Herbs, spices and some caramel on the nose too. Mature flavours on the palate, some brown sugar though imature tannins. There is less than perfect balance, but good length. Not a great bottle given the stature of the vintage.
Comments for this entry
1999
1999 Bouchard Père et Fils Chambertin
Medium-plus ruby-red. The nose starts deep and wide – still primary – slowly providing a soft, savoury bacon-fat background. In the mouth this is intense, wide and mouth-filling. There is still plenty of tannin, faintly astringent and with a bitter chocolate edge that adds a little cream before going very long in the finish. There is a ton of structure here but it’s very well matched by the extract. Excellent, and wait a minute – hmm – I can still buy this cheaper than some ‘mid-range’ 2005 premiers…!
1999 Faiveley Georges Corton Clos des Cortons Faiveley
Medium-plus ruby-red. Faint higher tones over mineral coated pure red cherry that plums a good depth if not much width – give it another hour and there’s a lovely piercing red note. In the mouth it starts narrow, slowly widening as it heads for the mid-palate. The acidity is forward and more than just a little tart but the tannins are well hidden. Everything remains tight going into the finish but I have to say there is a sneaky extra dimension of creamy flavour that expands further in the finish – certainly the most compelling part. Time gives a little more fat and interestingly a little more astringency to ‘balance’. Okay now, but I won’t open another in the next 5 years…
1999 Chézeaux Clos St.Denis
Another corked bottle, so onto number 2. Medium-plus cherry-red colour. The nose is very wide and somehow silky. It’s very slow to evolve, but first you note dried cranberry fruit before a subtle blackcurrant confiture, the last drops in the glass are sweet and red. Like the nose, my first impression of the palate is its silken texture, the second is the length – impossibly long – no other of these wines comes close and it’s not about bitter oak, it’s about a subtle sweetness that clings to the palate. There’s a real, but measured intensity about the palate, driven by perfect acidity and tannins that are there only if you search for them. Despite the concentration there is perfect balance, this wine is the ultimate in sophistication. Monumental, it’s the best wine I’ve drunk this year…
1999 Jadot Louis Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze
After 4 months without a corked bottle, bugger – corked – now I only have 4 of these left. The colour is medium, medium-plus ruby red with just a little less cherry red at the rim than the first wine. The nose starts with a waft of dark, spicy oak but this is quickly gone to reveal a dark and understatedly spicy base. Time in the glass opens the wine out into a redder and finer vernacular without much in the way of density. Lithe and rather linear the plate shows forward acidity, but such is the superb intensity that this is kept quite in balance. What tannin can be discerned against the background of acidity and intensity has just a little astringency and the faintest edge of bitterness. The length is impressive, but it is rather ‘thin’ and an extension of the flavours I associated with the tannin, just a little tart too. The nose is now rather good, but the palate needs some time and currently shows much less ripe than the Mugnier Amoureuses.
1999 Hudelot-Noellat Romanée Saint-Vivant
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.
1999 Gros Frère & Soeur Richebourg
Medium-plus ruby-red colour, still with hints of cherry. Shiny red fruit on the nose with a black undertow and a little earth, eventually a little orange too. Sweet and concentrated with real mid-palate intensity. Soft entry, well covered tannin with a slowly fading good length that maybe even has a hint of licorice. Rather like de Vogüé’s 01 Musigny this displays apparently less ripe tannin when compared to others in its flight.
1999 Clos de Tart Clos de Tart
Medium, medium-plus ruby-red core edging to a salmon pink. A nose of minerals edged with soft red fruit and the faintest trace of vanilla. The palate is wide but not fat, plenty of dry and grainy tannin and a real impression of expansion. Very long – again in a mineral rather than fruity sense. A young and impressive wine of quite some potential.
1999 Thomas-Moillard Romanée Saint-Vivant
Medium-plus ruby red. The nose is about primary black-edged fruit and a strong spicy/cedar and mineral component – eventually you can get at a tight core of red currant/berry fruit plus a little cooked meat. The palate is still quite linear with a concentrated but mineral showing and plenty of slightly grainy but ripe tannin. Good acidity, the finish doesn’t seem amazingly long, but this is a very primary showing – good if rather brawny stuff – no need to recheck for another 5 years.