1995 rené engel vosne-romanée 1er les brulees

14.2.2010billn

engel-brulees

Yes I know it’s (yet) another Vosne, but my 1999 Pavelot Dominode was corked – honest – at least this is a good bottle 😉

1995 René Engel, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Brulees
Medium rusty-red colour, more rust than red at the edges. Forward aromas of part fresh, part baked red fruits over a sterner and much more mineral depth – a raspberry jelly aroma is one of the last from the glass. Impact in the mouth – this isn’t a wine that widens across the palate, it starts at full width. Velvet tannin that is faintly edged with astringency and a fresh burst of dimension across the mid-palate. The mineral aroma is also reflected in the flavours. A success! The fruit flavours remain relatively primary, take that together with the slight astringency and I would guesstimate that this is at least 5 or 6 years from being ‘mature’
Rebuy – Yes

Interesting eh? A premier cru that needs 20 years to be mature, yet most publications tell us to drink in the first 5 years…

Agree? Disagree? Anything you'd like to add?

There is one response to “1995 rené engel vosne-romanée 1er les brulees”

  1. Thomas Blach14th February 2010 at 11:30 pmPermalinkReply

    It is a very odd state of affairs, and the main reason why some people don’t get on with burgundy, I think. How long did it take you to realise that most of the information out there was wrong? I found it quite hard to learn to disregard the advice of experts.

    • billn16th February 2010 at 5:42 amPermalinkReply

      I think Tom, it was when I had the opportunity to drink 88s and 85s when they should have been way past their peak, way back in about 2000. Only one was perfectly ready, the rest were young, virile and tannic – clearly not ready. They were a mix of Gevrey/Morey villages and Beaune 1ers – clearly grand crus would have amplified the point further.

      Almost anybody starting out will have access only to ‘received wisdom’ and younger wines – these bottles put paid to received wisdom for me. Without similar tasting opportunities, how can anyone ‘get’ burgundy if all the critics (and let’s not leave merchants off the hook) talk nonsense on drinking dates(?) I have no issue with some people preferring young wines to old wines – they are two entirely different experiences, but ‘critical’ advice would still have them drinking wines when a significant portion wil be closed. More for us I suppose!

      In retrospect, I maybe bought too many 05s, I will be 63 when they reach 20, and clearly the (red) drinking plateau is likely to be during my 65-90th years…

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