Sunday Night: Martray Vertical and Echezeaux 1999 Horizontal

Sepia - Chicago IL
Tasted Sunday, October 2, 2011 by Burgundy Al with 848 views

Flight 1 - Bonneau du Martray Vertical (4 Notes)

  • 2008 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

    Lean and crisp flavors of apple, pear, lemon and lemon zest. At the same time this has some rich and exotic spice, but the wine is much more driven by powerful acidity and minerality from middle to finish. Nice now, but a big part of my assessment is enthusiasm for where I think this will be in 5-10 years. I wish I found a bottle of the 2007 vintage to open alongside tonight.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2006 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

    Aromas and flavors of ripe peach with lots of spice alongside. Somewhat fat and exotic flavors. Rich almost slutty flavors give great pleasure to start, but not lots of satisfaction at the end. A bit of heat comes through on the finish.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2004 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne Flawed

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

    Not terrible (87-88 points?) but far more advanced than when I've tasted before, or others at dinner tonight had tasted before. Got decreasingly interesting with more time in glass.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1999 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

    Ripe fruit from first sniff with peach and roasted nuts. Same profile on palate with lots of fat. I'd have liked to see a bit more acidity tonight, but this was one of the better bottles of 99 Martray CC I've tasted over the past few years (in the US). Drinking really well tonight but it's still showing its age and i wouldn't be seeking to cellar this much longer.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 2 - Echezeaux 1999 5-Producer Horizontal (5 Notes)

  • 1999 Louis Jadot Echezeaux 89 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

    Very good at every level but never exciting in terms of aromas, flavor, spice, acidity or finish. More black than red fruit, still all primary, perhaps this will pick up weight with more time and some secondary development, this was certainly quite good but just wasn't exciting tonight.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1999 Domaine Bizot Echezeaux 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

    Super impressive spice and floral elements on nose, really creating some excitement for this wine. However the palate comes across as somewhat murky and unbalanced today. Came across as ever-so-slightly bitter on moderate finish. I understand Bizot takes a more hands-off approach to wine, using less SO2, so would be concerned regarding the longer-term potential here. I've experienced frustrating and substantial bottle variation on the case of this wine I bought a while back.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1999 Daniel Bocquenet Echezeaux 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

    Decanted for about an hour before serving. Powerful and dense black fruit from beginning to end. Huge spice kept elongating with more time in glass. Clearly still backward today, with tannins making the fruit less accessible, it is easy to underestimate the sheer quality of the raw material here, but i think this will really show its excellence starting around 5 years from now, with a long life then going forward.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1999 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Echezeaux 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

    Unfortunately not decanted, but this was open 2 hours before serving. Started very reductive with lots of sulphur. So this really took time to show any of its charm, but once open, it have good Vosne-style spice and nice red cherry fruit flavors. An interesting smoky aspect came through near finish.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1999 Forey Père et Fils Echezeaux 94 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

    Open 2 hours before serving but not decanted. Black fruit on nose and palate with really big spice coming through more prominently on palate vs. nose. Spice came across as more meaty (Morey or even Gevrey-like) than what I'd normally expect from an Echezeaux, where i typically expect something more Vosne-like. Flavors are still entirely primary today but the sensational textures show this wine's amazing longer-term potential. This really kept getting better and better with more time in glass. I think was everybody's WOTN.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

×
×