Deeply colored, dark yellow rim. On the nose all about mineral aromas, background viognier notes of stone fruits and florality, no barrique notes. On the palate dry, somewhat soft and very lush and full on the midpalate. A little out of balance with alcohol and full texture exceeding acidity though there is good intensity of flavor of moderately complex mineral aromas... frankly the wine has lost a bit of its best quality which is the intense and overt stone fruit and floral notes. Drink now.

Yellow rim, dark color. On the nose wave after wave of mineral aromas... floral aromas, apple fruit, and very slight spice. On the palate the wine is dry with firm acidity, lovely midpalate weight and a long, subtle finish. Great balance between moderate ripeness of fruit and moderate weight with firm acidity... incrediblely subtle and delicate delivery of very complex aromas and flavors, very persistent on the finish. An easily outstanding, bordering on extraordinary for a premier cru, wune that lacks very little (it could have much punch of penetration of its flavors if being picky) and if you're looking for subtle delivery of complexity in a mineral driven wine this is damn near perfect.

Appropriately mature rim, much darker in color than the 84. Somewhat restrained on the nose at first... decanter time helped quite a bit. Much more fruit intensity than the 84... dark and spicy red fruits, some cigar box, animal and tobacco leaf. On the palate the wine is a bit disjointed with somewhat coarse and high acidity, a tight midpalate, very well integrated and smooth tannins on the finish. On the firm side with high and coarse acidity exceeding low to moderate amount of midpalate flesh, high complexity of aromas and flavors and good persistence, some textural issues as mentioned. This wine was a bit of a disappointment though I don't think it was the best bottle out there so I won't draw any hard conclusions about this wine's point of evolution.

Orange brown rim, lighter in color than 85. On the nose almost all tertiary aromas that are fascinating... iodine and other mineral aromas... tobacco leaf, spices, some background fruit emerges with some time in the decanter. On the palate very fresh still with high acidity... the midpalate is round and the wine while lacking weight/depth texturally is quite elegant... completely resolved tannins and a long interesting finish. Good balance between low fruit intensity/weight and firm acidity, great complexity of aroma and flavor, beautiful, fine texture. Certainly not the deepest Chave vintage out there, but full of intellectual satisfaction. I suspect this bottle was better than the 85 tasted along side and believe this vintage is slightly past its prime though still providing plenty of interest and freshness.