From September 2009 onwards we will be updating this section regularly (hopefully once a week!). As most professional critics tend to review wines that are still in barrel we thought it would be helpful to have appraisals of genuinely serious wines that are in their 'drinking phase'. With this in mind, one of two of our collector clients will be submitting their tasting notes to sit alongside ours. With cellars bursting with great wines, they will be able to give accurate assessments of some of the world's finest offerings. Not only should this prove interesting but also helpful in gauging when to drink bottles that you have in your own cellars.

Most of the wines tasted will be from either Bordeaux or Burgundy with occasional forays in to other regions or countries.

JH = Jason Haynes (Flint Wines)

SC = Sam Clarke (Flint Wines)

IW = Ian Watts (Collector)

RM = Ron Morton (Collector)

Latest update 05/09/09

White Burgundy

2001 Meursault 1er Cru Genevrieres, Domaine Lafon - Lovely nose of honeysuckle and spice with nice maturity and fat. Good freshness in the mouth but certainly ready to drink. Clean, full and grapey with impressive length and really godo balance. Perfect time to drink this. Lovely wine. JH 29/08/09

1999 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers, Domaine Ramonet - Green–gold with ripe moderately complex nose. Fat and ripe with high glycerol and good weight in the mouth, but with good balancing acidity and mature greengage fruit . Delicious mature wine, fully ready but unlikely to fade soon .15/20. IW 12/08/09

1996 Meursault Clos de la Barre, Domaine Lafon -

Bottle 1 - Pale yellow with pinched acrid bouquet. Some fruit remaining on palate, but with a bitter pre-maderisation flavour. Unpleasant plum-kernal/cyanide taste. Another victim of white Burgundy’s problems’’. Not marked. IW 22/08/09

Bottle 2 - Gold. Dumb on nose. Tight on palate to start. After 20 minutes classic Meursault bready/yeasty flavour and slight vanilla nose. Very elegant. Bit oaky at finish. A little high toned. Just passed its best but will die slowly. Much better than previous bottle. Now 13.5/20 IW 31/08/09

Bottle 3 - Pale Gold. Restrained mature nose, carrying on to palate. Still full of life. Compte of yellow fruits. Real Meursault mealy edge. Long and quite expansive. A little biot coarse. Godo acidty. Nice. Last bottle of case. 13.5/20 03/09/09 le flawed. 13.5/20

1995 Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrieres, Domaine Roulot - Pale green-gold. Opulent tropical-fruit nose with agreeable chalky edge. Quite heavy on the palate. Rich, fat, spicy, slightly oaky, blowsy flavoured even. Lots of tropical fruit yet balancing acidity and very long. Drink now 15.5/20. IW 23/08/09.

1996 Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrieres, Domaine Roulot - Pale yellow. Subdued nose. Unforthcoming on palate. Not much oak showing. Simple fruit but very long and lean. A baby. 24 hours after opening, from bottle one third full stored in fridge, it showed a well developed nose of tropical fruits also strongly present on the palate and underpinned by exciting acidity. Now big and broad and full of complexity. Very long and elegant keep at least 5 years [or decant the day before !]18/20 IW 23/08/09

2000 Meursault 'Les Tillets', Domaine Roulot - Gold. Lovely fresh acidity. White peaches and nectarines on the palate. Glace quality. Delicious hint of brulee. Focused. A little compact, but long, fresh limey finish. Marvellous wine. Perfect now.16/20 . If this were Montrachet performing to this relative standard it would be 40/20. IW 08/09/09.

1996 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes, Etienne Sauzet - Gold with green and brown hues. Very subdued on first opening, but no doubt about quality. Some fruit and white flowers on the nose. Slight bitterness on the palate with very expansive high glycerol mouthfeel. After 10 minutes in decanter bitterness cleared leaving opulent fat tropical fruit palate but with great focus and lovely acidity.Complex and persistent. Powerful nose of vanilla and greengages. After 40 minutes, crème brulee and yellow plums on palate. Very long and persistent .Lovely fresh acidity. Great wine . The last of a case, half of which was flawed. If only…… 18.5/20 [ not withstanding P C status] IW 29/08/09

1999 Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru, Domaine Ramonet - Pale yellow. White flowers and ripe peaches on palate. Very focused. After 1 hour in decanter, honeysuckle. Very long and persistent. Mouth filling but very precise. Tremendous structure. Continued to open until drunk, 90 minutes after decanting. Superb. Will improve over next 5-10 years.18.5/20 IW 3/09/09

2001 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ Canet, Domaine Ramonet - Pale gold. Powerful, ripe, complex bouquet carries on to palate.Ivy pollen. After 20 minutes, ripe melons. Vrulee. Fat and weighty but good aciidty. NIce but needs drinking. Perhaps just past its best. 15/20. IW 14/09/09

2002 Chassagne-Montrachet 1e Cru Boudriotte, Domaine Ramonet - Promising nose with good citrus attack and some almond aromas. Plenty of fat but relatively soft and actually shorter than one would have liked and didn't really evolve in the glass. Attractive but ultimately a shade idsappointing. JH 05/06/10

2001 Montrachet Grand Cru, Domaine Ramonet - Very much Grand Cru on the nose with good intensity and weight. Are we drinking this too soon? Difficult to be 100% certain as there are elements that suggest youth and elements that suggest some maturity. Good length and should be more to come. Impressive without having the wow factor. JH 20/06/10

Red Burgundy

2000 Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St Jacques, Domaine Denis Mortet - Coming to the end of what has been an extremely enjoyable 24 bottles. This wine has typically been full, rich and opulent but with a core of underlying minerality. Unfortunately this bottle showed an uncharacteristic tightening/dryness on the finish. Just a lesser bottle I hope. SC 15/08/09

1993 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru, Domaine Dujac - Bright, lightish colour, good freshness, polished. Delicious, seductive fruit. Very lovely now, though could improve further. RM 20/08/09

1998 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras, Domaine Roumier - Orange at rim. Firmly structured with a twist of acidity and mature spicyish red fruit. Developed complexity in glass over 2 hours. A bit short, but very persistent, classy flavours. Ready but no rush. 14 /20. IW 20/08/09

2004 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras, Domaine Roumier - Drunk in Beaune (Comptoir Tons Tons) for a mere 89 euros! Still youthful yet it opened out very nicely after an hour in a decanter. Good bite and like so many 2004s, it showed an emerging sense of purity. Nice harmony and excellent length. Classy juice but needs another 2 to 3 years to really show its class. Those who dismissed the vintage should drink more wines like this! JH 30/08/09

1998 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru, Domaine Anne Gros - Deepish orange/red throughout. Mature nose of rose petals and spice . Typical Gros family; slightly sickly glace pinot fruit [nice], but an overripeness and a gout d’ argile. A little too oaky. Some dry tannin. Unwelcome hint of tobacco. Fully ready. A little disappointing. Drink now 13/20 . IW 21/08/09

1989 Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru Les St Georges, Domaine Henri Gouges - Still remarkably austere and backward, though plenty of weight. Relatively youthful syill and more to come. Would have benefited from being decanted. RM 15/08/09

2004 Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru Les St Georges, Domaine Henri Gouges - Far too young. Still tight knit and backward. Promising underlying fruit, which gradually emerges after time in a decanter but still very much a baby. Decent purity and plenty of structure and potential. Keep before re-tasting for at least 3 years. JH

1996 Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Suchots, Domaine Jean Grivot - Even deep red. Lovely ripe fruit bouquet with development. Bilberries. Fine-grained tannin, a bit chocolatey even, and bilberry/blueberry fruit on the palate.Lovely restrained use of oak. Perhaps a shade hollow. Complexity increased in glass and improved for 2 hours. Barely ready. A bit dry at its finish but long and not drying. 16.5/20 IW 22/8/09

1996 Echezeaux Grand Cru, Domaine Jean Grivot - Orange rim. Clean soft ripe saturated fruit on palate. No layers but very harmonious. Graphite and spice. Delicious now. 16/20 IW 23/08/09

1959 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru, Domaine Rousseau - Beautifully refined, fresh and pretty with aromas of rose petals rather than mushrooms. Began fading after half an hour but quite lovely before. RM 19/08/09

1998 Chambolle Musigny 'Combe d'Orevaux', Domaine Anne Gros - From the village-classified section of the vineyard, but still close to Musigny itself.Not decanted. Pale red with orange rim. Complex bouquet of earth, leather and some red fruit. Immediately resolved on the palate. Gamey red fruit compote. Spice. Delicious beautifully balanced small scale wine . Fully ready. Long and expansive. Very Chambolle. Exceptional for its class. Drunk after a top Bordeaux [ Haut Brion 1995 ] and stole the show. 16/20. IW 28/08/09

2001 Morey-St-Denis 1er Cru, Domaine Dujac - Red/orange throughout. Red fruit, vanilla and leather on nose and seamless on palate too. Fully mature and lacks structure but sexy and gamey and long. Delicious but a bit minor.14/20 IW 31/08/09

2000 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combottes, Domaine Dujac - Delightful nose of great character and purity that really jumps from the glass. This wine is absolutely at its perfect moment. Maturity yet energy and really seamless. Nothing to criticise about this wine. Great advert for the vintage. JH 05/06/10

1998 Richebourg Grand Cru, Domaine Jean Grivot - Deep red with orange rim. Heavy,extracted palate . Damsons and leather. Big and unstructured. Nice flavour and no excitement. Rather a disgrace, really. 13/20 IW 3/9/09

1998 Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Suchots, Domaine Hudelot-Noellat - Deep but lightish colour that stretches all the way to the rim. Great fruit intensity on the nose and wonderfully ripe without any over ripeness. Good mix of red and black fruits with some spice. Plenty of energy and freshness and quite complex. Begins to open out in the glass. Good weight on the finish.Lots more to come but already top notch. Great wedding wine! JH 24/04/10

2000 Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru Vaucrains, Domaine Henri Gouges - After a couple of hours in a decanter this begins to come to life. No toughness but plenty of structure. Works well with the food. Good control and balance and opens out nicely. No hurry to drink this but beginning to give pleasure already. JH 24/04/10

1993 Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru Vaucrains, Domaine Henri Gouges - Tasted to show the similarities to the 2008 vintage. Terrific nose but still quite compact and closed in the mouth with plenty of tannins. You can see where's it's going and the flavours are very interesting but needs more time. Very promising. Bodes very well for the 2008! 29/11/09

2001 Echezeaux Grand Cru, Domaine Robert Arnoux (Magnum) - Very fresh and relatively youthful nose but lots of weight and depth and very good definition. Very good tannins and very harmonious. Great mouth feel. THis just gets better and better in the glass. Lots of potential here. JH 05/06/10

2001 Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru En Orveaux, Domaine Cathiard - Lightish red with salmon pink rim. Very exciting entry. Explosive, spicy plummy mature fruit with extraordinary mouthfeel. Very expansive, layered, bright fruit with complex flavours. Lasts for ever. Lovely rose petal tannic twist at the end. Spicy. Lovely now. 17.5/20 IW 03/09/09

1995 Griotte Chambertin Grand Cru, Domaibne Ponsot - Garbet with lightening at the rim. Rich, sophisticated nose. Foxy fruit with a barley sugar, glace quality.Black as well as red fruit. Fresh but with gamey complexity. Exciting, classy finish; long and fine-grained. Not a big wine and needs to absorb its tannins more. Perfect in 2 years or so. 16/20 IW 12/09/09

1998 Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Suchots, Dom. Confuron-Cotetidot - Pale red through orange. Complex strawberry fruit on the nose. Melting palate. Strawberries framed by good acid/tannin balance. Not especially long but very persistent with toffee apples at the end.Lovely tannins. Not a great wien but delicious and ready. 14.5/20 IW. 14/09/09

Red Bordeaux

1995 Ch La Tour Haut Brion, Pessac Leognan - Cherry red with salmon rim. Hard, earthy nose. Fat, merlot-driven, bricky Graves palate. Caricature Graves; plummy brick and graphite. Vulgar. Not convincing. This gives 'second wines' a bad name. Showed very good potential in 2000/2002 then closed up. Dry tannin at the end. Dreadful. And yet 12.5/20 IW 26/08/09

1978 Vieux Chateau Certan, Pomerol - Last bottle of the case and probably the best. Fully mature but still good freshness and just enough energy. The nose was a mix of red fruit, tea and plums whilst the palate was of medium weight with decent finishing acidity and good flesh. Very enjoyable if not that exciting. JH 06/0/09

1982 Ch Grand Puy Lacoste, Pauillac - Good powerful attack on the nose and plenty of maturity in the mouth. Very together and certainly won't improve but deilcious now and holds its own in very good company. A cracking claret to be enjoyed now. JH 20/06/10

1966 Chateau Palmer, Margaux (English bottled) - This does not smelll 44 years old and there is good energy in the mouth, too. Complex, refined and wonderfully controlled. This may not improve further but it won't die either. Beautifully balanced and quite delightful. JH 20/06/10

1982 Ch Pichon Lalande, Pauillac - Wonderfully seductive and full on the nose yet not over done. Smells and tastes much younger than 28 years old! Quite open yet still relatively youthful flavours; almost seems to get younger in the glass! Seriously good wine which if it improves further will be a revelation. JH 20/06/10

1995 Ch Haut Brion, Pessac-Leognan - Deep red with bluish rim. Black fruit, graphite and earth on the nose. Deep, ripe black fruits on the palate with just a little secondary development of leather and sandlewood. Very polished, very elegant. Excellent mouthfeel. Layers. Expansive. Very long and persistent. Mouth -coating. Superb. Just starting to drink. 18.5/20. IW 29/08/09

1995 Ch Leoville Las Cases, St Julien - Deep red, slightly lighter at rim. Fabulous 1995 mouthfeel .Still dumb after normal 1 hour in decanter, with excellent acid/ripe tannin balance. After 1.5 hours, red and black fruit mix, pure and primary. Expansive. Delicious. After 2.5 hours, lovely smokey blueberries and blackcurrants. Fine-grained chocolatey tannins. Burgundian. Refined, elegant, charming. Mouthfilling. Long. Layers. Superb middleweight wine. 18.5/20 IW 12/09/09

1988 Ch Leoville Las Cases, St Julien - Orange rim. Complex nose - not much fruit. Red and black fruit on the palate. Peppery and glossy. Some unresolved dry tannin at the finish.Compact, structured and persistent. Nice but no better. 14/20. IW 21/08/09

1982 Ch Leoville Las Cases, St Julien - Initially quite backward on the nose and more Pauillac than St Julien but gradually begins to fill out and open up with time. Good power and plenty of flesh. Very enjoyable now but no hurry to drink it whatsoever. High class juice. JH 20/06/10

1996 Ch Duhart Milon, Pauillac - Surprisingly good. A bit short, hard and hollow but much better than a year ago.The Merlot is less ascendant and some good velvety Cabernet is showing. There is still the sense that the Merlot and Cabernet haven't quite some together yet but further ageing should sort this out. IW 13.5/20 10/09/09

1982 Ch Ducru Beaucaillou St Julien - Deep red, little sign of browning. Penetrating mulberry bouquet with cigar box complexity. Dazzling interface pf deep fresh fruit, ripe tannin and acid on first entry, with a rich glace quality (45 minutes in a decanter). Layered complexity continued to build in the glass for an huor, with the wine showing great harmony, volume and mouthfeel. Meltingly delicious. Began to tire 2.5 hours after opening, becoming a little drying. The best Ducru I have ever drunk and clearly better than both many recently drunk bottles of the same wine and the 1970 drunk 5-10 years ago. 18.5/20. IW 20/08/09.

1985 Ch Cos d'Estournel, Saint-Estephe - Reddish-brown, amber rim. Blackcurrant and iodine nose, After 45 minutes in a decanter, austerre fruit with slightly elevated acidity.After 1 hour, consdierable old wine complexity. After 1.5 hours, lacey and fine, like an old St Julien. After 2 hours, rich, round and short, then the acidity seemed to rise and the wine became a little rigid. Tasted again the next day, it showed fruit, structure, length, complexity and was delicious. This suggests the wine has plenty of life ahead of it. 17/20 IW 13/09/09

Sauternes

2001 Ch Climens, Barsac (Half) - Beautiful nose that is so clean and pure. No sulphur. Supreme freshness and balance. Flavours still very young but the poise and control make it a joy to drink now. Such purity and length. Stunning. JH 20/03/10

1988 Ch Climens, Barsac (Half) - Incredibly youthful but just divine. Almost perfect. Awesome wine. JH 20/06/10

1983 Ch D'Yquem, Sauternes - Level possibly lower than ideal and the wine seems slightly less pure and controlled than expected. Lots of weight an dplenty of sweetness and hugely enjoyable but not quite the wow factor. JH 20/06/10