Medium, medium-plus cherry-red colour. A forward and expressive nose of vanilla-tinged red and black fruit, a creme brulee note becoming stronger with time. It’s well balanced and finely presented in an elegant, rather than powerful, way. Well made and tasty, though hardly exceptional. Good-plus.
Medium colour. The nose shows high toned berry fruits and low gamey notes. The palate is also a little gamey though again with plenty of berry fruit. More mineral than fat, this wine doesn’t show the required density for the label. Nice wine though, but more of a very good villages than a Grand Cru – certainly not worth the cash.
I’ve bought this wine from 1996 to 1999 (inclusive) but then my overstocked merchant dropped the label – I think I’ll have to pay a visit and keep my mini-vertical running… The wine is medium-plus garnet, little fading. The nose starts a little disjointed and heavy on the oak, given five minutes the oak has harmonised with a coffee topped plum and cherry pie effect – still quite understated – a cooked note spoils the overall effect a little. Direct from the cellar the fresh palate is not obviously fat, but becomes more so as the wine approaches room-temp. The tannins are of velvet and the acidity lingers into a gorgeous and complex finish – which comes as a surprise given the understated way the wine begins. If there’s one criticism, the wine seems more advanced than most ’98’s and not just on the nose – but it’s a lovely drop.
A medium-plus ruby-red, right up to the rim. The nose shows plenty of red cherry covering a deeper base of solid fruit and just a trace of secondary scents. Super intensity as you draw air through the wine, the fruit just shaded towards red. The tannins are in the background and there’s a lovely texture to the wine. Very long, but the finish is initially spoiled by an awkward showing to the acidity – but I think this must have been the cheese I was tasting (Sbrinz) as one espresso later, everything was fine. A very good and relatively young wine which improve over several years.
Medium, medium-plus ruby core fading with amber, clear, but not glintingly so, so I double decanted leaving a fine sediment behind. The vacuvined last third of the bottle was no brighter on day two. The unusual nose started very earthy and smokey – perhaps green and stalky – but this left the scene to give up a raisined, dried cherry note after 30-40 minutes. The palate is reasonably fresh with furry tannins that are starting to wane. Not obviously fat, and the acidity’s a little tart, but there’s certainly an exceptional grand cru finish – compelling in complexity and length – smokey, sour cherry and cream. Tons of interest, but the wine just seems a little disjointed. The vacuvined ‘third’ was more joined-up on day two, seeming a fatter and more intense. If the wine had shown the same on day 2 as day 1 I would have been concerned about the future, in fact I still might open up another this time next year.
Medium ruby but already looking mature with brick at the rim. This is a wine that both inspires and disappoints, a gorgeous nose and finish but the palate is a little rough. First the nose, ripe and deeply scented with cooked plums trailing off to dried currants. In the mouth the wine is quite smooth with intense fruit and grainy tannins, the problem is the acidity which is badly integrated and sharp or spiky. I’m assuming that this needed acidifying and the result lacks balance. Despite this, the finish is a very good one with the same dried currants from the nose lingering very well. Given the tannins, I’d still look to leave this for another couple of years and hopefully the acidity might be more balanced.
Deeply coloured, more purple than red. High notes to low notes take in raspberry then redcurrants finishing with creamy Victoria plums, possibly a suggestion of coffee too. The first thing that strikes you about the palate is how thick it feels in the mouth. The abundant fruit does well at hiding the medium tannins and the medium but lingering acidity. Absolutely first class, and currently drinking better than the 96, 97 & 98!
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