biodynamie calendar said its a root day and avoid drinking. we didn’t listen and glad that we did press through. not a single dud. rare showing to see all wines were very open and singing out of the gate.
note: all wines were tasted blind, except DRC
1995 Salon
last time i had this was from my cellar was 2.5 years ago where it was showing nothing but acid, lemon and lime and mineral notes. super young and tight. 2.5 years later was like 10+ years later.
i think we agreed that it was good to pretty good but not great showing. palate gained fatness and lemon curd notes present along with that unmistakable mesnil sur oger mineral notes. some honey, caramel and slight oxidative notes resembling madeira weren’t welcome. fierce acidity at least kept things in focus. more chablis like notes came about after few hours from opening.
overall: good to pretty good. but below our expectations.
1986 chanson corton charlemagne
mid 90s sancerre nose. unmistakable and very present guava, gooseberry and slight passion fruit nose that was present fron the get go and didn’t transform to anything else. with more coaxing, certain mineral notes that were more chablis like came about. knowing its from cote d’or as it was the theme, we didn’t see any resemblance to mersault, puligny or chassagne, so by elimination and perhaps the minerality cotton was guessed correctly blind. 86 supposedly had botrytis present which explains the tropical notes.
overall: very young showing and fresh for 86, atypical, but enjoyable. long finish albeit with flavours that were exotic.
01 vs 02 clos de ducs by d’angerville was next
note: in 01 volnay got hit particularly bad by hail. yields were at least 50% down.
consensus was 02 was the better wien with more upside in aging and in its future. for me easily 4-6 years away from maturity but already in a great spot showing youthful and maturing notes. 01 had a killer volnay nose and palate entry but awkward drying tannins and angular-ness creeped up on the finish. still a pretty good drink but 02 was complete.
overall: 02 displayed impeccable balance of components and was very true to the site, vintage and all. a muscular and masculine pinot but a volnay nonetheless. 01, if you have any, i say drink up. not much if any upside… but provides good pleasure now. both wines showed better than expected.
02 Drouhin clos mouches
based on its name, i personally never purchased this wine. i hate mosquitos. they search me out and sting over thick jeans. the other night, was the rare sting from the mosquito that was actually welcome.
gevrey/nuit/pommard like. yet didn’t quite fit either. also showed gr8 balance that is seen in many 02s. good upside potential. dark red fruit, muscular but elegant at the same time.
overall: balance was key word here. elegant for a beaune not elegant as in chambolle. very good.
1990 Drouhin Charmes Chambertin
came across as a mid 90s, perhaps 96 vintage except more rounded and lusher. great perfume. blood, orange zest, crunchy red fruit and saddle leather notes. quite pretty and showing its breeding. charming indeed.
02 drouhin-laroze clos vougeot
young. very young. so much so that most thought 05, but the red fruit as opposed to purple or back fruit and perhaps more evolution albeit still young and tight had me in the 02 camp. came across as very typical echezeaux but that certain close vougeot-ness too. built for the long haul. firm, moderately spicy, layered and deep. should have an excellent future.
01 DRC Echezeaux
by far the loudest, most perfumed wine of the night and that says a lot as preceding wines were all showing open and most were singing loud. its bizarre how there is so much, baking spice and oriental spice notes present. almost as if its been added to the wine. really freaky.
expansive, open knit but at the same time not wimpy. surprisingly in a pretty place now, even with a pop and pour. no prior experience to comment on where it will go and what future has in store for it. it was a treat the other night and i still can’t get passed how intensely aromatic and how spicy the wine was. almost artificially loud, but not in a bad way.
based on our small sample 02, is a great vintage across the board, up and down the hierarchy. back track and buy wines with good provenance if you can. thats what i will do.
