TN: 1996 Laurent Serie Rare (3/27/04)

WINE TALK
1

March 27, 2004
1996 Laurent Serie Rare Red Burgundies
Non-blind
served in flights of 2 in the order listed below. Tasted out of Riedel
Sommelier Burgundy glasses.

Nuits St. Georges:

  1. Les St. Julien
    nose: dark fruits, light vanilla
    palate: medium body, cherry fruit, light chocolate, light
    vanilla, lightly tart
    Score: B+

  2. Les Charmottes
    nose: light leafy, tart cherry, light asparagus, asparagus
    grows in the glass over time
    palate: medium body, forest floor, leafy, lightly tart
    Score: C (OTH??)

  3. Les Corvees-Pagets 1er
    nose: very light oak, light char
    palate: light-medium body, light veggie, light leafy, smoky,
    light char
    Score: D

  4. Les Porets St.Georges 1er
    nose: maple syrup candy (no I’m not kidding, others got it too) A nice nose actually.
    palate: medium body, lightly reduced fruit, dark fruits, light smoke, light leafy
    score: C

  5. Les St. Georges 1er
    nose: light fecal, earthy, light chocolate
    palate: tart cherries and smoke
    score: B-

  6. Les Cailles 1er
    nose: dark earth, very light brett
    palate: full body, earthy, light smoke, dark fruits
    score: B+


    Morey St. Denis:

  7. Les Pierres Virants
    nose: nice earthy character, very very light oak
    palate: leafy, light earth, smoke, light char
    score: B-

  8. Morey St. Denis
    nose: dark cherry, milk chocolate, tree bark
    palate: leafy, chocolate, light vanilla, smoke, bitter
    score: C

  9. Les Monts-Luisants 1er
    nose: sweet nose
    palate: medium body, smoke, char, dark fruit, vanilla, char, burnt, astringent
    Score: C

  10. Les Millandes 1er
    palate: chocolate, dark cherries, light leafy, light oak, vanilla, light stemmy
    score: B+

  11. Clos Sorbets 1er
    nose: fresh strawberry, vanilla, milk chocolate
    palate: milk chocolate, strawberry, very light leafy
    score: A-

  12. Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
    nose: spicy, cherry, strawberry, light oak
    palate: medium tree bark, dark fruit, spice, very very light earth, good balance
    score: A-

Commentary: none of these wines impressed me. I’m thinking the scores for 11 and 12, and maybe 10 are a touch high but they were just much better than the predeeding wines so maybe that explains the scores in retrospect. I’m not the most knowledgeable burg fan around, but I know a little. And I trust my palate and the palates of some of my fellow tasters. Some were very critial and may post notes, others were less critical. I fell nearer to the more critical but not the most critical.

One of my big problems is I cannot put together a consistent story. The Les Charmottes NSG seemed almost over the hill. Color was fading, flavor profile seemed wrong. The 1er crus mostly showed charred oak and very little fruit. Now I tried to argue they were closed but the Clos de La Roche should have been VERY closed if the 1ers were closed. But the Clos de La Roche had good oak, nice balance, good fruit, no char, no smoke. So this leads me to conclude that none of them were closed and the oak treatment, very toasty barrels, just overwhelmed the fruit in most of the wines. I don’t mind oak, I’m not an oak-a-phobe. But this was astringent oak at times, charred most of the time. Just “low quality” oak comapred to the fruit. So the wines, to my palate, were not only under fruited, but poorly oaked. I’d only consider drinking the Les Millandes 1er, the Clos Sorbets 1er and the Clos de La Roche but I’m not sure I’d seek them out.