Bottle 79 of 320. The cork easily slides out in one piece – but what a disappointing looking thing – tiny compared to a villages cork from 08. Still, they say size isn’t everything! Medium colour – perfectly clear with just a hint of amber at the rim. Clean smelling, some dried leaves but no obvious fruit to start with, time adds some wet leaves and damp soil too. A narrow, soft and sweet entry but with good acidity and then suddenly there’s tannin in the mouth. Plenty of mid-palate flavour that seems to be molten essence of barrel and perhaps some minerality – much nicer than it sounds and is very complex and very long. The finishing flavours include in their complexity a hint of something volatile and also a hint of something oxidised. Far from seamless, but a wine that offers something new with every sniff and every taste. Lovely, but despite plenty of tannin, seems to be losing a little cohesion – if you have some of the the other 319 bottles I wouldn’t think that they will get better. On day two – despite overnighting in the fridge – too much oxidation for enjoyment.
Richebourg
1988 Gros Anne Richebourg
2007 Gros Anne Richebourg
2007 Gros A-F Richebourg
2007 Gros Frère & Soeur Richebourg
2005 Romanée-Conti Richebourg
A wide nose – not so deep and focused as the Vivant, but rather fine and edged with higher-tones and caramel. After 30 minutes there is more definition and focus with a lovely floral aspect. On the palate the effect is very specific; it stains your tongue with complex flavours – but without apparent weight – now that’s impressive. Faintly furry tannin, super-wide and beautifully textured. I don’t think this wine is showing all it has, but what it does show is completely stunning – a wow wine.
1997 Grivot Jean Richebourg
1997 Gros A-F Richebourg
2005 Clos Frantin Richebourg
After the frankly brilliant wines that preceded this, unfortunately we didn’t quite finish with a bang – this was rather unknit and apparently needs some time to settle: Deeply coloured. The nose at first is a little uninspiring – wide but ill-defined – slowly it improves and provides a little coffee depth. The palate is lithe with fairly well covered tannin, but it’s the cream-edged fruit that impresses the most – certainly the most striking of any wine here. The length is also, frankly, superb, but overall this is a wine today of parts and potential rather than cohesion. I’d happily drive some distance to taste it again once it’s settled down though!