Bacchanalia Xmas Stock Drop Pt.2

Hello everyone,

Hope you are well.

Thanks for all the well wishes post my last mailout. I’m touched. My condition has improved markedly, physically at least, and I’m pretty much pirouetting around the shop again.

Really quick email this week, as it’s literally the busiest week of the year at Baccha Mill Rd HQ – Yes, it’s the blasted Mill Rd Winter fair… I am no Scrooge, but I do have mixed feelings about this event each year. But let’s hope it’s a money-making boomer of a day and I meet some new Fine Wine loving pals, clients or just one of splurger’s. And for those of you that brave it to the shop, I will be looking forward to seeing some trusted supporters, happy faces and wine/whisky/beer lovers among the sea of browsers.

So, this week I offer you a couple of classics, not just for the red trouser brigade, but for those who love French classicism. I’ve got some cracking well priced Bordeaux with a bit of bottle age and a stupidly rare Burg producer most have probably never heard of, because she is a rising star and only on her SECOND vintage after taking over wine making with inherited vines in Meursault. But hey, if you have no more than 2ha of vines in Burg, best for them to be the Lieu Dit of Limozin and the Premier Cru vineyards of Charmes and Geneverirers – I mean, no messing around here.

On another note, many of you have been asking about the Thistle & Weeds wines from South Africa, which is great, except I’ve not had any to sell you after they sold out in quick time. Well, they are BAAAAACK! As of Weds 3^rd afternoon that is. So, come fill your sloshing boots.

First up, Bordeaux…

2009 Ch. Haut Batailley £77.99 p/b

Absolutely top tier vintage from this 5th Growth estate. The combination of great vintage and a lower tier Estate makes this extremely good value, as the vintage elevates the wine hugely. Making this a baller proposition. It’s like driving a Lamo but at Mini prices. As with all 2009s, this is drinking superbly now, with loads of deep purple, luscious fruit. Cassis, pencil, a suave and structured, brilliantly concentrated effort that has a brooding stature, but soft and ripe tannins that say drink me now but of course will age gracefully for a decade or more. But I stress, 2009’s are a total pleasure to drink now. Especially if you want a thrill ride and your hair blown back. Buy now and thank me later. Maybe one of the best Haut Bats going. Scored a solid 94pts.

2006 Ch. Leoville Poyfrere £90 p/b

Yes, when I saw this, I thought the same… 2006 – an odd vintage. Not one I find myself reaching for, but in the hands of such a classical producer, this drinks insanely well offering up a lesson in quintessential claret experience.  You can’t ask for more really, form a wine of this pedigree in a sleeper vintage. I think it’s marvellous and I will leave you with Neal Martin’s notes from Robert Parker, as I couldn’t put it better myself, except I think that stubbornness has abated somewhat since 2016. Give it a decent decant, 2-3hours and this offers top class drinking. Scored a super 92pts.

“Tasted at Bordeaux Index`s annual 10-Year On tasting in London. The 2006 Château Léoville Poyferré has one of the most harmonious and complete bouquets from Saint Julien. very well-defined blackberry, briary and chalky scents, real focus and delivery here. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, ripe tannin matched with well-judged acidity. Like the 2006 Léoville-Barton, it is stubborn and backward, but there is clearly harmony and focus on the finish, the new oak deftly assimilated in the fabric of the wine. This is a lovely wine from Didier Cuvelier. Tasted January 2016.” - Neal Martin

Secondly… BURG ALERT!

2022 Dom. Brunet Randon Meursault Premier Cru Les Charmes-Dessus £195 p/b

Hands down one of my top finds of 2025, maybe my top find. I know that I haven’t stopped thinking about his wine since tasting in September and have pestered my supplier to get some for me. It was touch and go, as those Burgundians don’t do invoices, they want the wonga up front and no messing. But, like a right gooden, my supplier got me the goods. I live Bernard Bonin, PYCM and the like, and well, I’d pop this wine in that kind of mix. Stole my heart. Cecile went to college then returned to Burgundy and completed a viticulture and oenology degree in Beaune, earning a DNO and Master’s. She then trained in native France and abroad at some absolutely cult status estates like Littoraï (maybe some of the most Burgundian Pinots in Cali, says DRC owner Villaine), Cayuse (one of my first Cult wine purchases and master of Walla-Walla Valley in Washington State) and Hamilton Russell in South Africa. I mean, what a way to earn your street cred. Only 2 wines are produced with a third coming online shortly. Only a maximum of 2ha in the most prized spots.

Stylistically, this is all I love in modern Burg. Ample in texture and fruit. Broad, seductive and soothing on the palate, but piercing at the same time, with slight reduction, mineral glitter, lemon juice acids that make the mouth water and a long saline finish. Iron fist, velvet glove stuff. Concentrated, but light footed. At the end of the day, the wines aren’t flashy, they’re just precise and expertly made, and stop you in your tracks because they are effortlessly class. Super hard to get. You’ve probably never heard of her or the wines, but the price being asked for a bottle given the wines are only 2 vintages young, in this case really do indicate where this small micro estate is heading. When it comes to say a Bernard Bonin, the wines started £80-£150 per bottle and rapidly became £350-550 plus and impossible to acquire, never to come back down in price or be found available. I sense a similar trajectory here. Buy while you can.

That’s it for tonight!

Short and sweet. Three no brainers and the return of some other no brainers. What can I say? I bring you good tidings and excellent liquids.

Drop me a line or pop in and see me. Burg is hyper limited volumes – just saying…

Speak soon.

Best

Jim