To me, this was one of the wines of the tasting: a pale, scented, delicately crafted Clos de Vougeot that deserves a slot in any Burgundy lover’s cellar. Aromatic and fine, with well integrated oak, wild berry fruit, sappy acidity and superb texture and balance. Who says the 2009s aren’t well balanced? 

Yves Confuron’s wines are very distinctive, partly because of his use of stems but also because of his way of expressing his vineyards. Mid garnet/pink, with a stemmy, but highly aromatic nose. Quite traditional in style, with a firm tanninc backbone giving structure to the sweetness of the fruit. Fresh acidity, finely poised. 

Showing some development already. On the nose and palate, this is rather old-fashioned in style, exhibiting notes of dead leaves, some meaty reduction and simple tomato skin flavours. A poor show for a Grand Cru Burgundy. 

Mid ruby/pink. Very youthful, with just a hint of (acceptable) reduction. Scented, sexy, plush fruit on the palate with fine-grained tannins and minerally, lip-smacking acidity. Perfumed, complex and mouthwatering, with a long, tapering finish. An impressive wine that will improve further in bottle. 

Bertrand Ambroise makes some of the best value Burgundies on the market, from his basic wines right up to his Grands Crus. They are characterised by restrained use of oak, subtle, understated fruit flavours and considerable finesse. This is light, perfumed and refreshing, but with complex wild starwberry and forest floor notes, tangy acidity, great poise and a fine, tapering finish. 

Deep ruby with purple notes. Evidence of over-ripeness on the nose and palate, with some volatility, oxidation and extraction. Pruney and tannic, this is the sort of wine that gives Clos de Vougeot a bad name as a Grand Cru. 

Famous for its amazing Grand Cru holdings, Jacques Prieur hits the heights more often with its whites than its reds. That’s not to play down the quality of this wine, which is very good indeed; rather it is intended to praise the Côte de Beaune wines. This is aromatic and smoky, with subtle oak, sweet red fruits and enough structure and tannin to age. 

Very, very pale, almost transparent Pinot. Delicate and very subtle with red fruits, a hint of forest floor and wild mushrooms. Long and refined with grainy, sculpted tannins, refreshing acidity and a long finish. The wine needs a little more concentration perhaps. 

The quality of this Boisset-owned domaine within a négociant is consistently outstanding, thanks to very good vineyards and the talent of winemaker Pierre Vincent. This is very pale and elegant on the nose and palate, almost ethereal in fact. It may not age for a long time, but it’s delicious now, with notes of redcurrant and sweet raspberries.