Clos des Lambrays-Fifteen Vintages (2011 to 1919) at 2014 La Paulee

Various Locations, San Francisco
Tasted Thursday, March 13, 2014 - Saturday, March 15, 2014 by drwine2001 with 1,089 views

Introduction

Between several La Paulee events and a private dinner, this few days provided a unique opportunity to taste 15 vintages of the grand vin and several others produced by the estate. Thierry Brouin from the estate was a quietly passionate, generous guide, providing great perspective about both the current and ancient wines. For ease of reading, I have arranged them from youngest to oldest vintage, rather than the order in which they were tasted. Some of the vintages were enjoyed at a lunch where there was some time to linger over the pours, others were tasted in "fly by" fashion at the walk around tastings. The only wine we had a chance to drink over the course of an entire meal from a full bottle was not in La Paulee's line up, and that was the 2001. I'm glad we added it to the docket get another data point (and some real drinking rather than tasting pleasure!).

Flight 1 - Whites (5 Notes)

Flight 2 - Reds (16 Notes)

  • 2011 Domaine des Lambrays Morey St. Denis

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis

    (3/15/2014)

    Light red. Black fruit and soil mix in a nice light refined package. A good lead in to the Grand Vin and quite a civilized village Morey in its own right.

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  • 2011 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/15/2014)

    Light red color. Supple red fruit with just a hint of herbs. Elegant, delicate wine that plays to the strength of the vintage. Good acidity. Not for extended aging, but one of the most fluid, drinkable and cheery younger wines in the whole group of Clos des Lambrays vintages tasted over the past few days. One of the few that put me in a Chambolle rather than a Morey frame of mind.

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  • 2010 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/14/2014)

    Beautiful weight, balance and finish. Savory fruit, deeply ingrained acidity, a whiff of green, not terribly tannic. Lovely and better than the '09 tasted the day before.

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  • 2009 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/13/2014)

    Medium to light ruby. Shockingly stalky smelling for such a ripe vintage. This is joined by black cherry. Fairly delicate for a 2009. Some wood, spice, tasty licorice drop and black fruit. The stemminess recedes somewhat but never drops below the threshold of being bothersome. Not as good as I thought during an earlier tasting of this at the domain.

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  • 2006 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/14/2014)

    Maturing color. Remarkably lush with sweet red fruit, spice and very little green. So different from the backward, locked up 2005. Drinking very well now.

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  • 2005 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/13/2014)

    Medium ruby, primary. Brooding, sweaty aromatics as though you could almost smell the tannins. Very backward and dense, but it slowly came out of its shell with a few hours of air. Sappy, tannic, chewy with a bitter chocolate note. No greenness in this one. Forget about it over the short term but loads of potential.

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  • 2003 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/14/2014)

    Funk and faint VA on the nose. Lush, mouthcoating reddish fruit played off against aggressive herbs and pepper. Round, ripe tannins. Altogether, a bit bizarre and wanting balance. Reminded me of the '90 tasted yesterday in its strange juxtaposition of ripeness and herbaceousness.

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  • 2001 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/14/2014)

    Very healthy deep center with early lightening. Exceptionally complex nose-musky red and blue fruit, evergreen, and ground espresso. Medium body with a very round, smooth feel in the context of these wines. Surprising ripeness of fruit, then brisk acidity that follows. I am of mixed mind about its drinking window. On one hand, lots of stuffing and some tannin to resolve, but on the other, it did attenuate after a couple of hours in the decanter.

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  • 1999 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/13/2014)

    Medium color with maturing edge. Stems and mint rather than fruit dominate the nose. Medium weight. Excellent, ripe but savory mixed fruit with vibrant acidity. Deep, toothsome and complex with a peppery aspect. Its strength and power creep up on you. This was still ascending by the time I was done with the pour. Better in 5+ years, I'm certain.

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  • 1998 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/13/2014)

    Same shade as the '99. Fragrant and full of pine needles. Lusher attack than the younger wine with ripe red/black fruit entry but grippy, astringent, dry feel at the end from wood tannins. Less complex and more awkward than the 1999-bigger but not better.

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  • 1996 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/13/2014)

    One of the most mature looking wines in the series with browning rim. Oh my, sexy nose with smoke, mint, and sous bois. Seductive, supple, poised and complex with just a hint of green. Quite different texture than most of the other vintages tasted. Assertive late 1996 acidity that folds right in to provide freshness and fading tannins. Fully expressed and mature. A beauty and somewhat of a surprise to me in terms of its high quality.

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  • 1993 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/13/2014)

    Light ruby with significant fading. Very pretty perfumed nose with a strong dose of soil and forest floor. Much better aromatically than in the mouth. Skinny, harsher feel with stalky, peppery flavors. While some red fruit emerges, so do cooler menthol elements. One of the shortest finishes of all of these wines. Not a very flattering 1993; I would not bank on the fruit lasting much longer.

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  • 1990 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/13/2014)

    Pale center, browning rim. Soil and green aromatics. Full ripe attack with coffee richness, but then a stemmy, tannic finish. While this did have a gentle, positive evolution in the glass, it remained a somewhat strange, disjointed combination of both ripe and green components that were not at all married. It does not give the sense that the grapes achieved phenolic maturity.

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  • 1947 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/13/2014)

    And now we take a 43 year leap back in time. Ruby with very light edge. Some brett. Sneaky, powerful almost port-like red fruit with remarkable sweetness for its age. A good dose of stemmy qualities here and a persistently tannic finish which cuts off the finish to some extent. Not as great as the 1919 which accompanied it but still amazingly fresh with great fruit (and tannin to resolve) at age 67!

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  • 1937 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/13/2014)

    Pale all the way to the meniscus. Certainly not as pristine as the other ancient bottles. Volatile acidity, acetate and some stalkiness. Best in its chocolatey feel and viscosity. Some fruit left but this is pretty mixed up and past its prime from what must have been a very warm vintage.

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  • 1919 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    (3/13/2014)

    Pale with browning but not much different looking than the 1947. Magnificent perfume of sweet fruit. Delicate, ethereal faded red fruit that unbelievably continued to sweeten as it sat in the glass. Magnificent balance and length. What can I say? Amazing, moving, unforgettable and the most perfect capstone to a great afternoon of Clos des Lambrays. An incredible treat and a once in a lifetime experience (for me, anyway). Hats off to this 95 year young wine.

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Closing

What an incredible privilege to taste and drink such a wide range of vintages of this historic Grand Cru. There were more than enough great wines (1919, 2010, 1947, and 1996, roughly in that order) and wines close to that pinnacle (2006, 2011, and with faith, 2005) to justify this property's reputation both before and after it changed hands. It is clearly more refined than lower classified Morey crus, but one thread that tied together multiple wines from multiple decades was a green, stemmy quality that absolutely undercut some of the wines yet enhanced others when the fruit was ripe and strong enough to buffer this. In the final analysis, a distinctive cru with great potential but which probably does not reach the elite echelon of Cote de Nuits Grand Crus.

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