2015 Bichot Ch. Gris Nuits St. Georges Les Terrasses - have tasted several of these recently, bright light yellow color, nose of lemon and French oak and a hint of tropical fruits. Taste-wise, the wine is generous from the start, and develops a slight depth on the mid-palate, but not too much, as this wine is essentially built for enjoyment in its early years, when its light and airy brilliance will be most evident and most enjoyed. 89 points.
2011 Muzard Santenay Les Gravieres 2011 - Nose of tart and ripe red fruit, with small amounts of earth and Pinot spice. Taste-wise, the fruit is riper than some 2011s I have had (further north, Gevrey). There is a thinness though here - well-composed but fairly lightweight. Would be a fine house wine for parties this holiday season. 88 points.
1997 Gemstone - nose of cooked dark fruits, dark purple color and opaque. In the mouth, there is sweetness, glycerol, and some evident alcohol. The sweetness of fruit billows through the midpalate, then on the finish cocoa and chocolate-covered red fruits appear. Not unenjoyable but also likely not as enjoyable as it was in its first 8 years. 85 points.
2010 H. Boillot Volnay Santenots - This wine has a bright red color and a restrained nose, but the aromatics are seductive, a red fruit Pinot kiss. The wine tastes delicious as you would expect from the aromas, with red fruits and a layer of teasing tingling Pinot spice. The palate is at present still adolescent, youthful, not gangly, but promising room to grow. There is a a touch of bitterness on the finish. 93 points
1998 Ch. Palmer - The nose is a fight between savory and fruit qualities, and the savory qualities win, handily: black tea, smoke, and post-fire mixed gravel earthiness. But red fruits do swirl in to announce themselves.
The taste of the wine is surprising after assessing the aromas, as the fruits here are predominant: cherry red fruits, with some smoky ash and dark earth presenting themselves on the finish. Its harmonious composition, fine taste, and good balance are almost enough to obscure that this wine lacks the extra dimensions and commanding presence of Grand Vin. But still fine. On the verge of fulling entering its secondary phase. 92 points.
1974 Sterling Reserve CS - I tried a bottle some weeks ago and it was oddly youthful, given its age. Since then I have opened three more bottles, an they all deliver more what you expect: power, depth, dark fruits, dark tones, maturity. The nose has all of those, specifically occurring as dark fruits, smoke, cured leather, black loamy earth - qualities you taste in the mouth as well. It is an impressive and brooding wine, with lots to tell, and impressive, but would be even better if it could express joy. 94 pts.
2006 Ch. Lafite Rothschild - A color of dark purple moving to red at the rim, and a nose of Pauillac pencil lead, cedar, red flowers, Lafite red raspberries, a loam-gravel minerality, and hibiscus and black tea. The wine tastes astrigent in its youthful tannic state, with the tannins making the sweet cranberry fruit behind it taste tart - but there is ripe fruit there hiding, just not ready to come out and play yet. Let this wine continue to sleep, for a while. When it’s ready, you will enjoy a 95 pt wine.
Thanks for reading.