Bottle had been open 3 days, half finished, then vacuum sealed. Lean red fruit aromas and flavors, with palate mostly dominated by its acidity. Slight bitterness on finish.

Bottle had been open 3 days earlier, 2/3 consumed, then vacuum sealed. Ripe red and black cherry aromas and flavors with some background spice. Very good structure and balance for its level. Consistent with prior tastings.

Popped and poured. Started with very nice mint aroma with big orchard fruit on both nose and palate. Very good acidity and minerality. Starting to show early hints of maturity, but still fresh for a 2004. In its peak drinking window.

Tasted double blind. Very charming strawberry and raspberry aromas. Much more lean flavors on palate. Tasted blind, i thought this considerably older. Tasted again a couple of hours later this was considerably less interesting and more shrill on the palate.

Open one hour before serving blind to the group. Very subdued earthy aromas followed by sweet mushroomy flavors that were very interesting and good, albeit simple. Retried again 2 hours later (so now open 3 hours) and this was much better. More spice aromas that before. Palate was less sweet, more mature, ripe fruit. Plus the wine was darker in color!

Note 1: Elevage by Quancard Pere et Fils.

Note 2: fill level was 2.5 cm, very slight leakage several months ago, most likely from the stress from NY to Chicago transport.

Tasted double blind. Meaty aromas with faded fruit and good earthy aromas. Shows meaty Gevrey character but somewhat short and clipped without Grand Cru density, but not much should be expected from a 1973 at this point.

Tasted double blind. Popped and poured. At first difficult to assess due to considerable amount of sulfur. Ripe red and black cherry with good amount of power to start. This power and ripeness fooled me into not seeing the wine's underlying Volnay character, which became more apparent 30-60 minutes later.

Tasted double blind. Big spice aromas immediately made me think this from Vosne. I guess I was off by one small road. Very lush and forward red and black fruit, perhaps a little more advanced than I expect from a 1999. Spice stayed consistent on the palate. Very finessed.

Tasted double blind. Mature black fruit, clearly identifiable as left bank Bordeaux. Good length and balance with nice spice emerging in middle and finish.

Tasted double blind. Lush black fruit with very accessible aromas and flavors. Soft velvety structure with fairly exotic spice. Clearly identifiable as Burgundy, but not very Gevrey or 2005 to me. Already entering its peak drinking window.

Tasted double blind. Opulent and very ripe immediately. Tasted blind, I had lots of trouble telling if this was from Burgundy or southern Rhone. Very vibrant, over-the-top with some heat on finish. I haven't tried this wine since shortly after release, when I thought it one of my personal favorite 2003s. Today I was less sure.