TN: 1999 Domaine Leroy Corton-Renardes

  • 1999 Domaine Leroy Corton-Renardes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru (3/15/2012)
    This is a glorious treat of a wine. Bright red cherry color. A nose that draws you in and takes you away to Pinot paradise. Glorious notes of red cherry, violet, spice, minerals, and a lurking, complex earthy note. Any description simply doesn’t do justice to how the bouquet of this wine, which unquestionably shows the simultaneous power and finesse of Pinot Noir at its best. In the mouth, the intensity and power of the wine is striking, yet it boggles the mind how elegant and balanced it remains. The red cherry fruit explodes on the palate, and there’s a way in which it’s completely dominant in the wine because it is so pure and so delightful, but that would give a wine of this magnitude short-schrift. The violet, earth, and mineral notes are the adrenaline of this wine, and it gives it that uncanny power that leaves the impression that drinking this is an intense experience. What a wine – that’s only enhanced by the finish, which sails on and delightfully provides a coda of each aspect of this glorious treat. A+

Posted from CellarTracker

Tom:

Thanks for the note. Sounds like a splendid bottle. Am I correctly inferring that you think the wine is ready to drink now? I’ve not opened many 1999s yet.

Thanks for the note from what must be one of the greatest vintages. I can only imagine that the wine would have another 30+ good years if you cared to cellar it but a testament to Leroy that it drank so well now.

Don – you raise an important point I left out of the note. And Anthony comes to it. This is definitely a joy to drink now. But it’s a powerful wine with still good tannins on the back end. There is so much wine here, I don’t even know if I could say that it’s “ready” to drink – only that it is a genuine pleasure giver now. Although there’s no doubt in my mind this will drink well for … I would imagine at least 20 years, if not easily more. It is a powerhouse. I’d say there’s no need to rush to drink up.