I was in the mood for Burgundy (gee, what a surprise) and I wanted something with a bit of age on it. Rummaging in the cellar, I fell upon this (actually, this fell out on its own and almost hit my bare foot, which would have been rather discomforting).
-1996 Rene Engel Grands Echezeaux
Opened 2 hours before dinner to check, it had some nice earthy, mushroomy sweet cherries on the nose but almost nothing on the palate. However, there was a hint of something subdued, and so I decided to let this sit on the AC and hang around while I prepared dinner.
Two hours later, wow, vive la difference!
As dinner was plated, I poured this and began sniffing away… Lovely flowery aromas of earthy, almost muddy and mushroomy sweet bing cherries, with hints of spices and a profound depth that made me swoon, with the beginnings of that gorgeous funk that older Burgundy gets. The mouthfeel was almost velvety, but with a slightly fuzzy precision that was still delicious in its own imperfect way, with more of the same notes as the nose. And what a long, lovely finish, leaving you with that haunting impression of its presence that good Burgundy does.
I was surprised at how open this was (relatively speaking), considering many of the 1996s I’ve had previously from other producers were still pretty tight. This was very nice, though it did need about 2 hours of airtime and then a quick decanting into a bottle-shaped decanter to shine.
Cheers! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}