TN: Drouhin Laroze, M. Ilan, old Sauternes & Ports

WINE TALK
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DROUHIN LAROZE, M. ILAN, OLD SAUTERNES & PORTS - JV’s (9/12/2013#

Last night I met up with some friends to drink some wines from Drouhin Laroze. John V put this tasting together to revisit this producer and compare vintages 08, 09 and 10. It was a great tasting and a lot of fun. I haven’t had much experience with this producer, and it was nice to put their wines into some context. For my tastes, I like 09 but prefer 10. I will stay away from 08, just not what I want to be drinking. The wines were consumed non-blind over the course of 2.5 hours. John split the wines into flights.
Starters
I threw in the Maison Ilan #blind) as no one there had had the opportunity to try one of Ray’s wines. I think everyone liked it very much.

  • 2008 Henri Boillot Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
    Golden in color. The nose has lemon cream, vanilla and a slight mushroom note. It starts out flat but picks up acidity thru the midpalate and finish. Nice tart grapefruits. There is some complexity as it unwinds. Nice clean finish. (93 pts.)
  • 2009 Maison Ilan Charmes-Chambertin Aux Charmes Hautes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
    We opened this as a starter and my score was 91. Going back to it after the tasting, the wine had really opened up more and I raised my score. Ruby/purple in color. The nose is nice with cherries and some dry dirt/funk notes. Very soft quality made some question how long it will last, but I think those are different qualities. Creamy texture. Long, clean finish. I think this was good now, but will improve in a cellar for a while. (93 pts.)

1er Crus

  • 2009 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Au Closeau - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
    Ruby in color. Light nose. Some confectionary sugar, some cherries. It starts of sweet on the palate. Cherries. This one left me wanting a bit. Nothing wrong, but just needs more. (89 pts.)
  • 2009 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Craipillot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
    The groups fav in this flight although I liked the 10 better. Purple/ruby in color. The nose is big with cherries and a warmth to it (like a cabin with a big fire going). Ripe fruit. Cherries and red apples. With air some tannins came out. This is a big ripe wine, something the 09’s had in common. (91 pts.)
  • 2010 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Craipillot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
    I preferred the 10 over the 09, but most thought it needed more time. Pale ruby in color. Light cherries on the nose. With air, this got a bit deeper, but next to the 09, the nose suffered. On the palate, however, this is deep and complex. Layers of tight cherries and dried forest floor. Nice acidity. Long finish. Kept unwinding beautifully in the glass. Very pretty. (92 pts.)

“lesser” Grand Crus

  • 2008 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Chapelle-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru
    Ruby in color. The nose has some cherries and not much depth. On the palate, there are some cherries here but also a green vegetal note. It did not improve a lot with air. It is a fine enough Pinot for drinking, but I expected more complexity from a Grand Cru. (88 pts.)
  • 2009 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Chapelle-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru
    OTOH, I thought this rocked above my expectations. Ruby/purple in color. The nose is full with cherries, some cherry liqueur and a bit of damp forest floor notes. Nice texture. Cherries and the liqueur notes continue to the palate bringing some heat as well. In spite of that, this is delicious and drinking well right now. It did get better as the night went on. (93 pts.)
  • 2010 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Latricières-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru
    Light ruby in color. The nose is nice and complex. Cherries, some dry earth. On the palate, this is layered tightly but evolves in the glass. Cherries and some funk. Someone said feminine, but it was to me, just not as exuberant. I think this is headed somewhere nice, but quite good today. (92 pts.)

Grand Crus

  • 2008 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Chambertin-Clos de Bèze - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru
    Ruby/purple in color, slightly flat. Cherries layered with dried leaves on the nose. On the palate, tart acidity. Cherries with a bit of heat. Long finish. This shows some complexity but not in the class of 09 or 10 IMO. (91 pts.)
  • 2009 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Chambertin-Clos de Bèze - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru
    Ruby/purple in color. The nose is ripe cherries of all kind, perhaps a bit of candy. Great texture. Lots of cherries layered on the palate. Plenty of depth. Long finish. This is a great wine and improved all night long. (94 pts.)
  • 2010 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Chambertin-Clos de Bèze - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru
    Wow. This is one of the best Burgundies I have had. Really special. Ruby/purple in color. The nose starts off tight but develops with cherries and warm wet forest floor notes. Really layered and deep. On the palate, this has that seamless quality only the best wines have. From the attack to the finish, there is no break. Layered, complex. Love to see where this goes from here. Outstanding. (96 pts.)


  • 1949 Château La Tour Blanche Sauternes - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
    This was one amazing wine. Clearly a great bottle. Orange gold in color. Wonderful nose. Orange peels, some honey, some sea air. Complex. Great viscous texture. Slightly sweet at this point. Layered complexity on the palate too. Orange rind, oranges, dried peaches. Long finish. Really special. (97 pts.)


  • 1963 Fonseca Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
    Ruby in color. The nose is gorgeous with raisins and milk chocolate. Complex. On the palate, slightly sweet. Complex and easy to drink. A touch of heat. Very pretty wine still chugging along. (95 pts.)
  • 1966 Fonseca Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
    Ruby/purple in color. Sadly this was corked. That said, under the TCA, this would have been an amazing wine. Much bigger and more youthful than the 63. Has everything going on and that is with muted fruit. A shame. NR (flawed)

Thank John. Nice to see everyone and hope to do it again.
Posted from CellarTracker

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A shame on the 66 Fonseca. A lovely VP for sure. How long was the 63 decanted for? I ask as I can’t ever recall getting heat on it and I am sensitive to too much protruding heat in Ports. Wondering if it was a decant issue or a storage issue.

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Andy:

The 63F(Avery) and the 66F were decanted 5 hours before with no problems.

Also IMO the 66F was not corked(the vote was 3 corked-2 not corked-2 no opinion).

The 66F had very slight off nose(5%). But had a very rustic character with great

power. I liked it better than the 63F. Next day the bit left still had no sign of corked

in the nose.

Everyone loved the 49 LTB but me. Even the slightest sign of materization puts

me off.

The 10 Beze is a fantastic wine.

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Hey Loren!
Glad you enjoyed the bottle. You signed up fairly early with us, so thank you again for your support! I’m pleased as all hell that you enjoyed it! champagne.gif

Cheers

Ray

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Drinking the dregs 3rd day this is good Sh–. Wines that are holding.

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Nothing like buying cases of '09 and '10 Drouhin Laroze ‘Beze’ at good prices and then seeing confirmation that the purchases made sense!

Thanks!
-peter

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Thank you for the good look at the Drouhin-Laroze wines, Loren. I have liittle experience with them, but have been contemplating buying some 2010s as they are available and reasonably priced. It sounds like I should follow through. [cheers.gif]