Mrs Antz birthday
Lovely Ayala No 7 which only use 7 Cuvée from the house
Saint Amour soft red fruit, slightly chilled a delight
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Happy birthday Ange!
It’s been too long!
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the 2009 should be lovely, general rule of thump is anything with a 9 in it from Burgundy was a good vintage - prop exception being 1979 - but 69,89,99, 2009 and look out for the 2019 Whites ! 
Ok thanks. Did not know that.
We are lucky that Burgundy and Alsace are in very easy reach. About 3 hours for Burgundy.
The main issue with Burgundy though is that there is alot of rubbish there. Also buying into 1er cru is not a guarantee either and before you know it alot of money has been spent. That said they are some of the best wine tasting experiences I have ever had. The whites from puligny and chassagne montrachet are wonderful. A true delight with escargot de bourgogne.
We need to go for another tour or three 
as we are starting to run low, especially white wines.
Cheers and good health
Mark
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You’re absolutely right - top notch Burgundy is best wine in the world but lower down there can be lots of bad/indifferent wine. I would never buy Burgundy that I have not been able to taste because of the poor quality control. For wine at a price for every day drinking (ie £10-20) I get my Pinot noir from elsewhere in the world. ATB
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Fully agree about tasting before buying. The last trip we made was in 2013. A good idea is also to visit the restaurants and see what they have on offer and visit the cellars for tasting after. We had a very nice evening in a Michelin guide restaurant in Echezeaux. Also stayed one night in gites towards the South near St. Aubin.
I’m far from an expert in burgundy wines but I did learn some useful things on this trip. Next time we will take more than 4 days.
I would highly recommend visiting the area with many things to see and do and see.
That said, there are other great wine regions that produce great wines accompanying the local cuisine. We used to live near Toulouse which is central and easy to reach the wine region Haut Médoc where we have also enjoyed visits to places like Margaux, St. Julien, …) along the Gironde. Also north of Toulouse with places like Cahors and Corde sur Ciel. Champagne. Alsace can be overlooked. Ribeauvillé,…
The list is endless as well as the variety.
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@Rod_Smith ,
I realized now that for a person of wine, as stated in your bio, my statement must be a demonstration of sacrilege. Absurdity, really.
But don’t take this the wrong way. I think it’s prejudice resulting from my dislike for champagne.
I personally follow your posts regarding this specific thread, because i´ve being learniing a lot from them. Thanks.
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wine is like music in many ways - artists you like, artists you don’t and artists who have never heard of
as I always say as my get out of gaol at evenings - The best Champagne in the world is the one you enjoy the most or not
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excellent choice of music too!! i haven’t had too much luck with Gevreys that i have bought. The 1st one i bought from M&S was extremely good. The 2nd one was rubbish. Then i tried waitrose – no luck. Then i tried Majestic wine – no luck.
I can thoroughly recommend this Pinot noir. Soli wine is made in Bulgaria and the latest vintage, 2019, now available to buy for £12-95 from Swig. Amazing wine for the money
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A couple of years ago, I mentioned that I had been buying wine direct from Portugal, via the website Portugal Vineyards.
There’s everything available, from ridiculously great value everyday quaffers, to more upmarket offerings, and all at substantially lower prices than on the same bottles sold here in U.K.
Well worth a visit to their webpage. 
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still, may i just say that (to my eyes), the wines available remind me the japanese approach of domestic versus international market:
the better secrets are (unfortunatly) kept inside.
Fair enough, if the very best wines are reserved for the home market, nothing wrong with that at all, but the more “everyday” ones are much better value direct from Portugal, compared to the identical bottles on sale here from U.K. suppliers.
I’m by no means a wine connoisseur, far from it, but some of those on offer do hit the spot for me.
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yes: i´m biased but , after diferent experiences with diferent origins of wine, i still prefer the portuguese ones.
Again, I’m no expert, but I do reckon that Portugal is once again producing great wines at all price levels, though, until now, my buying experience has been limited to those wines released onto the U.K. market … … … until Portugal Vineyards came along, that is. 
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The best thing about Portuguese wines (and there are a lot of good things, I agree) is some of the names of the grape varieties. eg:
Esgana Cão
(Dog Strangler)
Borrado das Moscas
(Fly Sh1t)
Although the grapes may be speckled, it’s difficult to imagine wanting a whole bottle of fly sh1t…
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Hi Ken,
I’m afraid I can’t help with that. I am not a specialist and I don’t know all the secrets to find good wines. Others on here with better knowledge of wines from this region will be able to guide. We were on the whole lucky with what we tried in our short trip to burgundy and what we purchased. The Gevrey Chambertin that I posted a picture of was the first place we stopped at. It was ok but not the best I’ve had. We went to a restaurant where they were able to suggest good places to go, especially wines around puligny and chassagne montrachet. I love these dry white wines. Likewise we stayed in a Gîte where some côtes de boeuf were cooked on an open fire. That we had with a Nuit St. George.
Burgundy boasts the largest number of grand cru wines and I’m sure these are really great but of course come with a high price. I usually try and go for 1er cru wines. Of course years are variable as mentioned by Antz.
I will return in a couple of years and try to search further.
There are many guides, also online, that can help with selection and also information w.r.t. the year. I have one from Larousse which is not bad. Also some apps on the phones can be useful to get some idea as well.
In the UK try to find a nice place that also allows tasting the wines. They also have a wine bar for that purpose. Then if you like it you can buy some.
There is a nice one in Bath but can’t mention names as it would violate forum rules
Hope that helps
Regards
Mark
hahahahaha.
People , with lots of time, tend to go creative.
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