Deep straw. Deep, deep nose of petrol, viscera, toasty butterscotch, and with a definite Coche-Dury or Comtes Lafon intensity. Palate big and deep, with broad texture, and a touch of rather raw oak. Very, very young. Long. Vin de garde. Lots of oak but also plenty of structured fruit. The wine was fairly monolithic until we had some food, when it opened up quite a bit more, showing tell-tale spice. Showing far younger than the '08.

Golden straw, darker than the '07. Replete with spice on the nose, immediately; serene coolness, a touch of spearmint. Just lovely and not huge. Palate again shows lots of oak, though not as raw as it seems in the '07; not deep or big but full of charm with a delightful bit of lemon zing on the medium to long finish. This will be good to go in 2 years, I'm sure.

Very pretty, transparent ruby. Nose bursts with gorgeous rose petals, griottes, graphite, and a wonderfully complicating touch of herbaceousness (I thought from stems, a la Dujac, but Guillaume says his wines are all 100% de-stemmed). On the palate, there is a touch of Gamay character, strawberry jam, probably from youth. Dry and delicious with good lift, medium-bodied, tender and just lovely. This is an absolutely terrific bottle of wine, and it got better and better over 2-3 hours in the glass. Emotionally moving to me and highly instructive. Especially with this wine, but with the other Champans tonight, I have learned that Champans is exactly my sweet spot in Volnay, at least from d'Angerville...

Deeper ruby, but shy of blood. Much deeper, more brooding nose, of stones and black cherries; reticent and reserved, but with food it opened up to reveal spices and game. Palate lovely, rich, but still tranquil and lithe, griottes, iron, and a little blood. Good length. Great wine!

Classic ruby. Showing nothing on nose at first; only at the very, very back edge can I find some dusty cherry. The palate, on the other hand, revealed majesty. Pure velvet, fine-grained texture. Patrician, royal, buttoned-up. Grand cru quality, all the way. Regal and long. Tight and young. Stash it for 7+, at least. By the end of the night, it it had dabbed on a bit of slutty perfume, as I imagine royalty is prone to do in real life...

Deep blood. Nose highly fecal at first, offputtingly and unpleasantly so: baby diapers, SR said, accurately. Also cigar ash. Then, with a little food and air, it opened up some with classic cherry fruit. Palate deep and tannic, iron filings, dried blood. A big bruiser. Very long. And then 2 hours later, at last, wonderful! Give it 3+, I'd think, or a long decant.

Deep blood ruby. On the nose, I was certain this was flawed, though not corked; it seemed oxidized and that then evolved with air into fertilizer, vitamins, rust. The palate was OK, though, so I think the wine should be, too -- just closed up tight and wasn't pleased about being roused from slumber just yet. It did have good rich balance, and had a promising sweetness on the finish which bodes well. Really challenging to observe at this stage.

Deep, deep ruby. Lovely, cool nose. Cocoa, coffee, a but of ash, maybe a hint of matchstick (but not unpleasantly so). Glorious nose! Palate again a bolt of velvet, filigreed, precise texture and balance. Cherry and a little turned earth. A baby. Splendid length. Absolutely first-class wine. Later: phenomenal nose. Caramel, cocoa, truffle. Stupendous. Again, effortlessly grand cru-quality in its texture.

Mahogany. A nose of exquisite perfection, leather like a Louis Vuitton boutique, discreet rose wafting through, truffles. Wow. But the palate was even better! That's rare for me, as I am very much a bouquet guy. Here: sweet, fresh fruit, with THE most heavenly, ethereal balance, totally resolved in every wonderful, heart-throbbing way. Perfection now, and no hurry either. Easily, my WOTN. A treasure!

Wow! color deep ruby, barely bricking, unbelievable, really. Massive, explosive nose, deeply gutty, iron, leather, like a battle for Sparta. Huge balance, tannic and young (!). This wine seems another 20 years from ready to my (admittedly tiring) palate. Shocking. I preferred the Ducs for its impossibly serene balance, but Guillaume jumped up and saluted this wine in rapture -- his WOTN and he made a persuasive case! Another treasure!

Pretty ruby. Wow! Nose is explosively perfumed, simply gushing from the glass, so much so that its intensity (though not its character) reminds me of '85 Drouhin Griottes Chambertin and '93 Leroy Corton Renardes, two of the finest, most perfumed Burgundies I have enjoyed. Fabulous roses, rose water, and again a wonderful tinge of herbaceousness that adds hugely -- specifically, geranium. STELLAR wine! Massive sandalwood, smells like an incense shop. The palate had a lot to live up to, but was sweet and round, filigreed texture, tender, medium length. Incredibly, a contender for WOTN in my opinion...

Deepest blood ruby. Epic, gigantic nose of caramel, coffee, well-roasted hazelnuts, herbaceousness. Wow! Coffee, over and over, the highest register, most precise essence of coffee that you can imagine. This must be a vineyard characteristic, because all the Ducs had it. Palate is huge and clenched tight as Leona Helmsley's pocketbook. Not ready by a very long shot. Tasty sweetness on the long finish. Splendid. Try in 10+...

Blood ruby. The nose of a dinosaur, a wine from a pre-modern era. Dusty, dark and earthy. Palate lean but well balanced. Tannic. Very old school, as in being taught manners by Urk in some cave. Medium length. Taciturn. But there is a lot here that eventually should open up into something fascinating. Try in 7+...

Blood. Fancy, complex nose of cherry and dust and a bit of welcome green. Palate pleasing, sweet, still edgy with tannin. Good length. Again, like the Ducs, pretty much a wall right now, but I preferred it, tonight, to the '98 Ducs. Wait for quite a while, yet. (I brought this)

Good ruby. Big, deep, gutty nose, meaty, beef bouillon, stones, leather, cranberry. Palate big, balanced but leaning tannic (as many '89s I've had lately seem to be). Really nice, good length. I don't know where this goes from here, but I suspect in the direction of drying out. If I had a bunch, I'd start drinking some. (From magnum)

Ruby, just bricking. Classic Ducs nose, iron, blood. To me, the palate seemed a bit flat, shy, a wallflower. Not showing tonight -- but it is a 1993, of course, and many are still closed for business. Later, some intriguing notes of tangerine, petrol, and almost a minerally Riesling character coming through on the nose. Fascinating. (From magnum)

Deep blood, almost black, no bricking that I could see. Nose stony, some fertilizer, but mostly blank and closed. Palate tannic, lean, reserved, and closed. Give it another 10...

Blood. Cherry liqueur on the rich, deep nose. Massive and dense on the palate, tincture of cherry if there is such a thing. Whew! I'm exhausted. Tannin and general reserve for days. Long, but taut. '05 Ducs is showing a little sweeter. This will be a very long-distance runner. (Thanks Seth!)

Perfect ruby, bricking. Wonderful, ready nose, cedar, fresh but totally secondary, more forest loam than cherries at this point, with a welcome line of herbs to give it some lift. Palate nicely balanced but narrowed with age, plus it was never a powerful vintage to begin with. Drink up. Delicious! (From magnum)

Refined harmonious nose with a pretty bit of perfumed spices. Elegant, fresh, and sweet on the palate with a little cherry and leather and ripe, resolving tannins. Medium length. One of the better 1995 Burgundies I've had. Delicious and pretty much good to go, though I am sure it will hold for a long time yet. (From magnum. Thanks David!)

Ullaged to low shoulder, and, even in the bottle, the color of weak Lipton tea. Strange nose -- it smelled smoked and lightly fishy. Like smoked whitefish. Not bad at all, really, just strange. Nobody would try this until I took some to Guillaume and we agreed that we should try it. It tasted of thin, smoked tea. Antique.

Smooth old candy brandy, very much a French grappa but wearing a rakish beret (think rounder)...