bought on release and stored at 50 degrees, the ullage was minimal, the bottle looked great. And it was. Taking a bit of time to open, the wine melded together and became a superb drink–smoky, rich, layered red Burgundy, more red than black fruits, all in a nice package that would improve over the next decade and last several. Not at all roasted or pruney, it’s a superb red Burgundy. We talked a lot over dinner, so I have no detailed notes, but it definitely rates a 1 on the Zanotti binary scoring scale (0 = not worth drinking, 1 = worth drinking).
alan
It is always good to hear about a solid 1.
Had one of their '96 Volnay Santenots last week, opened at noon, took out a small taste to enlarge the surface area, and it was quite flamboyant at 6PM. What I found interesting was that it continued to tame down and develop subtlety as the night wore on. Very nice but obviously young yet. Too expensive now, if I recall the pricing I last saw for recent vintages.
Alan,
You drink exceedingly well! Do you drink “ordinary” Burgs (say, village level, Savignys, Bourgogne, etc.) as “everyday” wine just to accentuate the experience of drinking the wonderful grand and premier crus you have been telling us about?
Cheers,
Harry
(BTW, IIRC you mentioned a favorite restaurant in the Del Mar area on the “other” board, but I forgot the name. I’ll be in that area in the next few days to visit family for the holidays. Could you shoot me a PM with the name of that restaurant, and a little description of what it features? TIA.)
Thanks for the note Alan. Leroy CDR is often my favourite from their impressive list. So exotic. I find it especially impressive in “poor” years. For example 1997 is fabulous but not exactly a poster year for other communes.
one of my epiphany red Burgundies was the Maison Leroy 71 Clos de la Roche–another great wine.
alan