TN: 2005 Pontet-Canet, 1983 Cos, 1990 Chambolle Charmes, 2002 Echezeaux for Memorial Day Weekend

WINE TALK
1

First time posting notes here so go easy please! I had a bunch of tedious, heads-down time work I needed to get done this weekend, so I decided to spice things up by opening a fun bottle each afternoon/evening. Photo from yesterday evening; wine in the glass is the '90 Charmes.

Friday - 2005 Château Pontet-Canet: Wow. A beast of a wine. I had already double decanted this for a couple hours before my first glass, and it was so painfully young that I went back and poured it back into the decanter to try a few hours later. Dark purple, close to black. Black fruit and cigar box on the nose, ripe black and blue fruit on the palate, finely grained but overwhelming tannins. Long, long finish. If you have any bottles of this don’t touch them for 10 years. I’m going to forget about the other two bottles I have of this. This wine tastes like a baby, and has a long way to go until it hits primetime.

Saturday - 1983 Château Cos d’Estournel: Cork gave me trouble and left a bit of a mess, even with the Durand. Garnet, lighter at the rims, darker than a 1983 Pichon Lalande which is my benchmark for this vintage from my limited experience with aged Bordeaux. On the nose: Uh oh, this may be on its last legs or beyond. I give the first glass a mulligan, and after the bottle has been open around an hour the funk blew off and the wine really opened up. Damp earth and red/black fruit on the nose. Fruit definitely in the tertiary phase on the palate, but the tannins surprised me. Long finish. I don’t think this wine is going to get any better, but well stored bottles definitely have years of life left in them.

Sunday - 1990 Domaine Amiot-Servelle Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes: My first time having a Chambolle, which has become my favorite village, with this much age on it. Light, crystal translucent reddish copper color. Raisin and dried cherry on the nose along with Chambolle flowered perfume. Subtle tannins, not much of an oak presence. Light-bodied. Surprisingly long finish, and the lingering taste on the palate is the perfume - beautiful finish.

Monday - 2002 Daniel Bocquenet Echezeaux: My first Grand Cru from the Côte de Nuits. Ruby in the glass, fading to rose on the perimeter. Bouquet of sharp black cherry and black pepper. Medium+ body, tannic. On the palate I get a lot of pepper and Vosne-like spice, more red fruit than black. Surprised at how spicy this is. As the wine gets more air, I both smell and taste more savory notes, but the spice reigns supreme, including the long finish.

Overall, I think my favorite aspect of all of the wines was the finish on the Chambolle. It was delicate and delicious. Now back to work, and my next glass of the Echezeaux. (Who am I kidding, I’ll be back on here in 20 minutes checking for replies).

2

Hahaha, Reply given :slight_smile:.

Really cool group of wines. Very glad to read your note on the '90 Chambolle. So glad it was drinking well and with such a long, substantive finish. Those 30-year burgundies which just keep talking to you are a real joy.

3

Great notes. The bdx notes are precisely what I would have expected: the 05 Pontet is going to outlive me, probably by some substantial period of time. And good 83s are still a delight, but they take a while to wake up.

4

Well done with the wines and the notes. Thanks for taking the time to post them! We had the 2005 Pontet Canet at a tasting a couple of years ago and had a similar impression. It is a long-term wine!

Ed

5

Thanks for the response, everyone - and Nick, that’s a great way to describe it!

6

First TN notes here? With photo, too? You get a pass and but we’ll be all over you on the next ones. [cheers.gif]

Thanks for the notes, man! After an at-release 2005 Bordeaux local tasting, I was seriously looking to score some Pontet Canet. My local market prices prices just didn’t enable me do it.

Chambolle from the 1990 always seem to do very well in tasting notes that I read, though.

7





Thank you! I’ve found it’s a lot easier to describe a wine that I dislike than a wine that I enjoy, so I was apprehensive about posting detailed (for me) notes on this forum.