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2002 Puligny Montrachet Les Pucelles, Leflaive: Bright lemon core. A warm nose of guava, fig, lemon curd, cashew, candied fruit, smoke and spice. Somewhat more advanced in its development than expected. Rich mouthfeel, balanced by fresh acidity, intensely flavoured on the palate, with a long finish.
Drinking beautifully now and will see further evolution in the bottle over the next 5 – 6 years. 17/20
1986 Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, Blain Gagnard: Bright golden core. Ripe pear and figs, layered with crème brûlée, grilled hazelnuts, smoke, marzipan, dried persimmon and liquorice. Even at this age, the wine needed some time in the glass to open up. Vibrant, very harmonious and beautiful complexity and length. Drinking at peak now (no further evolution to be expected) and for next 4 - 5 years for optimum enjoyment. 18/20
2000 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint Jacques, Fourrier: An extremely well-made precise and complex Clos Saint Jacques, packed with ripe red fruit, mushroom, undergrowth, wet leaves and savoury character. Very fresh still, though starting to show some tertiary character. A velvety structure, with plenty of backbone. Persistent finish. Drink now with decanting or from 2013+ for further evolution. 17.5/20
1991 Clos de La Roche, Dujac: This nectar-like wine captivated us with its heady perfume, silky texture and lingering finish! It was not a wine that distinguished itself by its power and concentration. On the contrary, it would be described as elegant, harmonious, perfumed and rather sensual. Tinned strawberry, pot pourri, rose petal, mushroom, wet stones and earthy dominated the nose. All the elements in total harmony and beautifully integrated. Just sublime! Drinking at peak now, and for the next 4 – 5 years for optimum enjoyment. 19/20 (This was the wine of the evening for me!)
1988 Musigny Vieilles Vignes, Freddie Mugnier: This wine was a little subdued and probably could have benefitted from some decanting. Rose, rosemary, thyme, animal and leather, with just a hint of volatility, showing its age? Initially a little lacking in stuffing on the mid-palate, and time in the glass added some weight and further complexity to the wine, but it still didn't quite have the immense structure, richness and concentration that I would have expected of a great wine. So a little disappointing. (Paul said that was his last bottle!) 17/20
1986 Lynch Bages: A very herbaceous nose, layered with blueberry, violet, blackcurrant, cedar and cigar box. Well-structured, balanced, and probably could do with some decanting. Drinking well now with 2 hours of decanting! (I wasn't too keen on the overly herbaceous character, which was characteristic of the vintage, according to Richard.) 17/20
1990 Pichon Baron: A wine despite its age, still very much in its youthful state. Blue and black fruit dominated the nose, blueberry, blackberry, black cherry, showing some spice/liquorice, cigar box and cedar. Extremely well balanced with firm tannin, robust structure and a very long finish. We definitely should have decanted this wine. It hardly had time to develop in the glass. 18.5/20
So apologies to the Bordeaux contributors, I just felt that we didn’t really give the Bordeaux bottles the chance to shine!
On the restaurant, it’s a great venue for wine tasting, although the “glassage” cost could easily almost double the per head food cost…..if you insisted on changing glasses with every wine. (and they also charge breakage!) The food was of consistent quality. We hadn’t been there for almost a year and the food was pretty much the same quality. Particularly still good were the grilled pork chops and the mushroom salad. I decided to try the Wagyu beef tongue and it was quite an interesting match with the 1986 Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet! I then had the grilled prawn pasta – the prawn was a little mushy – so I took a chunk of Richard’s pork chop to go with the well-flavoured tomato-sauced pasta!! Yummy (but probably not the best dish to go with the wines)!
Not quite sure what is going on with the photos- they just refuse to be uploaded!
Comment by Paul aka HK's "burghound" (who kindly forwarded this to me): I felt the Criots was pretty and in every sense a grand cru, but it was a bit flat and lacked vibrancy. While I'd agree it would last for a few more years, I don't think it would benefit from further aging.
ReplyDeleteThe Leflaive was still quite primary and while I was impressed by the energy of the wine, it really needs more time in the cellar.
No argument on the Dujac, it was the best wine of the evening by a good margin. The Fourrier was also showing well with the old vine sap on full display.
As for the Musigny, I thought it was too "quiet" for its good, especially after tasting the Dujac first (ie. a younger and more innately powerful wine). It did not show well at the onset but towards the end of the evening it gained weight in the glass. Nevertheless, not the best bottle I've had but it was my last bottle.
The Pichon Baron was totally not ready for business. It was tight, concentrated to the point of being monolithic, the oak was not integrated and really needs to spend more time in the cellar. In contrast, the Lynch Bages was more mature, more detail and more cut which as a burgnut I appreciate. While I think the Pichon Baron is probably the better wine, I preferred drinking the Lynch Bages that evening.