The second bottle from this ‘cache’. The nose is completely lovely; a reasonabe depth but sweet and understatedly creamy. The fruit doesn’t (at least to start with) show any of the roasted character I noted with bottle 1. Silky and clean, the last impression is a little astringency though not much obvious tannin to support that. Mineral and with good acidity – the mouthwatering flavour lasts long in the mouth but always majoring on the mineral. Not super-intense, but certainly enjoyable.
Dauphin Cave du
1989 Dauphin Cave du Bonnes-Mares
Medium colour. There is a hint of roasted to the fruit but generally this is not so bad, rounded with a faint pot-pourri note. The fruit is ripe enough and actually shows a good mineral tension; not the last word in intensity, but not bad either. The acidity is just fine and you can still get a few grains of tannin too. Probably not an exceptional Bonnes-Mares, but a nice enough bottle.
1985 Dauphin Cave du Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St.Jacques
The first task was successful – the cork came out in one piece. I poured a little and the colour was pretty good, and clearly as I swirled there was some viscosity – the glycerol clinging to the side of the glass. The first aroma was of soil but it was very quickly joined by dark molasses – very clean though. In the mouth this wine exemplifies why I see 1985 and 2009 as close cousins – there is depth, good flavour, ample sweetness and in this case a little glycerol-enhanced fat – what more could you want? Well maybe just the merest hint more acidity, but it’s nit-picking really! There’s still a little tannin if you search for it and a brown-sugar dimension to the finishing flavours. Clearly an ‘easy’ wine, but equally one that’s very easy to like and enjoy.