Our burgundy group moves through quite a range of things and this was no exception.
Roger Sauvestre - To be fair, this bottle was a little flawed, with a very rough cork. Cola, blocky. A little vegetal, mentholated acids, slightly off kilter.
Pierre Bitouzet - A bit pruney, though it opened up a bit. Puckery acids, a little shrill, and then with air, came apart.
Camus-Bruchon - I was disappointed by this showing. Even prunier than the Bitouzet, it did open up somewhat, lost the prune, but then got puckery and shrill and started to shut down.
Jean Boillot - OK, this was superb. Henri's father. Beautifully balanced wine with everything you'd want, and for me this was on the young side (I was, as typical, in the minority on this). Cola, earth, so classic, gorgeous balance, a long, classic finish. Quite long. Favorite along with the super Marechal.
Tollot-Beaut - Opening up with more skank, pot smoke. Definitely had that blocky Tollot style, but I liked this a lot. Classic longue bouche, would just be great at table. With an hour of air this started to show more coffee and was the only wine showing apparent (small percentage) oak. Just starting to crack a little at the end.
Marechal - Heavier duty ganga, with a green streak at first that aired off. A little Paris subway, raunch, fun, a dirtier, hippified version of the Boillot.
Interesting sets of guesses about village - Morey, some of the blockier Nuits, but then there was a move towards sterner Beaunes, and even lesser Cortons. This was a good guess as Lavieres is on the Corton/Pernand side and sits just below Vergelles.
The first three were fairly poor, the last three were excellent. The Boillot was much more clean and elegant while the Tollot and esp. the Marechal more a roll in the hay. The Marechal was an eye opener, they are truly a great producer; I've enjoyed many bottles from them but nothing this old.
These were all very 93 (at least the three good ones) - lots of thrust and acid, but with enough fruit and material to balance it.
Bonus wines:
73 Sterling Pinot Noir - The redwood barrels showed (at least, sure seemed like redwood). Didn't seem particularly pinot like, really hard to pin down, but this was an enjoyable bottle.
73 Bouchard Pommard - Not anywhere near dead, in fact, just in solid tertiaries and a lot of fun. This sat not too far behind the Marechal and Boillot for wines I'd like to just sit down with, think about, and enjoy. Shroomy earthy dead leafy ashy stuff, but no madierization or anything like that. We kind of rolled over this bottle but I thought it had a lot going for it. Not more than it was, just nicely what it was. What were you doing in 73?
Roger Sauvestre - To be fair, this bottle was a little flawed, with a very rough cork. Cola, blocky. A little vegetal, mentholated acids, slightly off kilter.
Pierre Bitouzet - A bit pruney, though it opened up a bit. Puckery acids, a little shrill, and then with air, came apart.
Camus-Bruchon - I was disappointed by this showing. Even prunier than the Bitouzet, it did open up somewhat, lost the prune, but then got puckery and shrill and started to shut down.
Jean Boillot - OK, this was superb. Henri's father. Beautifully balanced wine with everything you'd want, and for me this was on the young side (I was, as typical, in the minority on this). Cola, earth, so classic, gorgeous balance, a long, classic finish. Quite long. Favorite along with the super Marechal.
Tollot-Beaut - Opening up with more skank, pot smoke. Definitely had that blocky Tollot style, but I liked this a lot. Classic longue bouche, would just be great at table. With an hour of air this started to show more coffee and was the only wine showing apparent (small percentage) oak. Just starting to crack a little at the end.
Marechal - Heavier duty ganga, with a green streak at first that aired off. A little Paris subway, raunch, fun, a dirtier, hippified version of the Boillot.
Interesting sets of guesses about village - Morey, some of the blockier Nuits, but then there was a move towards sterner Beaunes, and even lesser Cortons. This was a good guess as Lavieres is on the Corton/Pernand side and sits just below Vergelles.
The first three were fairly poor, the last three were excellent. The Boillot was much more clean and elegant while the Tollot and esp. the Marechal more a roll in the hay. The Marechal was an eye opener, they are truly a great producer; I've enjoyed many bottles from them but nothing this old.
These were all very 93 (at least the three good ones) - lots of thrust and acid, but with enough fruit and material to balance it.
Bonus wines:
73 Sterling Pinot Noir - The redwood barrels showed (at least, sure seemed like redwood). Didn't seem particularly pinot like, really hard to pin down, but this was an enjoyable bottle.
73 Bouchard Pommard - Not anywhere near dead, in fact, just in solid tertiaries and a lot of fun. This sat not too far behind the Marechal and Boillot for wines I'd like to just sit down with, think about, and enjoy. Shroomy earthy dead leafy ashy stuff, but no madierization or anything like that. We kind of rolled over this bottle but I thought it had a lot going for it. Not more than it was, just nicely what it was. What were you doing in 73?