Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose, whilst still reasonably primary, sets high expectations; heavy with red fruit concentrate against higher tones of stems and, if you don’t swirl, an understated pot-pourri of herbs. In the mouth there is some fat, then acidity that finishes just a little tart – like under-ripe – before a very nice extra dimension of creamy fruit. The understated finish, whilst long, seems to pick-up a slightly metallic note from that acidity. I’ve never been acid averse, so despite this being less than perfect, there’s enough character here for me to buy a couple more (it’s anyway a good price) for later reflection.
Vosne-Romanée Les Malconsorts
2001 Thomas Charles Vosne-Romanée Les Malconsorts
The replacement for my last TCA infected bottle. Medium-plus ruby-red colour. The nose is deep, slightly savoury, eventually full of beef stock though spicily wide – I have to say it’s far from pretty. In the mouth it’s much better; nicely fresh, intense, wide and flavourful – it’s really very good. There’s decently fine tannin and a nice flavour in the finish. The frankly off-putting nose eventually becomes more acceptable as the beef fades, adding focus with a nice red berry note – takes 2 hours. Day 2, top to bottom it’s a super wine, but most people don’t get to day 2, hence, I can’t be overly positive.
2001 Lamarche Francois Vosne-Romanée Les Malconsorts
2001 Clos Frantin Vosne-Romanée Les Malconsorts
Medium colour. The nose is a little spicy, eventually giving up it’s red creamy-edged fruit – very understated. Like the nose, the palate is also quite understated, everything is in the right place, a little red fruit here and a little black fruit there. Well put together and quite elegant, but also quite primary. Reminds me very much of the Camille-Giroud ’01 Malconsorts tasted 6-7 months ago, no real excitement today but hope for the future.
2001 Giroud Camille Vosne-Romanée Les Malconsorts
This bottle was very cold and took some time to come round. Medium-plus colour. The nose is understated, a little spice, but takes a while for creamy red fruit to come through. The concentrated palate has fine, silky tannins and a spicy complexion to the fruit. This is a super Vosne, but is it a good Malconsorts? Revisiting an hour or so later, the nose is a little more forward with an additional black-fruit dimension. The palate remains concentrated and a little one dimensional. Certainly has the material and absolutely no hard edges, but will take some time to flower. Given the way the RSV (below) developed over longer time-frame I’d certainly expect good things.