Medium ruby-red colour – perhaps a little muddy. For the first 2 hours this is a ’so what’ wine, a nose that seems a little roast and shows flavours that offer little interest and no charm. Very slowly the nose takes on a little width, and whilst far from effusive seems a little fresher. The palate slowly becomes fatter and develops more complexity – its best ‘angle’ is certainly the mix of lingering flavours, though the acidity and tannin are pretty good.
Medium-plus colour right to the rim. The nose is a really interesting and characterful mix of chalk and chocolate, wide dark fruit and fainter floral elements – super. Smooth and rather linear in the mouth, but you are borne the dark-fruit finish on fine acidity. It lingers very well but the interest is today only on the nose and finish – maybe a few years will pad-out the palate too.
From a half-bottle. Medium-plus ruby-red. A nose that remains relatively understated; faint red fruit overlain with equally faint, sweet caramel. Some fat, concentrated and with perfect acidity – this really dances across the palate. The tannins retain some grain but are on the wane. I rather fell-out with c.97-98 Grivots as unbalanced tannic monsters, but this is lovely – I’m happy to have a few in the cellar.
Medium-pale ruby-red. The nose is heavy with the musky scent of strawberry, raspberry and the smoky stems – it’s a beauty. The palate has a soft entry that nicely widens with the help of understated acidity. The equally soft tannin is still there as an undercurrent as you head into a finish of creamy baked red fruit and still just a little bitterness – here for the first time the acidity is not so seamless. As is usual for this village cuvée in a reasonable vintage, it’s still not quite ready to drink at 12 years of age, but I’m happy there are more in the cellar!
Medium garnet red colour. The nose started with a transient whiff of oak before settling into a wide, high-toned and faintly estery and sweet vista. The palate is soft until you reach the (still) forward tannin on the backend. Good mouth-watering acidity and reasonable length. Versus the last showing I find the aromatics less interesting but the palate is much more mature. No rush but this is coming closer to maturity.
Medium-pale red with a strong amber caste. The nose started with a whiff of oak before settling for quite some time into a dirty, almost fixed sulfur motif. It wasn’t fixed as extended aeration brought a denser red fruit that eventually became more elegant and redcurrant in style. Good acidity with quite some extension in the mid-palate – this punch is delivered with little overt density but still impresses. The tannin has reasonably fine grain but still needs a little time to provide a perfect texture. This is not a powerhouse wine, but despite the initially disappointing aromatics there’s still some interest here.
Medium garnet core with a more mahogany rim. The nose started wide and forward with bloody, earthy tones. Plenty of time in the glass and you settle to a mineral, raisined cranberry expression, very lovely. The palate is much more understated and lithe, still with just a faint ‘jarr’ to the fine tannin. The acidity is good and you’ll find an equally good intensity from the mid-palate into the finish. Could still do with another 3 or so years in the cellar, but no crime to drink now.
(From Magnum) Medium, medium-plus ruby-red, and a little brighter than the 75cl bottle that I last opened. The nose takes time to get into it’s stride; starting with faint smoke and a slightly estery width, but there is an ever-sweetening and intensifying core of red fruit that eventually becomes more floral – though it’s a heavy rather than refined scent – impressive and moreish all the same. The slowly intensifying fruit on the nose is mirrored by the taste, always building in the mouth, just a transient petillance too. Good acidity and dry but not blocky tannin and long with a dark-fruit aspect to the finish. The stems don’t seem to engender the fresh purity of some wines, but the complexity is there for all to see. Very impressive.
Medium colour with just a hint of amber. This is a sniffer’s wine, subtle and complex – only slowly widening and becoming softer. This is also rather understated in the mouth; it has good freshness, nice transparency – again a subtle complexity – but you have to work hard to find all these elements. Long with a faint diminuendo. You would easily lose this in a large tasting.
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