Brief Paulee note. Earthy aromas with some red fruit. Still firm and dense on palate, balancing earth and fruit. Good dried spice on finish.

Brief Paulee note. Apple and pear aromas and flavors, very precise, slightly fleshy on finish. Much fresher than another bottle the other night.

Brief Paulee note. From 3L. Ripe orchard fruit aromas with some peach hints and trace mint. Lots of power, then spice middle to end. I've mostly had poor experiences with Ramonet 1996s, so I guess there is some hope. I was told that the format helps because of different cork sources large vs. 750 format.

Brief Paulee note. Floral and spice-driven start with fresh apple. Lush and also well textured, incredibly fresh and pristine for its age and vintage.

Brief Paulee note. Not forthcoming aromatically to start. But lush stone fruit on palate, great concentration and length. If this bottle is representative, the wine is most likely still getting better. But alas, this was my only bottle.

Brief Paulee note. I thought the Leroy 90 CC was wonderful until this was poured minutes later. Floral start with baking spice, ripe apple and some lemon zest. Sweet, powerful and energetic, all at the same time. Long and incredibly crisp.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Floral start with marzipan hints and an almost tropical aromatic character. Alluring nose followed by powerful fruit flavors, seemingly lush to start, then focusing and concentrating from the middle to finish with incredible energy.

Brief Paulee note. From magnum. Wonderful balance of mature flavors with powerful fruit on both nose and palate. Great nuance and spice throughout. Great length and power. Ramonet 1989s are consistently a great treat.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Musty with modest charm. Possibly slightly corked, but more likely this just needed time to open up, which the La Paulee setting doesn't quite allow. Clearly good density and concentration. 88 points tonight.

Brief Paulee tasting note. From 3L. Ripe apple, somewhat fat so didn't come across as classic Chablis Grand Cru to me. Lush on palate with good concentration to start, moderate length, nicely supported with good minerality.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Somewhat mature for its age. Good fruit, better spice, slightly earthy. A little short. This wine has never quite lived up to expectations the 5 or 6 times I've had it.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Big and dense fruit aromas and flavors, spice hints. Still quite fresh. Impressively long, well textured with classic Montrachet finesse.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Lush stone fruit aromas with good floral and spice elements. Similarly ripe and powerful on palate, not quite showing Montrachet finesse, but most likely just needed more time to rest in the cellar.

So sad, oxidized.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Still quite alive, somewhat more earthy than fruit-centric, but this had a charming ever-so-slightly sweet character.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Fat and incredibly ripe aromas and flavors with great density. I found this a little too ripe and fat, the spice too oak-driven, and overall less nuanced and textured than I remember from the past. I thought this perhaps a "92 point" wine, but others liked this a lot more than I did tonight.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Good fruit and structural balance with some nuance, just a little simpler than I would hope or expect. Perhaps still needing more time? This is the 3rd of 4th time I have had this wine and I've never enjoyed it as much as Ponsot "regular" Clos de la Roche, which I've had just once or twice from 1988.

Brief Paulee tasting note. From magnum from the domaine. Boysenberry and black cherry aromas accompanied by plenty of sauvage. Firm and dense of palate, powerful on finish. Needs more time. Much better than a bottle I opened late last year, which was most likely slightly corked.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Served alongside the roumier/Bonnefond 1989 Ruchottes-Chambertin, which was more exciting. Mature black and red fruit aromas, slightly animale, modest spice. Same fruit profile on palate. Very well textured, more power on finish.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Served alongside the Roumier 1989 Charmes-Chambertin. Meaty black fruit aromas with good spice, good freshness, slightly less sauvage than the Charmes. Ripe black fruit on palate, still vibrant and quite fresh for the vintage, with lots of density and power from middle through to fairly lengthy finish.

Brief Paulee tasting note. From magnum. Balance of mature fruit and earthy aromas and flavors with slightly sweet spice. Somewhat simpler than I would hope or expect from the vintage.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Intriguing combination of forest floor, spice hints, lingering red fruit and leather. Palate a little more tired, slightly simple towards finish.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Hints forest floor combine with great red and black fruit aromas. Not as powerful as some vintages of rousseau Beze, but incredibly nuanced, layered and well textured, this is long, energetic and very exciting.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Charming combination on sauvage, sous bois and ripe, slightly mature black and red cherry. Lots of power and lots of elegant structure. This really big and coming across as a timeless wine, everything seemingly in balance, almost in suspended animation.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Good balance of sauvage, forest floor, mature red cherry aromas with some cocoa hints. Red and black cherry on palate, also moderately advanced. Well textured, very well balanced, more elegant than powerful. Drink up.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Fresh red cherry aromas. Both red and black fruit flavors, very fresh but also quite firm. Lots of everything, but not very forthcoming, this was a wine that needed more time and contemplation than La Paulee allows. 92 points tonight.

Brief Paulee tasting note. I guess it shouldn't surprise that a wine this old comes with significant bottle variation, but this is the 5th time I've had the wine in 2+ years, and while three bottles were sensational, tonight's bottle was quite good but more earthy and less floral than the standout bottles. "91 point" range tonight.

Sad.

Brief Paulee tasting note. What a treat. Lots of ripe and powerful fruit, and while certainly on its back 9, lots of spice, nuance and charm.

Note: there was no Vieilles Vignes in 1961 according to Burghound, so this is the only Ponsot Clos de la Roche.

Brief Paulee tasting note. What a sensational surprise. Very good combination of well reduced porcini mushroom, chinese five spice and robust red and black cherry. Aromas and flavors perfectly aligned. Long and elegant.

Brief Paulee tasting note. From the same case as a couple of bottles opened last year, this was as good as the first bottle, not quite as good as the second. Good baking spice and sous bois aromas. Similar on palate with faint red cherry hints. Good remaining structure on palate with everything very elegant and texturally charming.

Brief Paulee tasting note. From 3L. Incredibly fresh Vosne spice from start through very long finish. At least as much fresh fruit as earthy aromas and flavors. Very complete, dense and alluring. One of the most fresh 1979s I can recall trying in years.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Blackberry, boysenberry aromas with some forest floor hints, but mostly seemingly backward. Same on palate, but showing some interesting animale and spice. Probably not a wine i should have brought to Paulee, this would really benefit from more air time.

Brief Paulee tasting note. incredibly fresh black fruit aromas with big spice and animale hints. Blackberry and plum flavors combine perfectly with meaty spice and lots of power and structure. Long and powerful with a finish that never seemed to end.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Super ripe red fruit aromas with lots of alluring spice, classically Leroy. Both red and black fruit flavors, well balanced and integrated, a really excellent 1997.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Reticent aromatic start, unusual for Leroy. Red and black cherry flavors, good spice, also seemingly a little backward right now, certainly slightly more sedated than I'd expect from a Leroy 1996 Grand Cru.

Brief tasting note. Obviously quite different than most of the wines just tasted, this was huge, ripe, robust and incredibly spice-driven. Ultra ripe black fruit but with the stuffing for everything to retain in great balance.

Brief Paulee tasting note. Good earthy elements, some remaining red fruit and sweet baking spice. Elegant and restrained, without quite the density the best 1959s have retained. Moderate length.

Brief Paulee note. Ripe black fruit with braised meat aromas and forest floor hints. Good power to start with good spice, everything in impressive balance. Moderate length.

Corked.

Very brief post-Paulee tasting note. Lean red fruit with emerging earth. Slightly simple and austere. Probably at its peak. I vaguely recall sharing this with somebody from the Drouhin family.

Brief note. Really great in every imaginable way.