After the whites we made a short tour of duty with reds – with a fine finish:
2004 Jospeph Drouhin, Chorey-lès-Beaune
Lovely high-toned pinot fragrance – this is super – slowly starts to develop a cranberry note. The palate shows sweet, slightly dense fruit, it’s got a nice minerality to it and more dimension of fruit on the palate than you expect from Chorey. The mildly grained tannin is well-hidden in the background. This is very, very good. The empty glass smells lovely too – hows that for value…
Rebuy – Yes
2003 Joseph Drouhin, Beaune 1er Clos des Mouches
It’s a wide, slightly dense nose that slowly develops baked red fruit notes. The palate is also a little dense, showing plenty of grainy tannin – though it’s not so astringent. The fruit has a slightly roast impression, but for all that is really quite interesting. Overall this comes across a little rustic and lacking finesse. Fans of 2003 will enjoy it for sure, but it’s not my ‘bag’.
Rebuy – No
2001 Joseph Drouhin, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
In 2001 this was assembled from 4 vineyards: Borniques, Les Plantes, Les Combottes and 13 rows of Hautes-Doix. The nose starts a little dense, but slowly opens, softens and becomes more subtle; minerality somehow wrapped in fine fruit. In the mouth this is quite linear with some slightly dry but well-textured tannin. There is lovely complexity and a good length. Understated concentration (30 hl/ha this year), this is very young, but very lovely
Rebuy – Yes
1990 Joseph Drouhin, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Suchots
Deeply coloured – still. The nose is super, wide, faintly spicy and complex – tobacco notes and an impression (in the mind) first of brown but slowly changing to red. At the same time the nose slowly becomes softer with sweeter spice. In the mouth my first impression is ‘size’ – this is big – followed by plenty of dry tannin. There is quite enough concentration to buffer the tannin, and this concentration really expands on the palate. It’s hardly elegant, but it’s very impressive. I would say this is aromatically excellent and quite ‘ready’, but the palate trails behind, needing at least another 5 years in the cellar. A super bottle.
Rebuy – Yes (but I suspect little chance…)