Popped and poured, followed for about an hour. Still quite bubbly, with a nose showing lightly bruised apple, apple skins, lemon zest, mineral, caramelized sugar, toast, and a light mushroom note. On the palate, this is quite lightweight and elegant, showing citrus, mineral and apple. Great acidic spine, and any tannin that may have existed has fully integrated. Finish is slightly longer than moderate, with a nice bitterness lingering on the finish. In an oxidative style, but still very fresh and enjoyable. My only qualm is that I was hoping for a bit more power and complexity here.

Popped and poured, followed for about two hours. Much lighter in colour compared to the Dom. On the nose, lemon peel, mineral, slate, yeast, biscuit and fresh cut apple. With more aeration, toast, caramelized sugar and lightly bruised apple. On the palate, this is incredibly refreshing and showing excellent balance and precision. So clean tasting, showing apple, lemon, and minerals on the palate. Great mouthfeel with an ultrafine mousse. Powerful acidity, but in balance, with a slip grip on the lengthy, slightly bitter finish. This was an excellent juxtaposition to the Dom. I'd like to revisit this with a few more years of age.

Popped and poured, followed over about an hour. Light golden colour. On the nose, rose petals, mineral, tangerine, pepper and almond. As this warms, I'm catching quite a bit of heat. On the palate, rosewater, minerals and spice. The mouthfeel is very rich and oily. The acidity is far too low, making this kind of cloying without being sweet. The finish is long, but it is hot and bitter. This would have been better a few years ago. Serving this alongside the much fresher 2009 did not do it any favours.

Popped and poured, followed for about an hour. This was a light straw colour in the glass. The nose showed mineral, slate, rose petals, lime zest, pepper, caramel and vanilla. On the palate, quite rich, but not as thick and oily as the 2006. Structurally, this provides a lot more than the 2006 as well, with a longer more balanced finish, and some lifting acidity. Overall, I think my score is a bit biased in that I don't quite like this style of wine, but it is very well made.

Popped and poured, but this one was dead. Sherry on the nose and extremely bitter palate. Dumped.

Popped and poured, followed for about a hour and a half. Golden colour in the glass. This is by far one of the most interesting white wine noses I've had the pleasure of smelling, showing fresh cut strawberries, apricot, honey, citrus, fresh rain water, mineral, fruit pits, brown sugar, salt water, soil, tea and melon. On the palate, honey, apricot, citrus, mineral, saline and tea. Really nice and lightweight, considering the intensity on the nose. Still really fresh, despite having emerged on the oxidative end of it's journey. Moderate finish, with some nice bitterness and reasonable acidity, which balances the minute bit of sweetness in this wine. Again, this may be a preference thing bringing down my score, but this wine is incredibly well made and complex.

Quickly decanted for sediment, and poured immediately. Followed in the glass for about an hour. Deep garnet in the glass, this is showing much better than the bottle we had late last year. On the nose this shows a nice blend of dark and red fruits, smoke, fresh picked herbs, decaying leaves, crushed rocks and earth. On the palate, more dark fruits, a bit of cherry, herbs, smoke and undergrowth. I find on that palate is where this wine shows its best, with a hint of grip on the finish and moderate acidity, this provides a balanced and well rounded mouthfeel. Finish is of moderate length. This was served alongside the 1991 JL Chave Hermitage, and was definitely on the darker end of the fruit spectrum.

Decanted quickly for sediment, and served immediately, followed for about two to three hours. Deep ruby colour in the glass. To me, this jumps out of the glass, with a powerful nose of bright red fruits, herbs, fresh cut grass, mint, leather, strawberries, undergrowth, smoke, green tobacco, spice and raw meat. On the palate, gorgeous red fruits, mint, herbs, spice and mushroom. Fully integrated tannin, but excellent acidic backbone that carries through on the lengthy finish. I love the intensity of the fruit here. This is beautifully balanced, but powerful, yet still maintaining and certain elegance. Leaps and bounds ahead of the last bottle. This was served alongside the 1990 Chapoutier La Sizeranne, and prompted quite a bit of discussion, as people were heavily favouring one over the other. I found the Chave to be in another league, with great power and precision, whereas the Chapoutier was less interesting and a bit muddled on the nose. The Chapoutier showed it's best in the mouth with a bit of a richer mouthfeel.

Decanted quickly for sediment and served immediately. Followed in the glass for about an hour an a half. Deep purple in the glass, with immense concentration. On the nose, blackcurrant, earth, smoke, pepper, prune, crushed rocks, tobacco and very herbaceous. This also showed a bit of brettanomyces, with bandaid, iodine and garbage juice. On the palate, this is a bit of a disaster and lacking balance next to the wines that preceded it; very astringent with massive tannin and acidity. The palate shows notes of blackcurrant, earth and herbs on the finish, but is clipped due to the extent of the tannic presence on the palate. Overall a bit of a disappointment and outclassed by the 1990 that was served next to it. It would be interesting to revisit this in time to see if this gets any better, but I'm not sure that it will.

Quickly decanted for sediment and served immediately, followed for approximately two to three hours. On the nose this showed gorgeous blue fruits, dark fruits, florals, iodine, smoke meats, spice, pepper, fresh herbs, earth, decomposing leaves and briny olive. On the palate, dark fruits, blue fruits, olive, earth, and spice. Perfectly balanced acidity, tannin and fruit concentration. This is a beast of a wine and has a very lengthy complex peacock finish, with layers upon layers of different notes on the palate. This huge wine, but not overdone and totally destroyed the 1989 that was consumed alongside it. I'd love to revisit this one in ten years.

Decanted quickly for sediment, and served immediately, followed for two to three hours. Extremely powerful nose of bright red fruits, pineneedle, fresh herbs, dirty stank, mushroom, earth, decomposing leaves, smoked bacon, pepper, spice, olive, mint, leather and truffle. Incredibly complex nose. On the palate, this was seamless, showing red fruits, herbs, smoke, earth on the massive finish. Fully integrated tannin and wonderful balancing acidity. This so rounded and perfect in the mouth. I didn't think this would be able to follow up the 1990 La Chapelle, but it not only held it's own, it took the prize. I found this to be strikingly similar to the Chave earlier, but a step above in terms of balance and intensity. By the end of the night, I was ready to give this a perfect score, but upon reflection, the fact that I had to think about it means it shouldn't be. My initial hunch was 98, so I chose the middle ground. Absolutely gorgeous wine.

Quickly decanted for sediment and served immediately, followed for two to three hours. On the nose, this was a touch more subdued and darker than the 1991, showing dark fruits, licorice, pepper, tons of spice, herb, olive, terragon, lavender, blue fruit, campfire, blood, but a touch raisined. Unlike any of the other noses tonight, and mimicked Nebbiolo in some ways. On the palate, dark fruits, licorice, smoke, olive and lavender. Seemingly quite young, showing a lot of structure, with quite a bit of grip on the finish and moderate acidity. Finish is long.

Decanted quickly for sediment, served immediately and followed over approximately two hours. On the nose, this offered up scents of blue fruits, blackcurrants, pepper, smoke, florals, crushed rocks, green stems, spice, olive and citrus. This still smelt incredibly primary to me and was very "grapey". On the palate, similar flavours; blue fruits, blackberry puree, smoke, olive and pepper. Incredibly structured; huge drying tannin and strong acidity. Finish is quite long. If I had any of these, I don't think I'd open for another 5-10 years. A very nice wine, but to me, did not hit the heights of the previous wines.

Decanted quickly for sediment, served immediately, and followed for about two hours. On the nose, this shows dark and blue fruits, with white pepper, olive, light florals, heavy smoke and a touch of citrus. On the palate, dark fruits, pepper, smoke and olive. Quite structured as well, with a fair amount of tannin, and good acidic spine, but the mouthfeel is nice and silky. Finish is moderate. This seemed to lack a bit of complexity than the Cote Blonde served alongside it. As with the Cote Blonde, if I had any more of these, I wouldn't open them for a little while. They both seemed very grapey and primary. I'd love to compare these two wines again in 5-10 years, as I don't think the gap between them is that large.

Decanted quickly for sediment, served immediately and followed for approximately two hours. At first I was loving this wine, with some gorgeous tertiary notes on the nose, showing leather, herbs, blackberry, smoke iodine, decomposing leaves, truffle. With about thirty minutes in the glass, the oak really started coming out and taking over; vanilla and wood notes dominate the nose. On the palate, this falters as well, with large quantities of coarse tannin, and moderte acidity. This seems out of balance. Finish is clipped due to the coarse, dry tannin. If I had any of these, I'd be concerned as to the direction they are going to go. I can't see them improving much, as I would expect the fruit to dry out before the tannins soften any further.

Tough luck with the whites tonight; heavily oxidized, brown in colour, sherry on the nose. Dumped.