Served double blind. A very crunchy, bright red-fruited nose that evokes the post-modern style of red wine making that I don't particularly like. On the other hand, there is a lovely strawberry note to this which had me thinking Oregon pinot for a bit, but the youthfulness and higher acidity made me go back to France. Lacking any of the sucralose flavours that come with gamay, I thought this might have been a fresh Bourgogne AC or possibly a Passetoutgrains. Very nice -- I think Lafarge may well make the only drinkable gamays.
Served double blind. Clearly pinot (though I thought the Lafarge-Vial was too) on the nose and distinctly different from the previous wine. This was much darker and brooding, and showed lots of black fruit hidden under some serious structure. Quite savoury on the palate as well, I thought this was younger than it actually was; possibly a 2015 based on the structure.
I think I liked this a little less than a few years ago. The nose here is pretty textbook old champagne, with some mushroomy notes, but more of a sweet caramel-like quality as well. That caramel sweetness is more accentuated on the palate, and even though there is acidity here, it doesn't play quite as big a role as it needs to. The ripeness of the vintage shows, and causes the fruit and sweetness to come to the forefront. Fully mature, and not my preferred style of champagne, but I did appreciate this one some.
LC14. Bright and fresh, with a little bit of lemony tartness as well. Truth be told, this really is just lacking in flavour. On the palate, this is driven by its acids, to the point where it feels slightly tart, not to mention there's an odd gingery note as well here. It lacks the richness and breadth that I like in Champagne. A fine bottle, but I've found myself liking these wines less and less over the last few years.
My least favourite of the feature presentation this evening. This was all structure and no pleasure at the beginning. Some black fruit on the nose, but some oak aromas as well, with a palate whose structure completely eclipsed any of the black fruit that was there, at least initially. Blocky and inelegant, and especially so in contrast to the rest of the wines this evening. With air, the fruit on the palate did emerge some, but it was never able to break free from the tannic shackles. I'm not optimistic that this wine will ever come around (and truth be told, I don't really care for the overly structural 2005 red Burgundy vintage anyway), and even if it does, there would be plenty other vintages that could provide more pleasure for less coin.
I don't know if it was a contrast of this bottle next to the 2005, or if it's some sort of bottle variation thing, but I found this bottle to be very pleasant and giving (in contrast to a very stern bottle opened at the end of the before-times). The nose shows lovely red fruit, with cherry a dominant profile. The palate is quite sweet and shows a silkiness that is just so pleasing in comparison to the coarse 2005. This is charming, even. This was a lovely bottle, but it's hard to reconcile with my previous experience with this wine.
While this definitely showed some red-fruited elegance on the palate with some grainy tannins, this felt thin and stripped of flavour too, which of course makes plenty of sense when you detect the TCA on the finish.
I had opened one of these at (probably) the last dinner I went to in the before-times, and at that dinner, I had still been recovering from a (presumed) cold where I had lost my sense of taste and smell. But I remember my bottle of this showing the expected 1996 red-fruited perfume on the nose then, and I was more than happy to find that same perfume on the bottle today. The palate is this wine's weak spot, as it does show both the thinness of flavour and the unbalanced high acidity. This is however a very clean wine from the get-go, and there really wasn't anything else on the profile besides the red fruit. There are definitely elements here that I do like very much, but the lack of breadth on the palate is a big hit to my overall enjoyment of this bottle.
I didn't care too much for this wine initially. It showed a little muddied, some black fruit, a little bit of menthol, and left you with a mouthful of tannins. So I set it aside and revisited this a course or two later. It had changed a lot. The fruit was far more sweet and helped to divert attention from the big tannic structure (although that never diminished over the evening). There was also some earthiness that actually cleaned itself up over time as well. And with the other older Lafarge bottles tonight, it was just abundantly clear that these wines needed at least a few hours of air to show their best.
The second bottle of this, from the same lot, was not extremely oxidized. It was also extremely good. Initially, however, this was but a good wine. It really needed the few hours of air to really blossom. The fruit profile here is ripe and generous, and this shows both red and black fruit notes. There's also an alluring smokiness here. With the air though, the minerality and clarity of the fruit is magnified, and the sweetness comes to the forefront. This has a pretty large-scaled structure as well, and the fruit frames it very well. The tannins, while plentiful, do feel resolved at this point, and for my palate, this is at peak. There is also such a big contrast between Chênes and the Chateau des Ducs -- this is the denser, more brooding wine.
The stylistic contrast between this and the Chênes is very stark. This is the lighter, more red-fruited and more perfumed of the pair. Some at the table initially detected a hint of VA on the nose, but I didn't pick it up. I did find the aromatics on this far more lifted and high-toned, and frankly, very alluring. At first, the palate felt a little dilute and the fruit faded out, but again the few hours of air really helped this wine blossom and realize more of its potential. There's a little herbal quality here that I really enjoyed as well. Between the three bottles of 1993s, I was waffling on which was my favourite the whole evening.
Initially, of the three 1993s, this was my favourite wine, hands down. It showed the best right at the beginning, but whereas the two Lafarges seemed to pick up steam the whole evening, this bottle was more stable and showed less evolution over that same time. That said, this is a bottle of red Burgundy that really appeals to me. The (mostly) red fruit is generous and opulent on both the nose and palate. The ripeness of the fruit gives this wine impressive breadth as well, and coupling that with bright acids and mostly resolved tannings and an incredibly silky texture, it's pretty much as good as it gets.
An excellent bottle of Barbaresco (the entry-level cuvee, no less, I believe). The nose is perfumed and sweet, and is still dominated by some surprisingly sappy fruit. You would think that would translate on the palate as well, but this is instead far more tannic and structural. A very promising candidate for aging.
While I think the 2015 Mondino was already pretty impressive, this was on a whole other level. Dark fruited on the nose and palate, with good depth of fruit flavour, as well as some leather and herbal elements as well. The ample fruit here balances the tannic structure very well here, and it would certainly be very interesting to see how this wine ages.
2019 Domaine Lafarge-Vial Fleurie Clos Vernay 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie
Served double blind. A very crunchy, bright red-fruited nose that evokes the post-modern style of red wine making that I don't particularly like. On the other hand, there is a lovely strawberry note to this which had me thinking Oregon pinot for a bit, but the youthfulness and higher acidity made me go back to France. Lacking any of the sucralose flavours that come with gamay, I thought this might have been a fresh Bourgogne AC or possibly a Passetoutgrains. Very nice -- I think Lafarge may well make the only drinkable gamays.
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2009 Domaine Bernard & Thierry Glantenay Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
Served double blind. Clearly pinot (though I thought the Lafarge-Vial was too) on the nose and distinctly different from the previous wine. This was much darker and brooding, and showed lots of black fruit hidden under some serious structure. Quite savoury on the palate as well, I thought this was younger than it actually was; possibly a 2015 based on the structure.
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1990 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 93 Points
France, Champagne
I think I liked this a little less than a few years ago. The nose here is pretty textbook old champagne, with some mushroomy notes, but more of a sweet caramel-like quality as well. That caramel sweetness is more accentuated on the palate, and even though there is acidity here, it doesn't play quite as big a role as it needs to. The ripeness of the vintage shows, and causes the fruit and sweetness to come to the forefront. Fully mature, and not my preferred style of champagne, but I did appreciate this one some.
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NV Jérôme Prévost Champagne La Closerie Extra Brut Les Beguines 88 Points
France, Champagne
LC14. Bright and fresh, with a little bit of lemony tartness as well. Truth be told, this really is just lacking in flavour. On the palate, this is driven by its acids, to the point where it feels slightly tart, not to mention there's an odd gingery note as well here. It lacks the richness and breadth that I like in Champagne. A fine bottle, but I've found myself liking these wines less and less over the last few years.
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2005 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds 88 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
My least favourite of the feature presentation this evening. This was all structure and no pleasure at the beginning. Some black fruit on the nose, but some oak aromas as well, with a palate whose structure completely eclipsed any of the black fruit that was there, at least initially. Blocky and inelegant, and especially so in contrast to the rest of the wines this evening. With air, the fruit on the palate did emerge some, but it was never able to break free from the tannic shackles. I'm not optimistic that this wine will ever come around (and truth be told, I don't really care for the overly structural 2005 red Burgundy vintage anyway), and even if it does, there would be plenty other vintages that could provide more pleasure for less coin.
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2002 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
I don't know if it was a contrast of this bottle next to the 2005, or if it's some sort of bottle variation thing, but I found this bottle to be very pleasant and giving (in contrast to a very stern bottle opened at the end of the before-times). The nose shows lovely red fruit, with cherry a dominant profile. The palate is quite sweet and shows a silkiness that is just so pleasing in comparison to the coarse 2005. This is charming, even. This was a lovely bottle, but it's hard to reconcile with my previous experience with this wine.
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1996 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes Flawed
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
While this definitely showed some red-fruited elegance on the palate with some grainy tannins, this felt thin and stripped of flavour too, which of course makes plenty of sense when you detect the TCA on the finish.
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1996 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
I had opened one of these at (probably) the last dinner I went to in the before-times, and at that dinner, I had still been recovering from a (presumed) cold where I had lost my sense of taste and smell. But I remember my bottle of this showing the expected 1996 red-fruited perfume on the nose then, and I was more than happy to find that same perfume on the bottle today. The palate is this wine's weak spot, as it does show both the thinness of flavour and the unbalanced high acidity. This is however a very clean wine from the get-go, and there really wasn't anything else on the profile besides the red fruit. There are definitely elements here that I do like very much, but the lack of breadth on the palate is a big hit to my overall enjoyment of this bottle.
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1995 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
I didn't care too much for this wine initially. It showed a little muddied, some black fruit, a little bit of menthol, and left you with a mouthful of tannins. So I set it aside and revisited this a course or two later. It had changed a lot. The fruit was far more sweet and helped to divert attention from the big tannic structure (although that never diminished over the evening). There was also some earthiness that actually cleaned itself up over time as well. And with the other older Lafarge bottles tonight, it was just abundantly clear that these wines needed at least a few hours of air to show their best.
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1993 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes Flawed
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
The first bottle of this was extremely oxidized.
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1993 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
The second bottle of this, from the same lot, was not extremely oxidized. It was also extremely good. Initially, however, this was but a good wine. It really needed the few hours of air to really blossom. The fruit profile here is ripe and generous, and this shows both red and black fruit notes. There's also an alluring smokiness here. With the air though, the minerality and clarity of the fruit is magnified, and the sweetness comes to the forefront. This has a pretty large-scaled structure as well, and the fruit frames it very well. The tannins, while plentiful, do feel resolved at this point, and for my palate, this is at peak. There is also such a big contrast between Chênes and the Chateau des Ducs -- this is the denser, more brooding wine.
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1993 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru Clos du Château des Ducs 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
The stylistic contrast between this and the Chênes is very stark. This is the lighter, more red-fruited and more perfumed of the pair. Some at the table initially detected a hint of VA on the nose, but I didn't pick it up. I did find the aromatics on this far more lifted and high-toned, and frankly, very alluring. At first, the palate felt a little dilute and the fruit faded out, but again the few hours of air really helped this wine blossom and realize more of its potential. There's a little herbal quality here that I really enjoyed as well. Between the three bottles of 1993s, I was waffling on which was my favourite the whole evening.
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1993 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
Initially, of the three 1993s, this was my favourite wine, hands down. It showed the best right at the beginning, but whereas the two Lafarges seemed to pick up steam the whole evening, this bottle was more stable and showed less evolution over that same time. That said, this is a bottle of red Burgundy that really appeals to me. The (mostly) red fruit is generous and opulent on both the nose and palate. The ripeness of the fruit gives this wine impressive breadth as well, and coupling that with bright acids and mostly resolved tannings and an incredibly silky texture, it's pretty much as good as it gets.
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2015 Piero Busso Barbaresco Mondino 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
An excellent bottle of Barbaresco (the entry-level cuvee, no less, I believe). The nose is perfumed and sweet, and is still dominated by some surprisingly sappy fruit. You would think that would translate on the palate as well, but this is instead far more tannic and structural. A very promising candidate for aging.
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2014 Piero Busso Barbaresco Gallina 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
While I think the 2015 Mondino was already pretty impressive, this was on a whole other level. Dark fruited on the nose and palate, with good depth of fruit flavour, as well as some leather and herbal elements as well. The ample fruit here balances the tannic structure very well here, and it would certainly be very interesting to see how this wine ages.
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