Ian Fitzsimmons
Ian Fitzsimmons
2002 Fevre Chablis Fourchaume Valourent
Modestly yellow, appealing nose of salt marsh, flavors follow the nose with a touch of oyster shell, with starburst firework style acids. Light-medium bodied. Some pleasing viscosity; overall a very pleasing, almost crystalline style. Second day better integrated, with still prominent but less dramatic acid display, and more prominent glycerolly texture. A fine wine, but offering more texture than flavor. I wish I knew if this will explode with flavor in another three years, or if it has arrived at its destination.
I keep reading notes about pox in general and affecting this bottling, in particular, then opening one in panic to ascertain its status. This is the third bottle, and no problems yet.
2004 Tardy Vosne Romaee 1er Cru les Chaumes
On opening, rather bright cherry nose with an imposing bundle of tannin, acid and other substantial stuff. I decanted the bottle for about four hours, whereupon it was hideous, flat, green, with a huge dead zone dominating the middle palate. So I poured it back into the bottle, vacuud it, and opened something else for dinner. The next day, I decanted it again about 30 minutes before dinner. Still green, but the dead zone is gone, the cherry is more prominent, and the acids and tannins are shaping up still very brightly, but rather stylishly. By the end of dinner, the green was a flashback, and the appealing tannin acid blend was accompanied by something like a proxy of fruit to come.
I picked a couple of these up on sale at $15. PC had them on sale this weekend for $12, along with the Tardy NSG Boudots. I opened one to see if it was worth getting more, but by the time I figured it out, the stock was already sold through. This note is for those who got some at this price. I'm a total hack at assessing Burgundy, I would guess that those who mopped some of this up at $12, even $15, will be toasting their acumen and good fortune in five or six years.
Modestly yellow, appealing nose of salt marsh, flavors follow the nose with a touch of oyster shell, with starburst firework style acids. Light-medium bodied. Some pleasing viscosity; overall a very pleasing, almost crystalline style. Second day better integrated, with still prominent but less dramatic acid display, and more prominent glycerolly texture. A fine wine, but offering more texture than flavor. I wish I knew if this will explode with flavor in another three years, or if it has arrived at its destination.
I keep reading notes about pox in general and affecting this bottling, in particular, then opening one in panic to ascertain its status. This is the third bottle, and no problems yet.
2004 Tardy Vosne Romaee 1er Cru les Chaumes
On opening, rather bright cherry nose with an imposing bundle of tannin, acid and other substantial stuff. I decanted the bottle for about four hours, whereupon it was hideous, flat, green, with a huge dead zone dominating the middle palate. So I poured it back into the bottle, vacuud it, and opened something else for dinner. The next day, I decanted it again about 30 minutes before dinner. Still green, but the dead zone is gone, the cherry is more prominent, and the acids and tannins are shaping up still very brightly, but rather stylishly. By the end of dinner, the green was a flashback, and the appealing tannin acid blend was accompanied by something like a proxy of fruit to come.
I picked a couple of these up on sale at $15. PC had them on sale this weekend for $12, along with the Tardy NSG Boudots. I opened one to see if it was worth getting more, but by the time I figured it out, the stock was already sold through. This note is for those who got some at this price. I'm a total hack at assessing Burgundy, I would guess that those who mopped some of this up at $12, even $15, will be toasting their acumen and good fortune in five or six years.