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Burgundy 2018 – A

Bertrand and François Ambroise

For the rest of these alphabetically grouped tasting articles, and more general articles on Burgundy 2018, see our guide. This photo of Bertrand and François Ambroise was taken by Jon Wyand.

The wines are grouped alphabetically by producer (sur)name and within those groups are ordered whites before reds, ascending from generic through village, premiers and grands crus. You can change the order as you prefer using the menu below.

Domaine Aegerter, Jean-Luc et Paul Aegerter, Paul Aegerter (Nuits-St-Georges)

Jean-Luc et Paul Aegerter Chardonnay 2018 Bourgogne

Tank sample. Seems to be quite evolved for a 2018, but that is likely to be because it's a tank sample. Honeyed melon fruit on the nose, base notes of granola. Poached-apple palate with a light sprinkling of spice. Rounded, open and ready with a strong draw of acidity. It tastes as if the alcohol is higher than 12.5%. Seems a bit more serious than their previous Bourgogne Chardonnays. (TC)

12.5%
Drink
2019
2022
16

Dom Aegerter, AA Chardonnay 2018 Bourgogne

Touch of toasted oats on the nose. Ripe honeydew melon and green apple, ripe but flashing with acidity and a touch of apricot seems to intensify the definition and prism of the acidity. Pure, arrow-straight in length while the weight and ripeness of the fruit give it breadth and depth. Really very good for a Bourgogne Chardonnay and likely to be VGV. (TC)

13%
Drink
2019
2021
16.5

Jean-Luc et Paul Aegerter, Réserve Personnelle 2018 Mâcon-Villages

Cask sample. Pretty much on a shut-down, perhaps because it's a cask sample, perhaps because it's just at an awkward early stage. I wish I had another bottle to see where it heads in a few months' time. At the moment, stony in a surly way, with hard white citrus forming a crust that is difficult to chip through. (TC)

12.5%
Drink
2019
2020
15.5

Jean-Luc et Paul Aegerter, AA 2018 Mâcon-Fuissé

Savoury, almost, on the nose. Cream and grilled polenta and then a rich play of ripe pear and golden apples across nose and palate. Soft curve of fruit, but the wine isn’t flabby. Touch of white flower and floral nectar. Neat finish with a twist of yuzu peel. (TC)

12.5%
Drink
2020
2022
16

Jean-Luc et Paul Aegerter, Vieilles Vignes 2018 Chablis

Grainy aromas, like just-baked malted-wheat bread, and then a sweeter undertow of baked apple, both reflecting on the palate but with an added flint-sharp edge defining a gentle centre. Quiet and undramatic. Head down and doing its job, well. (TC)

12.5%
Drink
2020
2022
15.5

Dom Aegerter, AA Les Combes 2018 Pouilly-Fuissé

Clean, green apple with a lick of cashew butter and toasted quinoa and then someone dropped in a few scrapings of lime zest. Quiet, well-behaved, textbook-proper Pouilly-Fuissé with a little cheeky flash of naughtiness. Round bottom but draws in with decent tension just in time for the finish. (TC)

13%
Drink
2020
2023
16

Jean-Luc et Paul Aegerter Pinot Noir 2018 Bourgogne

Cask sample. Smells almost biscuity – reminds me a bit of Jammie Dodgers! Super-sweet fruit, super-juicy, packed with strawberries and blueberries and raspberries and blackcurrants. Fun, singing it's heart out, not remotely complex but it's so damn cheerful and charming that it doesn't need to be! (TC)

12.5%
Drink
2019
2020
16

Dom Aegerter, AA Les Dames Huguettes 2018 Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits

More ‘rocky’ on the nose than the Les Petites Corvées Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, and a touch of florality. The fruit on the palate has a more savoury tang – like cherry tomatoes on the vine, but the very sweet ones. And cranberry sharpness. Light sprinkle of white pepper. Really appetising. The tannins sit more firmly on either side of the fruit. Not quite as pretty but a little longer. (TC)

12.5%
Drink
2020
2023
16.5

Dom Aegerter 2018 Savigny-lès-Beaune

Lightly spicy nose with a really perfumed lift on the palate. Delicious, warm-cinnamon red-berried fruit. Ripe and round but there's an elegant carry-through to the end. Drinking beautifully already. (TC)

13%
Drink
2020
2025
16.5

Dom Aegerter, Les Beaumonts 2018 Chorey-lès-Beaune

There's something about the nose of this wine that reminds me of wintry walks in woods popping with the red of holly berries, cold dark earth crunching frost and damp beneath feet, bare branches stark against an iron-grey sky. Really red fruit. Like shiny red patent-leather heels. Something dark and bleak earth, and something defiantly sassy. Has a bit of flair, but still with refinement. (TC)

13%
Drink
2022
2026
16.5

Jean-Luc et Paul Aegerter, Réserve Personnelle 2018 Vosne-Romanée

Quite closed, but for a whiff of cherry coconut. Violet-scented dark fruit on the palate, sweet and fully round, but the tannins are quite dry and stemmy without much flex. Slightly rigid, amplified on the finish. Will relax with time and let that fruit shine. Stone and coal dust runs through the middle of the finish. (TC)

13%
Drink
2022
2025
16 ++

Jean-Luc et Paul Aegerter 2018 Brouilly

Violet perfume, scented and intriguing. Sharp, bright bite to cranberry-red fruit and tight, pepper-spiced tannins fitting the fruit like a pair of glossy leather trousers. Mouth-watering, juicy, but there's a seriousness here. (TC)

12.5%
Drink
2020
2025
16

Domaine Stéphane Aladame (Montagny)

Bertrand Ambroise (Premeaux-Prissey)

Bertrand Ambroise 2018 Bourgogne

Smells riper than the Lettre d'Eloïse, almost exotic fruit notes, a touch of apricot. Clean, bright fruit, crisp and relatively light on the mid palate. (JH)

Drink
2019
2021
£143 per case of 12 ib Montrachet Fine Wine Merchants
15.5

Bertrand Ambroise 2018 Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits

Zesty citrus fruit though the sulphites seem to be slightly intrusive at the moment. Creamy lemon and apricots on the palate. Fresh and correct. (JH)

Drink
2020
2023
£168 per case of 12 ib Montrachet Fine Wine Merchants
16

Bertrand Ambroise 2018 St-Romain

The same ripe fruit profile as on the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Blanc – apricot as much as ripe citrus. Creamy and rounded in the mouth. Well balanced but without great intensity on the mid palate even though it is persistent and full fruited. (JH)

Drink
2020
2023
£253 per case of 12 ib Montrachet Fine Wine Merchants
16

Bertrand Ambroise 2018 Bourgogne Côte d'Or

Light cherry red. Smells sweeter and riper than the Lettre d'Eloïse but on the palate it is drier and the tannins are perhaps a little too firm for the fruit depth so the finish is a bit hard. (JH)

Drink
2020
2023
£143 per case of 12 ib Montrachet Fine Wine Merchants
15

Domaine d'Ardhuy (Corgoloin)

Dom d'Ardhuy 2018 Ladoix

Lightly nutty, savoury nose of preserved lemons. Savoury, lightly creamy baked apples on the palate with just a lick of spice. Forward. (TP)

Drink
2020
2025
Imported into the UK by Awin Barratt Siegel Wine Agencies
15.5

Dom d'Ardhuy, Le Rognet Premier Cru 2018 Ladoix

Monopole. Sweet, oaky nose at this stage that will need time to settle. The palate shows the fruit to support this, fleshy pear and sweet citrus. The spice and toast of oak is very much to the fore, so definitely for drinkers who want these flavours to feature prominently. (TP)

Drink
2022
2028
Imported into the UK by Awin Barratt Siegel Wine Agencies
15.5 +

Dom d'Ardhuy, Clos des Chagnots 2018 Ladoix

Monopole. Subtle cherry and strawberry nose, savoury edge. Super-smooth palate, fruit driven with a little hit of sweet wood on the back end. Clean, good intensity. (TP)

Drink
2021
2029
Imported into the UK by Awin Barratt Siegel Wine Agencies
15.5 +

Dom d'Ardhuy 2018 Gevrey-Chambertin

Very perfumed and peppery on the nose. Fleshy and muscular, with a real bit of tannin. Good fruit, sweet but not over the top. Long and rounded finish. (TP)

Drink
2022
2030
Imported into the UK by Awin Barratt Siegel Wine Agencies
16.5

Dom d'Ardhuy, Aux Clous Premier Cru 2018 Savigny-lès-Beaune

Smoky nose. Powerful and muscular palate, lots of sweet spice and concentration. A powerful and sweet style of Pinot Noir with lots of warmth on the back end. (TP)

Drink
2021
2028
Imported into the UK by Awin Barratt Siegel Wine Agencies
16

Dom d'Ardhuy, Grand Cru 2018 Corton-Le Clos du Roi

Opulent oak use, sweet with incense and clove. Deep cherry fruit and some dark plum. Very strong liquorice spice through to the finish. (TP)

Drink
2023
2031
Imported into the UK by Awin Barratt Siegel Wine Agencies
16 +

Dom d'Ardhuy, Grand Cru 2018 Corton-Les Renardes

More lifted and ethereal than the Clos du Roi. Still clove and star anise but also layers of dried flowers and sweet cherry. Glossy, sweet and juicy. Finding balance between wood and fruit nicely, with classic Corton grip adding muscle and earthiness. Long and fine red fruits on the finish. (TP)

Drink
2024
2038
Imported into the UK by Awin Barratt Siegel Wine Agencies
17.5

Dom d'Ardhuy, Petit Maupertuis Grand Cru 2018 Clos de Vougeot

Dark, sweet and spicy as expected for Clos de Vougeot – dark cherry, plum and incense. Glossy entry, nicely judged toasted spices on the palate. Big lick of clove and aniseed on the finish, but the sweet fruit stands up to it. Needs a few years to integrate the oak. (TP)

Drink
2025
2038
Imported into the UK by Awin Barratt Siegel Wine Agencies
17 +

Domaine Arlaud, A & Arlaud (Morey-St-Denis)

A & Arlaud, Oka 2018 Bourgogne

Mid cherry red. Inviting sweet fruit. Moreish, lots of fruit that is just on the right side of ripeness, giving generosity and just enough freshness. Firm structure but juicy on the finish. (JH)

Drink
2021
2025
£135 per case of 12 ib Stannary St Wine Co
16

A & Arlaud 2018 Chambolle-Musigny

Touch of oxidation on this sample, though the dark fruit that is there has decent concentration. Firmly tannic, this is actually pretty long and scented. (TJ)

Drink ??
£225 per case of 6 ib Lay & Wheeler
??

A & Arlaud 2018 Morey-St-Denis

Very ripe cherries, smells even a touch oxidised, but that may be the sample. Fresh bottle is better but still very ripe, overripe. Chewy but a bit flat. I still wonder if the sample is slightly oxidised? (JH)

Drink ??
£TBC per case of 6 ib Stannary St Wine Co
15

A & Arlaud, Aux Cheseaux Premier Cru 2018 Morey-St-Denis

Meat, blood and bramble fruit. I think that brett may emerge on this, but right now it just has meaty complexity. Quite pinched and drying palate; these are pretty whopping tannins for Pinot Noir! (TJ)

Drink
2026
2030
£285 per case of 6 ib Lay & Wheeler
15.5 +

A & Arlaud, Grand Cru 2018 Charmes-Chambertin

Plum and blackberry fruit, spicy, earthy notes and flint lots of depth. Nice intensity of blackberry on the palate, with quite fine structure that will need time. Long. (TJ)

Drink
2028
2040
£651 per case of 6 ib Lay & Wheeler
16.5 +

Domaine

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