I am starting to think that the best wine growers must be from Meursault. First there was that Monthelie Les Clous, by Meursault man Daniel Buisson-Dupont, and now we just had a stunning Volnay Champans Premier Cru 2002 by Jean-Marie Bouzereau, again based in Meursault. The same evening with guests we had a Volnay village 1998 from Volnay, Michel Lafarge again. This older wine was venerable, elegant, but perhaps a little thin, possibly  because of its age. B-

This Pommard 1er cru Les Poutures 2000 from Domaine Lejeune packed a punch and was easily the strongest Burgundy served at dinner a few weeks ago during a meal that showed a Savigny Les Beaunes 2003 and  a Volnay 1998 village. The Pommard thumped home strength and elegance, but perhaps lacked the extraordinary creamy fullness of some Monthelies. B

Reds; kaleidoscope and fireworks, starting from 4-5 years in, incred at 10. B+

At their best, Italian wines, particularly the reds, are match for most French wines. I still remember evenings over Barolos in London, or the so-called chambré wines in Roma, chambré being room temperature in August. It was like soup.

When I heard this quote in the movie Sideways it was refreshing; that this is exactly how I and probably zillions of others have felt and even described Burgundy reds in the past. Perhaps we were not wrong after all.