Leroy 2004 Horizontal - Part 2 of L2O Dinner

Chicago's Lieu-dit Cru (my Burgundy group) had a great dinner at L2O in Lincoln Park, divided into two wine parts. First we did a single blind "shoot out" between two of my favorite 1er Cru vineyards from the Montrachets - Caillerets from Puligny-Montrachet vs. Caillerets from Chassagne-Montrachet. This was followed by a horizontal single blind flight of the five Leroy 2004 red bottlings.

Madame Leroy and her team declassified all her Domaine red wine in 2004 into these five wines. So the Vosne Romanee includes Grand Cru (Richebourg, RSV), 1er cru (Brulees, Beaux Monts) and Villages (Genaivrières). Bourgogne includes Clos Vougeot and all the Leroy holdings in Cote de Beaune, from Grand Cru to Villages, etc.

• 2004 Domaine Leroy Chambolle-Musigny 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny

  Single blind flight of all Leroy 2004s. Good combination of red and black fruit with good spice. On palate the fruit became more red cherry and strawberry over time. Shorter finish than I'd hope, but with good spice.

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• 2004 Domaine Leroy Nuits-Saint-Georges 86 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges

  Single blind flight of all Leroy 2004s. Unfortunately I was able to guess this one correctly because it tasted the same as another recent bottle. My least favorite of the Leroy 2004 lineup. Lean and austere on the nose and palate. Has some nice floral charm and reasonably good fruit on the palate, but a bit of tannins stand out. Drink up soon.

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• 2004 Domaine Leroy Bourgogne 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne

  Single blind flight of all Leroy 2004s. Very classically Leroy in a very good way! Charmingly perfumed nose with lots of red fruit and sexy Asian spice mix.Red cherry and strawberry follow through to the wine's flavors with very good spice on the finish. I'd have liked a slightly longer finish.
  
  This is at least the 6th bottle of this wine I have tried and frankly the bottle variation has been bizarre. Set aside one slightly corked bottle, I've had 2 bottles of this wine that showed even better than it did tonight and two others much worse. Same wine from same case that I scored in a range of probably 85 to 95 between 2007 and 2010. Perhaps I need to check the biodynamique calendar before opening another bottle.

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• 2004 Domaine Leroy Gevrey-Chambertin 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin

  Single blind flight all of Leroy 2004s. Good red and black fruit that is slightly more perfumed/floral (i.e., Leroy) than I'd expect once I found out this was the Gevrey-Chambertin. Good spice as well, this showed itself a bit more backward on the finish. Not as good as another bottle opened a year ago, which makes me wonder about bottle variation here, much like I described in the Bourgogne TN from this same dinner.

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• 2004 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée

  Single blind flight of all Leroy's 2004s. Impressive nose of spice and red fruit. Red cherry continues on to the palate, with good intensity. Fruit and spice complement each other perfectly, working nicely with the wine's tannins, acidity and minerality. Clearly the more balanced of the Leroy 2004 lineup with the best length.

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I have four general observations on these wines.

1. Wines are excellent for the challenging 2004 vintage, from which I like a minority of the wines
2. Bottle variation for several of these wines has been frustrating, most notably for the Bourgogne
3. It was impossible for anybody in our group to correctly identify all 5 wines from their correct places, which highlights that these wine show more of the producer than the terroir, at least today
4. My inclination is to drink these on the younger side, not holding any beyond 2015, instead of thinking about their potential longevity based on what was declassified into them. Of course I will surely keep a few beyond that point because...I don't know why.