1993 Burgundy Lunch

WINE TALK
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WIMPS 1993 BURGUNDY LUNCH - The Ledbury, London (6/4/2009)

Another great WIMPS lunch. It looked like it was goig to be an interesting line up. Was the 1993 vintage going to provide a day of closed and hard to drink wines or were we up for some iron fist in the velvet glove?
Our wines made lunch a pleasure. two really nice white wines, a great flight of volnays, an interesting mystery wine, and then some big boys
A big thank you to everyone at my table for their genourosity with the wine
The food as always was fantastic as Brett wove his magic with potatoes, and has found a spanish pig which looks like venison
Manu and the team did another great job with the wine service and in trying to keep all of us on our side of the Ledbury, well behaved and not taking over the whole place and then finally moving everyone out before dinner service
Looking forward to the 1993 vintage relook in 10 years
Amuse of Brett’s World Famous Prawn Cigars (and lets not forget the Bacon Brioche, which i think with champers and some scrambled eggs would make the perfect breakfast)

  • 1989 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année - France, Champagne
    WIMPS 1993 Burgundy Lunch- medium gold color, nutty biscuity nose, plenty of nice small bubbles. at first visit some oxidation on the nose and the mouth. leaving it in the glass helped as it began to show more freshness and some honey. i thought better in the mouth than on the nose. a nice glass of champagne but not great. We are still searching for a charlie that KP likes (91 pts.)

“Risotto” of New Potatoes with Butter Poached Rabbit and Mousserons

  • 1993 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
    WMPS 1993 Burgundy Lunch- i wish i could make this my house white wine. it pours out of the bottle and it is shimmering with a bit of that greenness to the yellow which you know is going to mean good white burg. the nose has the signature laflaive mix of petrolly, minerally with some wood. clean and crisp on the way in, a touch of reduction, honey, stone and it goes and goes. a glass at the end of lunch (5:00pm) tasted as good or better than the first one (92 pts.)
  • 1993 Louis Jadot Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru
    WIMPS 1993 Burgundy Lunch- Light to medium gold color, looked a little more developed then the leflaive batard. on the nose a touch of apricot and some oxidation. it really didnt give much for the first hour then started to become a bit nuttier, like hazelnuts. it filled out a bit as well but never really sang. perhaps, like in real life, it is hard to shine while standing next to Anne-Claude (91 pts.)

Tarte Fine of Cooked and Raw Cepes with Grape Mustard and Iberian Pork Fillet

  • 1993 Domaine Marquis d’Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
    WIMPS 1993 Burgundy Lunch-Deep dark color, dark fruit on the nose but somewhat muted , a slight minerally nose. i was quite disappointed as this wine, when tasted a few months ago was starting to show brilliance, but not today. some hi toned dark chery flavors and a bit of a bitter finish. well structured tannins but this either was very shut or just not a great bottle…Shame… (91 pts.)
  • 1993 Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
    WIMPS 1993 Burgundy Lunch- Deep dark color, looked very young for a 16 year old bottle.a nose of warm spicy red fruit with a bit of funk or mustiness around the edges. left in the glass for a while it mostly blew off and i was left with a big brooding glass of killer pinot. deep red fruits, very long finish and the potential of a very long life. if not for that bit of taint i think this bottle could have run the table for WOTD (93 pts.)
  • 1993 La Pousse d’Or Volnay 1er Cru Clos de la Bousse d’Or - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
    WIMPS 1993 Burgundy Lunch- slight lightening around the edges, on the nose a nice mix of red fruits with a little gaminess. this seemed to be the most developed of the three volnays. tannins where well integrated, round and full, mix of primary and secondary flavor, medium long finish. great fruits. very good bottle of wine (92 pts.)
  • 1993 Giaconda Pinot Noir - Australia, Victoria, North East, Ovens Valley
    WIMPS 1993 Burgundy Lunch- mystery wine. cloudy lightening in the glass and a fruity funky greenish nose. hi toned in the mouth tasted a bit over the hill. most guesses at the table were that it was village morey or older burgundy. we were all wrong. a nice experiment but a bit one dimensional and very rustic (89 pts.)


  • 1993 Domaine Joseph Roty Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Fontenys - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
    WIMPS 1993 Burgundy Lunch- Youthful dark color, sweet and spicy fruit nose. deep flavors, lots of fruit and high tones, balance was good and a bit forward. you could feel the hand of Roty in this one. if this wine had been a woman , she would prbly not have been the most sophisticated one at the table but am sure she would have been the most fun!! (93 pts.)
  • 1993 Domaine Robert Arnoux Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Corvées Pagets - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
    WIMPS 1993 Burgundy Lunch- dark color, clear. this wine showed a little purple fruit and i cant quite say it was lean or it was mean it just didnt seem to be very round or lush after the three volnays. like the lovely woman stuck in a room of leggy super models, just hard to compete. Would be nice to try it on its own as this is early Pascal Lachaux wine (90 pts.)
  • 1993 Faiveley Latricières-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru
    WIMPS 1993 Burgundy Lunch- dark color, a nose of dark fruits, some spiceyness and some saddle leather. in the mouth this was concentrated but not heavy, medium weight, very well balanced and long. bright fruits with a nice warm finish to it. very well made wine that is giving pleasure now and is in a good spot of development. imagine this will be very good in 5+ years (94 pts.)

Wagyu Rump Steak with Brochette Bourguignonne

  • 1993 Emmanuel Rouget Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
    WIMPS 1993 Burgundy Lunch- Dark color, almost verging on purple. sweet dark fruits on the nose (one or two on the table said a touch of cork, i didn’t find it, just a touch of earthiness) . this wine was concentrated and deep. it just kept on rolling in your mouth and letting you taste more and more young fruit. this wine is in very early stages of development and seems to have a long life ahead. was a pleasure to drink now but hope to be able to try again in 10-15 years when it should be glorious. hard not to vote this one WOTD (95 pts.)
  • 1993 Domaine Jean Gros Richebourg - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru
    WIMPS 1993 Burgundy Lunch- had a more developed appearance than some of the other wines as the edges were lightening. dark fruits on the nose with a nice smokey bacon aroma in the background. The mouth gave a nice balance of developed earth flavors & ash with some dark sweet fruits. medium long finish. a well made wine that drinks very well now and should for the next view years. went well with the wagyu and a real pleasure to drink (94 pts.)

after this light meal there was a nice cheese plate and some tokay (sorry peter i dont recall which one) and then Nigel felt as if we hadn’t had enough and ordered Souffle for everyone. a very generous man (gourmand??) thank you very much Nigel. A great great meal!!!
Posted from CellarTracker

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Very nice job!

These 93’s are really starting to drink well. The 93 Rouget Cros sounds delicious.
The 93 Rouget Echezeaux is not to bad either.

Thanks.

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don
you are right
they starting to show well but still pretty young

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What a fantastic line up; I kept thinking “to just have been there for that!” As Don says, I loved reading about the Rouget Cros Parantoux, but all the wines sound fantastic. I think the '93’s are just starting to come around. Great report and great read; thanks!

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I’m jealous!

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Great notes Ken. Every time I read about or drink 1993s, it always reminds of how painful most of them were to sell when they were released. I had to give CASES of Mugnier Musigny in magnums away for $799!! per case! Now look what happens a few years later. 1993 Clos des Ducs…forget it. I ended up keeping most of it and I’m certainly happy about it now.

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I think some of the 93’s are starting to show a little leg, a little though, not all of it
I think the volnay’s were a great flight, really nice to compare the three and I would love to do thAt again
I was a bit surprised no one brought any Rousseau
Next up, Yerra Yerra no1 vertical weds and than Faiveley night at the Square

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The Rousseaus would have probably blown many of the wines away. I drank a CSJ three weeks ago and I can still taste it. Fabulous wine.

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interesting you bring up the mugnier moose max. we discussed this at lunch and almost brought a bottle
many at the table felt it is still closed down and where that maybe the case i dont think that wine will ever come around. i dont think freddie was as focused back then.
i last had it in dec when it got blown off the table bt some 90 jayer ech and some rousseau chambertin

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Terrific notes. I just love '93 burgs. A 93 Rousseau Chambertin and a 93 Drouhin Moose are in competition for the finest wine I’ve yet had the privilege to drink.

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Thanks for the notes and appreciate all the vintage thoughts. I really like the vintage but don’t have enough bottles to visit very often.

Jason

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thanks for the notes, I’m having a homer simpson moment right now reading them

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I had the sheer dumb luck of finding a bottle of '93 La Tache in ~2000 at something like 300$. We drank it for holidays in 2001 which was also dumb, but luck would have it that the bottle showed brilliantly.

Has the '93 Bousse… a Gordon Ramsey’s last summer. Beautiful stuff. Probably more in line with above, but we weren’t having anything else. Here I am enjoying it :

A.

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Opened a bottle in October but it was an infant. I think it is a truly magnificent wine but about another 10 years away from showing its full potential. Have faith on that wine. It’s going to take some time but it’s all there. The one wine I still can’t find interesting is Ponsot Clos de la Roche 1993. I have been enjoying the Griotte quite regularly but I still find the CLR out of whack with too much acidity and not enough fruit.

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max
did you notice on the CdR notes i posted that there was no ponsot???
i guess none of us get him either

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Hey Ken,
What’s the deal with your Avatar??

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One of the interesting things here was the charm with which the wines from Gouges and Faiveley revealed themselves.As with older Montille, the reputation for toughness is overdone, it’s just that they aren’t very friendly on the way-one of the reasons they are so pure when ready I think. While vintage generalisations are just that there was a remarkable consistency of achievement here. The sample of the Gros Richebourg I tried was woody and a little dull but I attribute that to the fact it had become too warm. Grivot’s Nuits Boudots was magnificent as were the Faiveley Echezeaux and Latricieres. The Rouget Cros Parentoux was bright purple like a cask sample!
I particularly enjoyed two rustic wines from Le Royer-Girardin , Beaune Clos Des Mouches and Pommard Grands Epenots, and Chandon De Briailles Corton Clos Du Roi was intensely seductive in a country way.
The whole thing was exhilarating and informative and we should now settle down to enjoy these wines one at a time rather than en masse.

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hey peter
how are you ?
was wondering when we would see you over on this forum
the avatar, its anne claude leflaive, i have been enjoying alot of her wines lately so thought i would put her up there
it stands out a bit against alot of the younger models other people put up so will prbly change it soon
k

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Thanks for the notes Ken. I am a huge '93 fan. I haven’t dipped into my stash lately but this reminds me that it is about time.