What an interesting nose, open, forward and effusive, Slowly evolving, it has both width and depth and is savoury and meaty rather than fruit driven, undergrowth too like turning over piles of brown leaves. Understated entry but then there’s an explosion on the mid-palate before slowly fading into the finish. For me this is an unusual but rather compelling RSV, certainly not the greatest I ever tasted but very fine for all that – I’d be rather pleased if I found a bottle or two in my Christmas stocking!
1991
1991 Remoissenet Père et Fils Montrachet
Golden. Real depth on the nose, but initially it’s a little diffuse – certainly vs the two Domaine Leflaive wines, hints of butterscotch. Where this wine excels is in it’s length, certainly longer than the Leflaive wines, but without their overall class and texture. Still a fantastic wine by ordinary measures.
1991 Thomas-Moillard Romanée Saint-Vivant
Disappointed then impressed, then disappointed again. Disappointed that I’ve opened this too young, impressed by how young this wine still is, then disappointed because of taint. The colour still shows a little cherry-red hue to the deep core, moving to ruby at the rim. The nose starts both wide and deep, reminiscent of the 2001, but soon turns a little metallic and slowly an edge of taint develops. Palate is both nicely balanced and deep – but taint for certain.
1991 Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Vieilles Vignes
A vintage of hail, this was the ‘two-week triage with tweezers’ harvest. Only 15 hl/ha (Bonnes-Mares was down at 9!). I’ve read reports that this is not a typical Chambolle but on this performance it is a fantastic wine. Looks younger than the ’88 Bonnes-Mares that precedes it, but despite both depth and an engaging complexity after the previous wines the nose is relatively understated. The palate is dense without being fat, well delineated and shows a little rasp to the the tannins in the finish – but it’s a long and tasty finish. This wine still seems to speak of more to come in the future. Whilst the ’99 certainly has an extra flourish on the finish, side-by-side I’m surprised to see a little more intensity to the fruit of this wine. Luckily I’ve tasted (actually drunk with dinner) this wine twice in just over a year and this was a consistent showing. Very fine wine.
1991 Gros Michel Vosne-Romanée Clos des Réas
1991 Ponsot Griotte-Chambertin
The weather was hot, so this wine overnighted in the fridge before being decanted. I left it in the decanter for an hour before drinking by which time it had already warmed up to 14/15°C. A medium-plus ruby core but moving to amber at the rim. Initially the nose gave a fabulous blast of bloody and aging tertiary fruit notes, then it started to close up giving only a cedar aroma – at this point I was starting to worry about taint. In the mouth there was lovely volume, just a little grain to the end of the tannins and lingering acidity, however, there are also waves of roast fruit and meat flavours that cling to your palate. Atypical in delivery, but very impressive none-the-less. The problem was that the suspicion of taint didn’t leave me for the first glass, so the wine that wasn’t fully enjoyed as I spent most of the while thinking, ‘what would this wine be like if . . . . ‘ In the end the day was saved, the cedar note receded to be replaced by raspberry jam and chocolate notes.
1991 Drouhin Joseph Griotte-Chambertin
1991 Faiveley Joseph Corton Clos des Cortons Faiveley
Deep ruby colour almost to the rim. The nose sucks you in with damp soil, marmite, cooked fruits and a ‘top-end’ of kirsch. In the mouth it’s fat and sweet – still with mouth-wrapping tannins. Good acidity too. Medium-plus length. A few more seconds on the finish and I would have said ‘superb’, now I’ll just have to stick with ‘almost superb’. Still years ahead of it.
1991 Delarche Marius Corton Renardes
Deep ruby colour showing just a little amber at the rim. The nose has deep, cooked black cherries and much soil and undergrowth. Still tannic with refreshing acidity, there is nicely concentrated fruit which finishes reasonably long, ending on a note of licorice. This is a rough, tough Corton – just how I like them, but is spoiled a little by a consistent astringency. Still pretty good though.