weekend wines – week 19 2018

7.5.2018billn

The Spiess was a cheap and super-cheerful wine with sweetness but balanced, gushing acidity – one to be careful of in the sunshine as the bottle will empty very quickly!

1996 Guy Castagnier, Clos St.Denis
Bottle one – such a brutal level of TCA – I didn’t like how the cork smelled when pulled, and the wine did indeed prove to be devastatingly corked – so bottle 2:
Really a very compact nose – it’s certainly clean and fresh – no mushroom, no brett – only very slowly developing a little wild-strawberry – always subtle, never unlikeable. The mouth is classic for the vintage; direct, mouth-watering and almost surprisingly for a Clos St.Denis, with a lovely mid-palate vibration of minerality. In terms of overall size you could be disappointed, but in terms of its delicacy and its modest but engaging complexity, I found this a treat.
Rebuy – Yes (but not he first one of-course!)

1995 Jean Grivot, Nuits St.Georges Les Lavières
I have the impression that everyone has either given up on this vintage, or drunk them all, because I hear nothing about it anymore. But all my recent bottles have been in a fine place:
Another nose of faint strawberry, good clean aromas and a nice line. The palate has more width that the Clos St.Denis but less concentration – this seems ‘lite’ these days but it is open, transparent and engaging – no tannin worth mentioning despite the producer. Very easy to drink, transparent, tasty, accessible wine.
Rebuy – Yes

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

There is one response to “weekend wines – week 19 2018”

  1. Tom Blach8th May 2018 at 9:07 amPermalinkReply

    Agreed, Bill, 95 is looking wonderful to me and I’m glad not to have drunk mine up, just as with 96, 98 and 99. Unfortunately 93 was even more worth waiting for but I haven’t many left.
    I think people are at least starting to learn how futile continuous assessment is with these wines. Parker and co did the world such a disservice with the idea that it was all about tannin not outlasting fruit.

Burgundy Report

Translate »

You are using an outdated browser. Please update your browser to view this website correctly: https://browsehappy.com/;