Medium ruby-red colour with a hint of amber at the rim. A very deep, wide, earthy and impressive nose. Mouthfilling, still with plenty of drying tannin. Given the nose and structure this slips disappointingly unobtrusively into the finish – but it’s one very long, if slightly oaky finish! In the end the astringent (though ripe) tannins dominate the mid-palate and finish a little too much for current enjoyment. Taking stock there’s a modicum of maturity on the nose and surely a great grand cru nose at that. If the nose hints at maturity the palate is way too young; it’s concentrated and long but the structure is dominant today. When the palate catches up I think this will be a stunning bottle.
Hudelot-Noellat
2002 Hudelot-Noellat Clos de Vougeot
Medium-plus cherry-red. The nose is wide, but starts rather indistinct – black skinned fruit edged with vanilla slowly comes into focus – slowly tightening to show a meaty base. In the mouth this is a lithe and interesting wine that shows super balance and medium-plus length. Very good Clos de Vougeot!
2002 Hudelot-Noellat Richebourg
Medium ruby-red colour. The nose is quite tight, meaty with aspects of black fruit but gives little away. You need to wait quite some time for more exuberance, precise red berry notes slowly emerge. Plenty of grainy tannins and super length are the first impression, but what’s missing is a little excitement. There’s still some oak apparent on the finish. Density certainly, good mouth-feel and no easily spotted faults, but tonight it’s missing the spark.
2002 Hudelot-Noellat Romanée Saint-Vivant
Medium, medium-plus cherry-red. Both depth and width on the nose, mixing meaty and red berry notes, eventually coated with vanilla. Really super texture with density and acidity to match. Finally a slight rasp to the tannins as they fade into the spicy and very long finish. Yes, this is a real RSV – excellent.
1983 Hudelot-Noellat Romanée Saint-Vivant
Excellent medium-plus colour, clear and bright, ruby cored with an amber edge. The nose initially disappoints majoring on sous-bois elements – slowly it builds meat then chocolate aspects before finally giving up spicy red fruit. On the palate acidity is the dominant aspect, still coupled to mouth wrapping tannins of some grain that dominates what fruit there is. There is one saving grace, the finish is very long and has a compelling raisin aspect to it. That the wine easily held-up in the glass, indeed improved over 2 hours, implies that this wine isn’t simply over-the-hill, rather that it was never a great wine – the fruit was perhaps never a match for the structure. An interesting, but ultimately disappointing wine.