Here are some 1984 Burgundies that I have drunk :
As soon as the friend smells the Grands Echézeaux Domain of the Romanée Conti 1984, he exclaims: “it is the first miracle”. Because the scent of this wine is to die of love. One could just smell it, without the need to drink it and it will not be the only wine that creates that feeling of crippling fullness created by the smell. We feel a charm of madness with this wine. I drank a lot of Domaine de la Romanée Conti wines and many more praised than this one. But I do not believe having been so physically touched and so enthusiastic. The tactile feeling of this wine is almost orgasmic, and I am unable to know why. His balance, the delicious salinity, an ashen tone force my understanding. The duck has a firm and juicy flesh that is exactly what it takes to prolong the ecstasy.
I take out a bottle of my musette, a Echézeaux Domaine of the Romanée Conti 1984. The eyes of my friend get wet because he did not believe that his joke would be taken seriously and he said to me: "I just celebrated there is just one month my 90th birthday. This will be the first time I’m going to drink a Romanée Conti wine ".
The bottle was heckled during transport by car. The cork resists me because it is very tight. It is of high quality and the top of the cork very blackened, smell the earth cellars of the Domaine, as is common. We are drinking and I feel my friend moved. The nose evokes the salinity of the estate’s wines. The liquid is a little cloudy but will clarify.
In the mouth, the emotion is extreme. Often people make fun of me when I say of a wine that it has the soul of the estate. It is true that it is difficult to express in words, but the soul of Brittany or the soul of Auvergne, we imagine willingly that it is not the same thing. For a wine, when you have explored more than 80 vintages of a Domaine of wine, as I did for DRC, you can understand that the representation of the soul of a wine can be formed.
There is salinity, rasp, bitterness. There is an affirmation, a profession of faith. The personality of this wine is strong, far above what I would expect from a Echézeaux. And, as always in the discreet years, the wine of the domain expresses itself loudly. What a strange journey in Burgundian Burgundy, rough and uncompromising. While this wine is not easy to read, my friend is moved and enjoys this great wine. A romsteak with French fries is the kind companion of wine. The smile of this 90 years young man is a reward. This wine of character enchanted me, beyond my expectations.
On a bar in foil, the Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru Forgeot Père & Fils 1984 surprises us with its quality. I do not know Forgeot, and I know that 1984 is not a miracle year. This wine pleases our taste buds by the precision of its definition, combined with an obvious joie de vivre. We benefit greatly.
The Bonnes-Mares Gerard Peirazeau 1984, taken also in my cellar is a Burgundy of great pleasure. After all these burgundy sometimes canonical, drink a subtle and charming young burgundy, not at all bothered by the year 1984, which is not so weak as that in Burgundy, is a secret pleasure, a kind of candy that we crunch in secret. I liked his journey in the mouth, discreet but insistent.
The Echézeaux Henri Jayer 1984 has a dress of a pretty pale pink. The nose is distinguished and while this wine reveals the talent of the one who made it. It is the pinot noir in its glory. He is fluid, distinguished, strict and elegant.
We had discussed around the table on the order of service of the wines, the one that I adopt, bordeaux before burgundy not being shared by all. The Echézeaux Henri Jayer 1984 will make everyone agree on the need to proceed in this order because this wine is dazzling with charm and subtlety. It is a great wine of Henri Jayer, one of the best of those I have drunk, vinified by this magician. The wine is incredibly Burgundian, with subtleties, bitters playing with the palate. He is incredibly seductive but enigmatic because he blurs the tracks. It’s a wine that I love very much.