Enjoyment tinged with disappointment: Two top wines, if I hadn’t seen the labels I would have enjoyed them very much, but I did – one in retrospect was disappointing:
1999 Clos de Tart
Medium, medium-plus ruby-red core edging to a salmon pink. A nose of minerals edged with soft red fruit and the faintest trace of vanilla. The palate is wide but not fat, plenty of dry and grainy tannin and a real impression of expansion. Very long – again in a mineral rather than fruity sense. A young and impressive wine of quite some potential. Rebuy – Yes
2000 Domaine Leflaive, Chevalier-Montrachet
Not so much full-on oak on the nose as many grand crus from Leflaive, but plenty of toasty bread, tight fruit and eventually higher alcoholic notes. In the mouth my first impression is disappointment; soft, rather unfocused but good acidity. The wine then wakes a little with an impressive burst of complexity on the mid-palate that holds into a long – if rather oak driven – finish. It’s long and has some undoubted complexity but maybe I’ve caught it on a bad day as there’s no real focus or spark. Rebuy – Maybe
Maybe – because it’s a very good wine, but if this bottle is representative, then it’s not as good as it should be!