95 Burgundy

• 1995 Pol Roger Champagne Vintage Brut

  France, Champagne

  Mid straw. Quite a full, rich, slightly oxidative nose. A touch of ginger and mushroom. Palate a bit flat and one dimensional. Almost a little shrill. Problematic, possibly corked. Apparently this cleaned up and filled out on the palate after a couple of hours, so maybe just needed to relax in the glass. NR.

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• 1996 Pol Roger Champagne Vintage Brut 92 Points

  France, Champagne

  Similar colour. A touch more honey on the nose. A little more energy too. Rounder and a little richer on the palate. In good condition. Decent zip on the finish. ****

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• 1998 Benoît Lahaye Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé 91 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Lots of CO2 on the nose. Seems very fresh. Nice and linear. Lovely minerality and fresh acidity on the finish. Nose develops to show a touch of yeast, and curiously, ripe avocado. Very decent in a contrasting style to the Pol. ****

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• 1995 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Blind. Beautifully sweet and fragrant initially, then it tightens up. Becomes a bit dusty on the nose. Quite a full dense ruby in colour. Grippy. Needs time. The nose very dusty after it's initial charm. Far more surly than a lovely bottle last year. **(**) ?91

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• 1995 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Vergelesses 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

  Paler, more of a garnet. Quite floaty and fragrant. Lighter with soft spice. Good acidity and a bit of gentle decay. Easy going but none the worse for that. ***

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• 1995 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Vieille Vigne

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  Deeper colour again, quite dense. Spicy and dark-fruited on the nose. Good acidity. Dense and quite plush fruit. Still some dry tannin on the finish. Quite long. ***(*) ?91

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• 1995 Domaine Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

  Full garnet to a muddy ruby core. Spicy. Some evolution and a little VA. Soft velvet with a broken glass spine. Then it tightens further and becomes dry and surly. One for the masochists. Bare *** with fingers crossed. ?86

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• 1995 Maison Roche de Bellene Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Derrière La Grange Collection Bellenum

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

  Paler. Quite light and bright sweet fruit. A touch of confiture. Chambolle fragrance. A little easy and simple in the greater scheme of things, but not very 95 and not a surly brute, so very drinkable. top *** 89 Shows more simply than previous bottles from the case.

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• 1995 Domaine Amiot-Servelle Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

  Again, a touch of lift here. Deeper colour. Full and quite dense ruby. Good fruit on the mid-palate with a little dryness on the finish. Nose a bit dark and muddy. Sweetens up with air, but still needs time. Could be really quite pretty. **** 92

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• 1995 Joseph Drouhin Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

  Dark ruby. Very dense. Licorice. Very dense and chewy. It does lighten a little, but also develops a beef stock nose. Not showing much charm. ***(*) ?91 in time.

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• 1995 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

  Full, slightly smoky. Quite a dense ruby. Nicely fragrant with a density to the fruit. Quite plush through the mid palate with a slightly dry finish. Nicely dense. ****

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• 1995 Domaine Denis Mortet Chambertin

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  Another dense, quite plush, dark, red-fruited nose. Very smooth. Again, just a touch of dryness on the finish. Started off quite showy but can't quite keep it going. Not sure. ***1/2

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• 1995 Joseph Drouhin Clos Saint-Denis

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru

  A little mute on the nose with a touch of dust. Dense, quite dark fruit. Reasonably plush but again, it tightens up. ***1/2

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• 1995 Domaine Robert Jayer-Gilles Echezeaux du Dessus 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

  A full on, extracted, herbal nose. With air it lifts and shows a hauntingly pretty fragrance. Quite full and round on the palate. This is really growing on me. Breathes-up well. Lovely. ****

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• 1995 Von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Eiswein

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Nicely petrolly nose. Very intense.beautiful balancing acidity. ****1/2

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• 1999 Alois Kracher Scheurebe TBA #5 Zwischen den Seen

  Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee

  Far fuller in colour, mid amber. Very barley sugar on the nose with a peachy sweetness. Heavier and fuller. Sweet but some balance here. **** 92

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• 1976 Château Rieussec

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Deep orange, almost brown. Didn't really get a chance to taste this.

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On the whole, very 95. Not particularly pretty or gracious, though some decent, if not top flight, bottles. The GCs showed their breeding, the premiers were more variable. Thanks to F for herding, and to all for their bottles and company.