1997 Château de Fesles Bonnezeaux

Community Tasting Notes (55) Avg Score: 92.7 points

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  1/31/2021 - cephomer Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Drank from 1/2 bottle, pulled from the cellar and popped n poured.
  Dark gold in color. Generous nose of raisins, caramel and burnt sugar. On the palate, syrupy & unctuous tasting much like it smelled: Raisins, molasses, burnt sugar with a definite minerality, particularly on the finish.
  Good acidity here to balance the thick viscosity of this wine. Long, syrupy finish. Enjoyable. No reason to hold any longer. Drink now

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  1/3/2021 - vagrantone Likes this wine: 94 Points

  500 ml bottle, first of 5.
  These notes are taken after the bottle has been open for a week.
  Cork in good condition.
  Deep amber hue.
  Very intense nose that indicates a high level of botrytis, honey, caramel and just a hint of VA.
  The palate is superb: high acidity level which "floats" the otherwise heavy aromas, smooth texture, rich without being heavy. The finish is very, very long.
  This is drinking really well now and, as don't see any way for it to improve, I plan to drink the remaining bottles over the next 3-5 years.
  This met my high expectations.

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  1/8/2020 - andtheodor wrote: 93 Points

  Rich, golden, nutty, powerful. This half bottle was all about the oxidative character over orange marmalade and excellent acidity. Glad I held onto some of these.

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  8/21/2019 - forceberry wrote: 94 Points

  13% alcohol.
  
  Deep and luminous burnished golden color with a concentrated coppery core. Very big, concentrated and quite developed nose with unctuous aromas of jammy red berries, syrupy treacle, some raisiny notes, a little bit of caramel and burnt sugar tones, light nutty tones, a hint of overripe strawberry and a touch of mushroomy botrytis. The wine is dense, very intense and unctuous yet relatively robust on the palate with moderately full body and super-sweet flavors of syrupy molasses, some burnt sugar bitterness, a little bit of dried pineapple, light blood orange tones, a hint of smoke and a touch of stony minerality. The moderately high acidity keeps the balance in check quite nicely. The finish is remarkably long, sticky and complex with flavors of burnt sugar bitterness, cloying syrupy sweetness, some caramel tones, a little bit of bruised apple, light toffee notes, a hint of blood orange and a botrytized touch of exotic spices.
  
  Like I've said before, this is a super-concentrated, rich and delicious Bonnezeaux with tons of unctuous, botrytized fruit, stony minerality, balancing burnt sugar bitterness and bright acidity. Overall the wine feels quite developed now at 22 years of age, making me question whether the wine will evolve much from here, but most likely the wine is not going to be falling apart either in a long time. Drink or keep - this will keep its cool for many more years, if not decades. Highly recommended.

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  12/8/2018 - forceberry wrote: 94 Points

  Tasting this wine precisely 2 years after the previous time. 13% alcohol.
  
  Deep, luminous and quite developed golden yellow color with a concentrated coppery core. The developed nose feels very concentrated and complex with remarkably intense aromas of orange marmalade, some leathery tones, a little bit of dried pineapple, light wizened apricot tones, a hint of oxidative nuttiness and a lifted touch of nail polish character. The wine feels concentrated, medium-to-moderately full-bodied and rather unctuous on the palate with intense and remarkably sweet flavors of orange marmalade, some dried pineapple, a little bit of caramel, light tangerine-driven citrus fruit notes, light oxidative hints of nuttiness and a touch of steely minerality. The mouthfeel is oily and slightly sticky, but the moderately high acidity lends good sense of balance to the wine. The finish is very sweet, rich and quite sticky with lengthy and intense flavors of orange marmalade, some caramel, a little bit of dried apricots, light tangerine notes, a hint of canned pineapple syrup and a toasty, spicy touch of botrytis.
  
  A delicious, rich and complex Bonnezeaux with remarkable intensity and lovely developed character. As I've written before, the wine isn't big or weighty, but it still delivers all it has at full blast. Most likely the wine is either at its plateau of maturity or close to it. I doubt that there is going to be much development going on here anymore, but neither is the wine going to be falling apart anytime soon. Perhaps a bit oily and unctuous, but still so darn delicious that it's hard not to love it. Outstanding stuff and a bargain at 23€.

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