1996 Maison Leroy Bourgogne

Burgundy-Report

• By Bill Nanson
  4/1/2009, (See more on Burgundy-Report...)

  (Leroy (Maison) Bourgogne Rouge) Limpid, medium, medium pale ruby red - looks lovely in the glass. The nose is restrained yet finely transparent with clean strawberry, raspberry and cherry impressions. In the mouth it’s a delightful combination of lightness yet intensity, transparency and freshness. Frankly this wine excels, drinking very well now despite still being far from mature. Filigree burgundy that’s more about impression than weight.

• By Bill Nanson
  4/1/2007, (See more on Burgundy-Report...)

  (Leroy (Maison) Bourgogne Rouge) I bought a case of this in ‘98 and that first bottle majored on mouth-puckering acidity; time has worked a little magic. Medium ruby red. The nose is a mix sweet red cherry and not too heavy plum. Nicely textured, this is elegant, again nicely plummy red fruit with very good but certainly not overstated acidity. The finish is understated and interesting. The table finished this bottle in double-quick time! There’s lots of life left in these bottles.

• By Bill Nanson
  3/1/2005, (See more on Burgundy-Report...)

  (Leroy (Maison) Bourgogne Rouge) Drunk directly after the 1999 Barthod Bourgogne Rouge. Medium ruby red. The nose is sweet red cherry with just a little extra secondary dimension. I remember that this was quite acidic on release but has padded out beautifully - if anything it's now just a little fat. There is tasty fruit and a nice finish. Doesn't have the extra dimension of a good villages, but a very nice wine in it's own right - there's no rush to drink these.

• By Bill Nanson
  3/1/2003, (See more on Burgundy-Report...)

  (Leroy (Maison) Bourgogne Rouge) Still a deep and young looking ruby colour. The nose is a simply gorgeous blend of predominantly raspberry fruit plus other red berries and cherries. On release I remember this wine to be quite unforgiving and a bit acidic, 4 years has worked a little magic and the palate is now quite fat with lovely cherry fruit. Perhaps there's still a slightly harsh edge to the acidity - which is not unlike many 1996's today - but this certainly improved with aeration. Still a young and very classy wine, reminds me of a very good premier cru Savigny.