate, almost to the point of being watery. Ok, but not very interesting.
1997 Tardy Chambolle Musigny Les Athets
I'm not familiar with Les Athets, but I think I should be. This was the wine of the night. Again a very clear ruby color. Spice, red fruit, earth and a lovely floral perfume gave way to a similarly complex palate impression that was bright, persistent and slightly meaty on the back end. Lovely wine.
1996 Herve Sigaut Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Chatelots
The stench of death rose from the glass. Gone. Pushing up daisies.
1995 Armelle and Bernard Rion Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Gruenchers
Darker in color than all of the preceeding wines. Unfortunately this was also not very interesting with earthy, cabbage-like notes covering up any elements of interest.
After reporting on wines 5 & 6, I will quote from the book of Burgundy: Producer, producer, producer. Here ends the lesson.
1994 Louis Jadot Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Feusselottes
See the above lesson. Even from a sub-par year this was still quite nice. It was a bit muddy on the nose, with all its elements sort of mashed up together, but it still drank well, had good balance & would have been a nice partner to a roast chicken.
2003 Comtes Georges de Vogue Chambolle Musigny
Darker in color than most of the preceeding wines. Lots of young fruit. There's a touch of oak here, but not a ton of it (see next wine), and the red/black berry fruit is quite open & delicious. My second favorite wine of the night. Too bad about the price.
2003 Domaine Saint-Martin Bonnes Mares
Dark, fruity & oaky. This may be promising some time down the road, but for now it's a Burgundy milkshake. Too much vanilla for me.
As we were wrapping up our host opened a 1988 Remoissenet Santenay (I did not note the cru) of dubious provenance & leaking cork. It was lovely - all roses and red berries. Lovely stuff. God knows what was really in the bottle, but it was tasty.