Always a chunky wine this has matured nicely to reveal a fine nose of cherry, wild strawberries and touches of spice and earth. The palate has a lovely ethereal character yet does not demonstrate any particular complexity beyond the attractive features on the nose. Quite delicious and charming but somewhat wanting when put beside a d'Angerville 1er Cru from the same year.
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(Mostly) Spanish dinner (Chicago, IL): Not a very convincing bottle. The fruit feels really backwards here, and only shows in the midpalate. Lots of gangly acidity, and lacking the perfume that I want in Volnay.
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When first opened and consistent with some previous bottles, much too aggressively tart and under fruited. But served too warm at the outdoor restaurant it morphed into something softer, smoother and the modicum of fruit could be tasted. Almost enjoyable but by the pedigree it should be so much more.
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Like so many of this vintage have turned out, the acidity has outrun the grape. Good freshness and energy but the fruit is not fruity enough. Decent and okay but disappointing.
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What a mess this is; an extracted, chocolate and cherry cola nose, still seemingly somewhat oaky. I'm not sure the famous 96 acid is a problem here because the wine is so extracted it needs it.
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While drinkable and even enjoyable to some, this wine lacks energy and verve. Not corked or oxidized and there’s some decent black cherry fruit and cola yet it’s best the first few minutes and seems much more tired than it should be for age and vintage. Storage was good and color was appropriate. Uninspiring at best and why Burgundy is such a mine field.
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1996 Burgundy Retrospective - The First Session (Clarity - Vienna, Virginia): Feels more modern and clean compare to the Lafarges. Another youthful nose displaying ripe black fruit with a hint of red, blackberry jam, black cherry, cranberry, very floral, caramel, sweet spices and limestone mineral. Excellent concentration, concentrated sweet black fruit, rich and round yet also masculine due to slightly coarse tannins, bright acidity, strong mineral and a medium to long sweet black fruit driven finish. I like clean and generous fruit expression. Others seem to strongly prefer the Lafarges. Needs time to develop sous bois.
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No formal notes- from memory: earth, dark cherry cola, a bit of spice. Out of this world with roasted duck. Very well balanced, with good fruit, supporting tannin, and acidity. Could drink or hold.
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Complexed, captivating and matured nose of red fruits, orange sorbet, spices and wet earth. Very high racy acidity on the entry but well supported and balance by good fresh red fruit intensity and weight. Very good complexity of secondary earthiness and forest floor. Drinking very well and will still hold. What a magnificent Volnay Santenots!
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Opened and double decanted 90 minutes before dinner. Cork and fill were perfect. Dark ruby with slight lightening at the rim. Intense nose of dark fruits, perhaps chocolate, and spice. The trademark 96 acidity still intrudes on the finish. After another 90 minutes in the bottle the acidity has melded into the fruit but is still present. This seems more akin to a Kistler Pinot Noir than Volnay; very atypical but not unusual for this cuvee. Will keep my last bottle for 5 years to see if the fruit outlasts the acidity.
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Comte Lafon 1ers (La Trompette, London): Magnum. Quite ripe on the nose (significantly less so than the 97) with a freshness too. Broader and sweeter, but also served a little warmer which accentuates this. A touch of acid structure on the finish. Nice balance of richness and freshness. ****
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Outstanding. It's a lovely light Ruby red. The nose is quite delicate, but it has still some red fruits, forest floor and there's a hint of perhaps violets. The palate is a typical volnay, smooth and red fruit, but there's so much more. There's tart cherry, raspberry, strawberry, totally balanced and delicious. I'm sure that it's not going to hold out much longer but why take the gamble it's drinking superbly. 95 points
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A deep crimson very penetrating color, very similar to the 99 in that way. Forest floor and black cherry with slight hint of dark chocolate at the finish. Tannins very soft at this point and enough acidity to round out a lengthy finish. No 'shrooms or funkiness or dramatic changes, just a delicious voluptuous version of Burgundy. A wonderful wine to my palate. My favorite red from Lafon.
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Still very much alive with black cherry, dusty soil, walnut skin. Hint of tannins left on the palate with enough acid on the finish to cut through them. Just not particularly complex. Drink now before the finish dries up. 89-90
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At 20, this is a wine at its peak, and it has the integration and structure to stay for a while. Dark chocolate, cherry, almost a sweet note predominates, and nowhere near decline but no need to wait. Wow, how Pinots can differ.
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Starts out fine with fruit and good acidity. Nothing out out place. After a couple of hours it starts to fade, the fruit dissapears and it becomes sour and very acidic.
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When I first opened this bottle at home, I was worried it might be corked. No off odors but no good ones either; it smelled like water. But at the restaurant, it showed its true colors, which were wonderfully fine. Very dark color. Finally showed some blackberry aroma. Excellent attack, mouth filling, energetic. It seems like it could go on for years. It may have been BH who said it is fading but it doesn't seem that way to me.
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Minty nose, plush and resin on the palate, mature, some sap. A grand old wine, but probably has more to give. [After writing this I saw David Strange's note of three years ago which is a brilliant description of how this tasted today.]
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First wine with the main Thanksgiving course. Top of cork felt a little mushy so I had some concern. After opening first aroma gave me further concern with its sharpness. Kept open in the bottle for 30 minutes before first pour. Surprisingly vibrant red in the glass. Rasberry with some good underlying meat and earth tones that accompanied the turkey perfectly. Haven't had many older Burgundies but this was just perfect.
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Bright acerola and raspberry nose with strong meat and iron character, clove, herbs, celery and violets. As well as some coffee, furry animality and a touch of caramel. Fullbodied raspberry to red cherry palate with dense but refreshing structure. Gunpowder, herbs, coffee, iron and minerality. Some apricotty dried fruit character in the mid-length aftertaste. Not that open yet, but very nice altogether. More serious than the 1995, but less refined than the 1993.
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A Red Burgundy night in Helsinki (Classic Wine Cellars, Helsinki, Finland): Immediately a very nice nose with mushroomy soil tones and bright fruit. In the mouth fresh and intensive with a nice complexity of fruit. Later it developes a very refined mouthfeel with a fine balance and intensity. Lovely.
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Acker Merrall 1996 Burgundy Dinner (L2O - Chicago IL): From magnum. Started off a bit awkward and flabby, with somebody even thinking it might be heat damaged. By the final taste, this was showing the expected ripe red fruit and classic Volnay spice, and some perfumed aromatics starting showing on the nose as well. Still showing a bit of oak on end.
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Washington Tasters Guild - 1996 Burgundy Dinner (Poste - Washington, DC): Such a lovely Volnay with dense florals and a wonderful mushroom brothyness to both the nose and palate. This had some oak on the palate but it seemed integrated and in balance. Finish had fine tannin and good acidity. Great stuff.
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Assessing Burgundy Vintages by Style with Jasper Morris (Bouilland, Burgundy): Seated wine tasting. Started with floral aromatics, followed by slightly harsh fruit at first on the palate with pronounced acids, overt tannins and noticeable new oak. Took a while in glass to show anything accessible today, but the finish showed great power and density. Wonderful aging potential.
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Very subtle nose, especially after coming from some of the previous, larger wines. Very pretty with light floral notes. With more aeration the aromas kick up a bit (or my nose just gets used to it), but it's very pretty, despite its lightness. Great, pleasing floral notes on the palate, with fantastic structure. Really beautiful and balanced, with amazing fruit and floral notes. I can hold this on my palate forever. The finish is still fairly closed, with lots of structure dominating. However, 2+ minutes later there are amazing, delicious flavors (including dried violets) that make me crave more. Still youthful, with an impressive future ahead. 92+
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This nose has serious personality, a bold and muscular Volnay which announces it is going to give your tasting apparatus a decent workout when it comes to sniffing and tasting. It is good, though, real concentration and powerful presence which you cannot help but take terribly seriously. That being said, I feel there are limits to how masculine I want my Volnay to be and this smells like it is beginning to push those boundaries. The palate is definitely masculine with a seriously structural whack of tannin. Again this only slightly suffers from 1996 syndrome, the acid is high enough to make this seems lively but just under the level where it would be unharmonious. It tastes satisfyingly complex and, as with the Champans, there is not much in the way of tertiary characters here; it has plenty of ability to keep on ageing. I do like this, quite a lot actually, but I’d prefer it a hint less butch and slightly more pronounced in sex-tastic character.
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Top Volnay Producers and Vineyards 1971-2006 (Custom House Tavern - Chicago IL): Single blind with 1er Volnay mostly from 1996. Ripe red fruit and good spice on nose, still showing some oak. Same red fruit with better spice on palate, just a trace of sweetness, which was actually rather nice. Less acid and tannins than others in flight, I'd probably be drinking this up in the next few years.
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LdC Top Volnay Shootout (Custom House): Medium soft red color. Big nose of raspberry bush and earth (greenhouse) with a hint of mint. Nice balanced red cherry on the aplate. juicy with a hint of sweet. My WOTF.
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(at Eleven Madison Park – NYC) A bit of a disappointment. Not nearly as fine as the Lignier. Gorgeous, lush fruit that is masked with a raw oak coating. The nose leans toward raw wood, kirsch and yeast – it overwhelms the serious fruit intensity. Unfortunately, this theme is carried over to the palate. A potentially lovely wine that was hurt by cellar treatment. (87)
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Deep ruby, tinged with purple. Narrow paler rim showing some pink. Nose is big and brash : dark plums and coffee tinged oak with, lurking beneath, a lovely mellow earthiness and sweet bramble fruit. Mouth entry is full, swelling with ripe black fruit and yet held in balance by lovely fresh acidity. Mid-palate seems less dense, though with more subtlety, and a sweet, smoky character to it. Very fine tannins and good length on the finish, though with the acidity a touch prominent. Just a little austere today, but very good and some way from peaking. ***
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Drunk after the 1997, this was very similar - in appearance, smell, taste, i.e. dark, sweet black cherry fruit, dense - leaner than the '97, brooding a bit, but it too was big and powerful, very impressive
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Opened at Bay Wolf for the legendary Double Duck dinner; fascinating comparison to a 1996 Littorai One Acre brought by a fellow wine compatriot. This was by far the best showing for this wine of the 4 I have consumed. Clearly very deep in flavor and still with some unresolved 1996 acidity, but as the evening progressed it did noticeably soften and show much more floral components on the nose as well as mineral and smoke. Quite good but in need of another 5 years to finally show its stuff.
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Matchstick and smoke dominate the nose, with some herbs, tar and cherry skin. Very firm with plum some tomato/basil notes complementing the raspberry fruit. The wine is still a bit hard. Anise notes begin to come fore as the wine opens, and it does evolve considerably with time. Complex and interesting wine.
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Mouthwatering spicy cherry fragrance, quite extraordinarily intense, luxuriously silky on the palate, the flavour really soars and the finish goes on and on - there's a lot of acid here, but there's so much fruit for it to animate that this is not a problem. After a long dumb spell, this has emerged tasting as I imagine it did in cask - I can't detect any secondary development whatsover. Still, it's already an exciting wine.
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Finally a Lafon 1996 that seems to be coming round. Past bottles of this have been raw, fruitless and nasty, but this was fragrant and fruity from the word go, and got deeper as the evening went on - like the Lafarge, quite meaty, but with more penetrating fruit and more sweetness on the back end. Can now look forward to these.
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Youthful dark color. Nothing aromatically despite desparate swirling and several hours in the glass. Devoid of fruit or charm, gritty feel, and absolutely punishing, tart, mouth puckering acidity. When I last tasted this around 4 years ago, I thought it was really tight but gave it the benefit of the doubt; now, no doubt about it, this is undrinkable, with or without food. The antithesis of what I love about Volnay, and unfortunately, a prime example of a poorly balanced '96 which will never improve. Avoid at all costs.
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This is tight. A limited nose of bitter cherry and cloves. On the palate, this is closed, shut, hard, not sharply acid but there is a lot of it there. There was fruit there, but with hours of air nothing gives. There cannot be many drums tighter than this. The next morning - less there. I have no idea how this is going to develop. There was no evident fault, I felt there was a lot there, but the least pleasure given to me by any wine from my cellar tasted recently. Leave for 5 years? 10 years?
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The Usual Suspects Taste 1996 Burgundy!: Shoe leather, polish, ink, graham cracker on the nose. Dark cherry fruit - these are very ripe cherrys, right next to the pit. Fierce acidity balances the fruit - it's on the verge of being too much, but the dense fruit rises to the challenge. A wine that, as another taster put it, is "more Brigitte Bardot than Dolly Parton."
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11/24/2023 - drjb wrote: 91 Points
Always a chunky wine this has matured nicely to reveal a fine nose of cherry, wild strawberries and touches of spice and earth. The palate has a lovely ethereal character yet does not demonstrate any particular complexity beyond the attractive features on the nose. Quite delicious and charming but somewhat wanting when put beside a d'Angerville 1er Cru from the same year.
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7/1/2023 - TheFoodieTraveler Likes this wine: 94 Points
A spectacular example of why Lafon is so good. Definitely modern in style. Sous Bois, red and black fruits, mineral, intense.
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9/4/2022 - acyso wrote: 88 Points
(Mostly) Spanish dinner (Chicago, IL): Not a very convincing bottle. The fruit feels really backwards here, and only shows in the midpalate. Lots of gangly acidity, and lacking the perfume that I want in Volnay.
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7/5/2022 - sdr wrote: 89 Points
When first opened and consistent with some previous bottles, much too aggressively tart and under fruited. But served too warm at the outdoor restaurant it morphed into something softer, smoother and the modicum of fruit could be tasted. Almost enjoyable but by the pedigree it should be so much more.
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2/9/2022 - sdr wrote: 90 Points
Like so many of this vintage have turned out, the acidity has outrun the grape. Good freshness and energy but the fruit is not fruity enough. Decent and okay but disappointing.
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10/2/2021 - englishman's claret wrote: 83 Points
What a mess this is; an extracted, chocolate and cherry cola nose, still seemingly somewhat oaky. I'm not sure the famous 96 acid is a problem here because the wine is so extracted it needs it.
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4/23/2021 - Tim2 wrote: 92 Points
The last bottle but could be enjoyed years from now
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12/1/2019 - rube237 wrote: flawed
Massively corked.
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10/24/2019 - sdr Does not like this wine: 88 Points
While drinkable and even enjoyable to some, this wine lacks energy and verve. Not corked or oxidized and there’s some decent black cherry fruit and cola yet it’s best the first few minutes and seems much more tired than it should be for age and vintage. Storage was good and color was appropriate. Uninspiring at best and why Burgundy is such a mine field.
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4/26/2019 - dcwino wrote: 93 Points
1996 Burgundy Retrospective - The First Session (Clarity - Vienna, Virginia): Feels more modern and clean compare to the Lafarges. Another youthful nose displaying ripe black fruit with a hint of red, blackberry jam, black cherry, cranberry, very floral, caramel, sweet spices and limestone mineral. Excellent concentration, concentrated sweet black fruit, rich and round yet also masculine due to slightly coarse tannins, bright acidity, strong mineral and a medium to long sweet black fruit driven finish. I like clean and generous fruit expression. Others seem to strongly prefer the Lafarges. Needs time to develop sous bois.
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3/22/2019 - MAOC wrote:
Something not quite right - maybe slightly corked.
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8/5/2018 - ovenmitt wrote: 93 Points
No formal notes- from memory: earth, dark cherry cola, a bit of spice. Out of this world with roasted duck. Very well balanced, with good fruit, supporting tannin, and acidity. Could drink or hold.
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7/13/2018 - Wardyn Likes this wine: 92 Points
Complexed, captivating and matured nose of red fruits, orange sorbet, spices and wet earth.
Very high racy acidity on the entry but well supported and balance by good fresh red fruit intensity and weight. Very good complexity of secondary earthiness and forest floor. Drinking very well and will still hold.
What a magnificent Volnay Santenots!
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1/26/2018 - rosenst1 wrote: 89 Points
Opened and double decanted 90 minutes before dinner. Cork and fill were perfect. Dark ruby with slight lightening at the rim. Intense nose of dark fruits, perhaps chocolate, and spice. The trademark 96 acidity still intrudes on the finish. After another 90 minutes in the bottle the acidity has melded into the fruit but is still present. This seems more akin to a Kistler Pinot Noir than Volnay; very atypical but not unusual for this cuvee. Will keep my last bottle for 5 years to see if the fruit outlasts the acidity.
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9/7/2017 - SimonG wrote: 92 Points
Comte Lafon 1ers (La Trompette, London): Magnum. Quite ripe on the nose (significantly less so than the 97) with a freshness too. Broader and sweeter, but also served a little warmer which accentuates this. A touch of acid structure on the finish. Nice balance of richness and freshness. ****
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8/6/2017 - hajoha wrote:
Mye stall og virker litt sliten.
Bedre frukt på smak, men ingen høydare denne.
Kom seg aldri opp i løpet av kvelden.
Ikke topp flaske.
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8/5/2017 - LPEG wrote:
Noe uren på nese, vesentlig bedre i munn hvor den er helt ok. Bedrer seg ikke med luft dessverre. 88 / NR
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4/2/2017 - Burgundynick Likes this wine: 95 Points
Outstanding. It's a lovely light Ruby red. The nose is quite delicate, but it has still some red fruits, forest floor and there's a hint of perhaps violets. The palate is a typical volnay, smooth and red fruit, but there's so much more. There's tart cherry, raspberry, strawberry, totally balanced and delicious. I'm sure that it's not going to hold out much longer but why take the gamble it's drinking superbly. 95 points
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2/2/2017 - portman63 Likes this wine: 93 Points
A deep crimson very penetrating color, very similar to the 99 in that way. Forest floor and black cherry with slight hint of dark chocolate at the finish. Tannins very soft at this point and enough acidity to round out a lengthy finish. No 'shrooms or funkiness or dramatic changes, just a delicious voluptuous version of Burgundy. A wonderful wine to my palate. My favorite red from Lafon.
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7/22/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 89 Points
Still very much alive with black cherry, dusty soil, walnut skin. Hint of tannins left on the palate with enough acid on the finish to cut through them. Just not particularly complex. Drink now before the finish dries up. 89-90
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4/11/2016 - B Quinn Likes this wine: 91 Points
Really drinking well- lovely fruit and balance. A beautifully structured wine and in my view one of the more underrated of Lafon's wine
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2/28/2016 - capacious wrote: 92 Points
At 20, this is a wine at its peak, and it has the integration and structure to stay for a while. Dark chocolate, cherry, almost a sweet note predominates, and nowhere near decline but no need to wait. Wow, how Pinots can differ.
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9/30/2015 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 92 Points
really fantastic, red fruited with larger scaled fruit than many '96's, some flowers and perfume and good acid, great with food and without
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9/22/2015 - dansamsoe wrote:
Starts out fine with fruit and good acidity. Nothing out out place. After a couple of hours it starts to fade, the fruit dissapears and it becomes sour and very acidic.
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6/11/2014 - Tavastgatan wrote: 91 Points
The King of Meursault makes great Volnay from one of its sweet spots. Mature nose and acidic palate. Very 96.
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2/5/2014 - sdr wrote: 93 Points
When I first opened this bottle at home, I was worried it might be corked. No off odors but no good ones either; it smelled like water. But at the restaurant, it showed its true colors, which were wonderfully fine. Very dark color. Finally showed some blackberry aroma. Excellent attack, mouth filling, energetic. It seems like it could go on for years. It may have been BH who said it is fading but it doesn't seem that way to me.
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9/20/2013 - Rupert wrote: 91 Points
Lafon Santenots 1969-2005 (La Trompette, Chiswick, London): Rich, and this too had a chocolately density (very different from bottles I've had in the past) and also a touch of oxidation, but still plenty of acidity
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8/4/2013 - Rupert wrote: 90 Points
Minty nose, plush and resin on the palate, mature, some sap. A grand old wine, but probably has more to give. [After writing this I saw David Strange's note of three years ago which is a brilliant description of how this tasted today.]
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11/22/2012 - ssimpsonjr wrote: 92 Points
First wine with the main Thanksgiving course. Top of cork felt a little mushy so I had some concern. After opening first aroma gave me further concern with its sharpness. Kept open in the bottle for 30 minutes before first pour. Surprisingly vibrant red in the glass. Rasberry with some good underlying meat and earth tones that accompanied the turkey perfectly. Haven't had many older Burgundies but this was just perfect.
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4/13/2012 - avp wrote:
Bright acerola and raspberry nose with strong meat and iron character, clove, herbs, celery and violets. As well as some coffee, furry animality and a touch of caramel.
Fullbodied raspberry to red cherry palate with dense but refreshing structure. Gunpowder, herbs, coffee, iron and minerality. Some apricotty dried fruit character in the mid-length aftertaste.
Not that open yet, but very nice altogether. More serious than the 1995, but less refined than the 1993.
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4/13/2012 - VHJV wrote: 93 Points
A Red Burgundy night in Helsinki (Classic Wine Cellars, Helsinki, Finland): Immediately a very nice nose with mushroomy soil tones and bright fruit. In the mouth fresh and intensive with a nice complexity of fruit. Later it developes a very refined mouthfeel with a fine balance and intensity. Lovely.
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1/25/2012 - placecarnot wrote: 93 Points
Finally almost ready to drink. So pure, floral, palate not as tart as the last time I had this. Enjoyed this very much.
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10/19/2011 - Burgundy Al wrote: 90 Points
Acker Merrall 1996 Burgundy Dinner (L2O - Chicago IL): From magnum. Started off a bit awkward and flabby, with somebody even thinking it might be heat damaged. By the final taste, this was showing the expected ripe red fruit and classic Volnay spice, and some perfumed aromatics starting showing on the nose as well. Still showing a bit of oak on end.
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10/13/2011 - tooch wrote: 92 Points
Washington Tasters Guild - 1996 Burgundy Dinner (Poste - Washington, DC): Such a lovely Volnay with dense florals and a wonderful mushroom brothyness to both the nose and palate. This had some oak on the palate but it seemed integrated and in balance. Finish had fine tannin and good acidity. Great stuff.
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5/10/2011 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Assessing Burgundy Vintages by Style with Jasper Morris (Bouilland, Burgundy): Seated wine tasting. Started with floral aromatics, followed by slightly harsh fruit at first on the palate with pronounced acids, overt tannins and noticeable new oak. Took a while in glass to show anything accessible today, but the finish showed great power and density. Wonderful aging potential.
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4/21/2011 - David Paris (dbp) wrote: 92 Points
Very subtle nose, especially after coming from some of the previous, larger wines. Very pretty with light floral notes. With more aeration the aromas kick up a bit (or my nose just gets used to it), but it's very pretty, despite its lightness. Great, pleasing floral notes on the palate, with fantastic structure. Really beautiful and balanced, with amazing fruit and floral notes. I can hold this on my palate forever. The finish is still fairly closed, with lots of structure dominating. However, 2+ minutes later there are amazing, delicious flavors (including dried violets) that make me crave more. Still youthful, with an impressive future ahead. 92+
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8/18/2010 - David Strange Likes this wine:
This nose has serious personality, a bold and muscular Volnay which announces it is going to give your tasting apparatus a decent workout when it comes to sniffing and tasting. It is good, though, real concentration and powerful presence which you cannot help but take terribly seriously. That being said, I feel there are limits to how masculine I want my Volnay to be and this smells like it is beginning to push those boundaries. The palate is definitely masculine with a seriously structural whack of tannin. Again this only slightly suffers from 1996 syndrome, the acid is high enough to make this seems lively but just under the level where it would be unharmonious. It tastes satisfyingly complex and, as with the Champans, there is not much in the way of tertiary characters here; it has plenty of ability to keep on ageing. I do like this, quite a lot actually, but I’d prefer it a hint less butch and slightly more pronounced in sex-tastic character.
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1/11/2010 - Burgundy Al wrote: 91 Points
Top Volnay Producers and Vineyards 1971-2006 (Custom House Tavern - Chicago IL): Single blind with 1er Volnay mostly from 1996. Ripe red fruit and good spice on nose, still showing some oak. Same red fruit with better spice on palate, just a trace of sweetness, which was actually rather nice. Less acid and tannins than others in flight, I'd probably be drinking this up in the next few years.
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1/11/2010 - winefool wrote: 94 Points
LdC Top Volnay Shootout (Custom House): Medium soft red color. Big nose of raspberry bush and earth (greenhouse) with a hint of mint. Nice balanced red cherry on the aplate. juicy with a hint of sweet. My WOTF.
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5/25/2009 - jamiekutch wrote:
High tone, clean pure fruit and a bite of 96 acidity which gets in the way and takes away from the overall experience.
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2/27/2009 - dbkitc wrote: 87 Points
(at Eleven Madison Park – NYC) A bit of a disappointment. Not nearly as fine as the Lignier. Gorgeous, lush fruit that is masked with a raw oak coating. The nose leans toward raw wood, kirsch and yeast – it overwhelms the serious fruit intensity. Unfortunately, this theme is carried over to the palate. A potentially lovely wine that was hurt by cellar treatment. (87)
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1/1/2009 - HandPickedBurgundy wrote:
Deep ruby, tinged with purple. Narrow paler rim showing some pink. Nose is big and brash : dark plums and coffee tinged oak with, lurking beneath, a lovely mellow earthiness and sweet bramble fruit. Mouth entry is full, swelling with ripe black fruit and yet held in balance by lovely fresh acidity. Mid-palate seems less dense, though with more subtlety, and a sweet, smoky character to it. Very fine tannins and good length on the finish, though with the acidity a touch prominent. Just a little austere today, but very good and some way from peaking. ***
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12/6/2008 - Rupert wrote: 92 Points
Drunk after the 1997, this was very similar - in appearance, smell, taste, i.e. dark, sweet black cherry fruit, dense - leaner than the '97, brooding a bit, but it too was big and powerful, very impressive
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9/22/2008 - rosenst1 wrote: 90 Points
Opened at Bay Wolf for the legendary Double Duck dinner; fascinating comparison to a 1996 Littorai
One Acre brought by a fellow wine compatriot. This was by far the best showing for this wine of
the 4 I have consumed. Clearly very deep in flavor and still with some unresolved 1996 acidity,
but as the evening progressed it did noticeably soften and show much more floral components on the
nose as well as mineral and smoke. Quite good but in need of another 5 years to finally show its stuff.
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7/19/2008 - nwk wrote:
Matchstick and smoke dominate the nose, with some herbs, tar and cherry skin. Very firm with plum some tomato/basil notes complementing the raspberry fruit. The wine is still a bit hard. Anise notes begin to come fore as the wine opens, and it does evolve considerably with time. Complex and interesting wine.
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6/1/2008 - noppakit s. wrote: 92 Points
One of the most beautiful scent of toasted-oak, deep, clean and try to be Nuits.
Good complex and balance, medium to full-bodied, delicious and well-made. ..fine tannin. Feel like drinking Nuits.
But...the finished blows the original bouquet of Beaune so dramatic and quite long....
Drink now - 2017....................a price of Grand Cru........so..........drink a bit, think a lot.............
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3/28/2008 - Rupert wrote: 93 Points
Mouthwatering spicy cherry fragrance, quite extraordinarily intense, luxuriously silky on the palate, the flavour really soars and the finish goes on and on - there's a lot of acid here, but there's so much fruit for it to animate that this is not a problem. After a long dumb spell, this has emerged tasting as I imagine it did in cask - I can't detect any secondary development whatsover. Still, it's already an exciting wine.
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12/29/2007 - Rupert wrote: 91 Points
Finally a Lafon 1996 that seems to be coming round. Past bottles of this have been raw, fruitless and nasty, but this was fragrant and fruity from the word go, and got deeper as the evening went on - like the Lafarge, quite meaty, but with more penetrating fruit and more sweetness on the back end. Can now look forward to these.
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9/6/2007 - drwine2001 wrote:
Youthful dark color. Nothing aromatically despite desparate swirling and several hours in the glass. Devoid of fruit or charm, gritty feel, and absolutely punishing, tart, mouth puckering acidity. When I last tasted this around 4 years ago, I thought it was really tight but gave it the benefit of the doubt; now, no doubt about it, this is undrinkable, with or without food. The antithesis of what I love about Volnay, and unfortunately, a prime example of a poorly balanced '96 which will never improve. Avoid at all costs.
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5/10/2006 - conadoc wrote: 95 Points
With a grilled veal chop. Wonderful Burgundian nose, elegant but lots of dark fruit. Young, complex and delicious.
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9/2/2005 - CharlesM wrote:
This is tight. A limited nose of bitter cherry and cloves. On the palate, this is closed, shut, hard, not sharply acid but there is a lot of it there. There was fruit there, but with hours of air nothing gives. There cannot be many drums tighter than this. The next morning - less there. I have no idea how this is going to develop. There was no evident fault, I felt there was a lot there, but the least pleasure given to me by any wine from my cellar tasted recently. Leave for 5 years? 10 years?
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6/5/2005 - RickG wrote:
The Usual Suspects Taste 1996 Burgundy!: Shoe leather, polish, ink, graham cracker on the nose. Dark cherry fruit - these are very ripe cherrys, right next to the pit. Fierce acidity balances the fruit - it's on the verge of being too much, but the dense fruit rises to the challenge. A wine that, as another taster put it, is "more Brigitte Bardot than Dolly Parton."
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7/14/2001 - mdefreitas wrote: 92 Points
Bastille Day @ My Apt (San Francisco): Good ruby color. Strong fruit, some stoniness. Good structure... should age well.
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