D’angerville, Volnay 1er cru, Taillepieds, 2007
I’ve been a promoter of 07 Volnays as underpromising and overdelivering. I’ve been particularly impressed by d’Angerville in the vintage. This bottle keeps the streak alive. Great color. Subdued nose of earth. Sour cherry fruit with bright mouthfeel, driven by lively acids. There’s surprising stuffing and fruit for the vintage. A bit of a vitamin note resolved itself after an hour. A crank might wish for just a tad more complexity. But this wine cruised nicely around 65 mph for me. It’s never going to hit 100 but that’s its charm.
Grivot, Vosne-Romanee 1er cru, Beaux Monts, 2002
Whappen’? Inspired by Beaune Head’s cheerleading about Beaux Monts, I decided to pop this one. Distinctly black fruited. Pine and a touch of menthol on earthy nose. Decent concentration, with understated notes of peat and smoke on the palate. But where’s the Beaux Monts spice or iron? Just a bit flat and muted at this point. With two glasses at the table (with brined roasted chicken and garlic cloves), I kept reaching for the D’angerville. The Grivot lacked lift and succulence. A good wine but no sublime elements. Maybe I got it at a dumb phase, but I was disappointed in the bottle. I derived much more pleasure from Dom. Laurent’s interpretation of this vintage and vineyard.
I don’t remember reading Stuart’s comments about Beaux Monts, but it has been a long-time favorite of mine for value and quality, in general. But I’m not yet familiar with Grivot’s style - I’ve read that his style was hard and needing time (at least in prior decades), so I’ve been patiently waiting to try the few that I have in the cellar.
But I think Beaux Monts, in general
, has a lot going for it, potentailly speaking! 
I got the 1999 Grivots in My cellar.
I served the 1999 Beaux Monts at a dinner, late 2007 : “Black wine, high acids, powerful tannins, no sediments. A totally closed wine”.
The Echezeaux 1999, in 2008 : " Black shoe polish, heavy oak, biting/etching the back of My tongue, tried next day, with same results."
My experience with Grivots 1999, is Power wines, that hopefully one day will be drinkable. Definitely build for the long haul. will wait at least 10y, or more, for these babies
The 1999 Richebourgs should be the most concentrated… Will they ever become drinkable ?
Regards, Soren.
Late 90s are not the way to assess Grivot as he has changed his style in the 2000s for a more balanced approach (plus all 1999s in general need a lot of time).
He thinks his 2002s were his best 2000s vintage (and 2012 the best of his 2010s) so I am also a bit surprised as his Clos Vougeot 2002 and his Suchots have really been great.
His wines still need time but, for instance, the Clos Vougeot 2004 we had last week was really open for business and delicious.