Heavily damaged label that had clearly been soaked at some point, but the capsule was in decent shape and the cork was in great shape. Beautiful, translucent garnet color. Dried, crushed violet and earthy elements of garrigue and sous bois define the nose, accentuated with mature notes of soy, umami, mushroom, and leather. Spicy flavors are a quite pleasant with cloves and black pepper. There’s an obvious stemmy character with just a hint of cedar – I’m guessing there’s a good amount of whole cluster with restrained use of new French oak. Fruit profile is a mix of tart red and black fruits with a mature dried character evolving into more of a stewed profile, but the intensity of fruit is a bit lower than everything else after 25+ years. Fine-grained tannins present themselves on the roof of the mouth, the legs are fat and slow moving, the finish is hot, and the elevated alcohol level is in stark contrast to prominent acidity – evidence of a strong vintage with a large diurnal range.
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1990s Burgundy, part one (Noize): More evolved and delicate than the other reds, and all the better for it. The scent of sweet flowers poking through on the nose, tangy fruits, sweet cherry, attractively mineral. Didn't blow any of us away, but my red WOTN.
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Nick A’s 1990’s burgundy (Noizé, London): Gorgeous colour. Ruby to full garnet. Mid red fruit. Some iron. Nicely mineral. Cool and restrained. Densely silky and harmonious. A little cool but still quite chewy. Similar to a previous bottle four years ago. This wasn’t helped by the small, tight chianti-style glasses. ****
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PnP. Mostly dark soils and flowers on the nose, appeared ready. Vibrant acidity known for the vintage, slightly edgy. Fine tannins and slightly drying at finish. Oaks were fully integrated. Typical Bonnes Mares, a bit burly. Good length and complexity, ready now but should continue to evolve.
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A mature, expressive, & sensual Burgundy; quite interesting to observe it's development with more time throughout the evening. Notes of deep cherry, blackberry, and warm earth. Very well rounded & in a great spot. A special wine.
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PnP. Certainly more approachable than last bottle opened one year ago. Lightly floral nose, fairly clean though. No excess acidity of the vintage. Typical of Bonnes Mares, huge wine with plenty of tannins but no longer so imposing. Multi-layered and long lingering finish. No hint of alcohol at backend. Still bits of oaks lingering. Drinking great and will continue to evolve. Good showing today.
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Just by looking at the color of the wine, you wouldn’t guess it’s already 22 years old, deep dark red. More developed on the nose, mostly dark soils with a smidgen of flower, certainly more attractive than previous bottle 9 months ago. Nervy on the palate, showing the acidity of the vintage but at least it’s showing some signs of coming around after so many frustrating years. ABV 13.5% with warmth at backend. Still some oaks lingering at finish. Pretty good showing today with further evolution in front, this may have reached the early stage of maturity, finally!
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Subtle on the nose, not showing much. Still plenty of acidity, so typical of the vintage. There are enough tannins for this to further soften and evolve. ABV 13.5% with a touch warmth at backend. This bottle just isn't showing much both on the nose and palate. As one wise guy put it, waiting for '96 Burgundy to mature is like waiting for your children in early 20s to become responsible, sometimes you just wonder if that's ever going to happen.
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Wraysbury Dinner (R/B/A) (Home): Finely chiselled core here, taut and toned and starting to show some open development and florality across the statuesque core. Silky dark red fruit and some complexity here. Plenty of life in this - just starting to relax and show it's personality without letting anything go. Lovely. ****
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First bottle was glorious with rich black fruit and just starting to develop secondary aromas. Still young, still has a long life ahead.
Second bottle wasn't as good. I think it has a VA issue which would make me worry a bit about the batch. But hey, at that point it was late in the evening!
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Deep ruby, bright and vibrant. A rich, fruity and slightly oaky nose. Lighter on the palate; red fruit with good minerality and finishing with good acidity - quite 96. Starting to show some signs ofdevelopment on the palate, with air, but still quite tight. A lighter, seemingly higher acidity take cf the denser fleshier Jadot version, silk v velvet. GC weight with the structure more acidity than tannin driven I think. Decent but come back in five years for some secondary development. ***(1/2)
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Aromatically - red cherry pez, cellary root, sassafras, and clean earth aromas..later smelled of cherry fruit rollup. A very nice aroma profile overall. On the palate the tannins were slightly more wide grain although still very good. very long finish nice wine. 93-94
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1/17/2022 - jondrinkswine Likes this wine: 92 Points
Heavily damaged label that had clearly been soaked at some point, but the capsule was in decent shape and the cork was in great shape. Beautiful, translucent garnet color. Dried, crushed violet and earthy elements of garrigue and sous bois define the nose, accentuated with mature notes of soy, umami, mushroom, and leather. Spicy flavors are a quite pleasant with cloves and black pepper. There’s an obvious stemmy character with just a hint of cedar – I’m guessing there’s a good amount of whole cluster with restrained use of new French oak. Fruit profile is a mix of tart red and black fruits with a mature dried character evolving into more of a stewed profile, but the intensity of fruit is a bit lower than everything else after 25+ years. Fine-grained tannins present themselves on the roof of the mouth, the legs are fat and slow moving, the finish is hot, and the elevated alcohol level is in stark contrast to prominent acidity – evidence of a strong vintage with a large diurnal range.
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11/4/2021 - NickA Likes this wine: 92 Points
1990s Burgundy, part one (Noize): More evolved and delicate than the other reds, and all the better for it. The scent of sweet flowers poking through on the nose, tangy fruits, sweet cherry, attractively mineral. Didn't blow any of us away, but my red WOTN.
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11/4/2021 - SimonG wrote: 93 Points
Nick A’s 1990’s burgundy (Noizé, London): Gorgeous colour. Ruby to full garnet. Mid red fruit. Some iron. Nicely mineral. Cool and restrained. Densely silky and harmonious. A little cool but still quite chewy. Similar to a previous bottle four years ago. This wasn’t helped by the small, tight chianti-style glasses. ****
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10/22/2021 - pclin wrote: 93 Points
PnP. Mostly dark soils and flowers on the nose, appeared ready. Vibrant acidity known for the vintage, slightly edgy. Fine tannins and slightly drying at finish. Oaks were fully integrated. Typical Bonnes Mares, a bit burly. Good length and complexity, ready now but should continue to evolve.
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6/16/2019 - bigredPA Likes this wine: 93 Points
A mature, expressive, & sensual Burgundy; quite interesting to observe it's development with more time throughout the evening. Notes of deep cherry, blackberry, and warm earth. Very well rounded & in a great spot. A special wine.
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3/1/2019 - pclin wrote: 94 Points
PnP. Certainly more approachable than last bottle opened one year ago. Lightly floral nose, fairly clean though. No excess acidity of the vintage. Typical of Bonnes Mares, huge wine with plenty of tannins but no longer so imposing. Multi-layered and long lingering finish. No hint of alcohol at backend. Still bits of oaks lingering. Drinking great and will continue to evolve. Good showing today.
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1/17/2019 - StasMedvedev.lv Likes this wine: 93 Points
Grand Crus of Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny (Winil - Moscow, Russia): 🏅Rating 93+/100 (4,35⭐)
Powerful. Jammy, black fruits. Mellow, silky. Developed.
Drink now.
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4/10/2018 - pclin wrote: 93 Points
Just by looking at the color of the wine, you wouldn’t guess it’s already 22 years old, deep dark red. More developed on the nose, mostly dark soils with a smidgen of flower, certainly more attractive than previous bottle 9 months ago. Nervy on the palate, showing the acidity of the vintage but at least it’s showing some signs of coming around after so many frustrating years. ABV 13.5% with warmth at backend. Still some oaks lingering at finish. Pretty good showing today with further evolution in front, this may have reached the early stage of maturity, finally!
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7/6/2017 - pclin wrote:
Subtle on the nose, not showing much. Still plenty of acidity, so typical of the vintage. There are enough tannins for this to further soften and evolve. ABV 13.5% with a touch warmth at backend. This bottle just isn't showing much both on the nose and palate. As one wise guy put it, waiting for '96 Burgundy to mature is like waiting for your children in early 20s to become responsible, sometimes you just wonder if that's ever going to happen.
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6/17/2017 - SimonG wrote: 93 Points
Wraysbury Dinner (R/B/A) (Home): Finely chiselled core here, taut and toned and starting to show some open development and florality across the statuesque core. Silky dark red fruit and some complexity here. Plenty of life in this - just starting to relax and show it's personality without letting anything go. Lovely. ****
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6/5/2013 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
First bottle was glorious with rich black fruit and just starting to develop secondary aromas. Still young, still has a long life ahead.
Second bottle wasn't as good. I think it has a VA issue which would make me worry a bit about the batch. But hey, at that point it was late in the evening!
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2/20/2011 - SimonG wrote:
Deep ruby, bright and vibrant. A rich, fruity and slightly oaky nose. Lighter on the palate; red fruit with good minerality and finishing with good acidity - quite 96. Starting to show some signs ofdevelopment on the palate, with air, but still quite tight. A lighter, seemingly higher acidity take cf the denser fleshier Jadot version, silk v velvet. GC weight with the structure more acidity than tannin driven I think. Decent but come back in five years for some secondary development. ***(1/2)
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4/9/2010 - Harrypotter wrote:
Aromatically - red cherry pez, cellary root, sassafras, and clean earth aromas..later smelled of cherry fruit rollup. A very nice aroma profile overall. On the palate the tannins were slightly more wide grain although still very good. very long finish nice wine. 93-94
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