Fixin 1er Cru "Clos de la Perrière" Monopole 2000, Joliet Père & Fils

This domaine is the first I visited on a tasting trip on the Côte d'Or back in 1993. Along with two friends -- all dressed in blazers and ironed slacks -- we rang the pull bell with trepidation. A huge chap with a beard opened the door after five minutes and asked "Vous vendez quelque chose?". Despite this cherished memory I'm not sentimental about the wine. This Fixin starts with a lovely bright ruby colour with a foxy rim and offers up a flat nose of hotel breakfast strawberry jam with a tinny edge. After inhaling really hard I pick up some cherry and soft leather. But the aromas are underwhelming. Well-balanced and pleasantly mature on the palate. The trademark tannins from the upper slopes of the Côte de Nuits below the forest-capped hill have softened with age. The sort of wine that a tourist in Dijon would enjoy with a boeuf bourguignon at Au Moulin A Vent. Decent, obviously Burgundian pinot but not striving to be anything special.