A much better showing than a bottle I had at the Pinon-a-thon last year. This bottle is showing more freshness and mid-palate depth than that one. The structure is intact and supports the fresh yellow fruit and hint of sweetness perfectly. Quince and mineral lead the way with white flowers and a hint of apricot. Just lovely. Low A-.

Rather severe, but like jumping into a cold pool, once you survive the initial shock of screechy acidity, a further examination shows that there's actually some pleasure underneath the pain. It shows a bit of oxidation from the get go, but freshened up nicely with air. Quite dry, but there is ripeness to the fruit. Plenty of lanolin with quince paste, apricot and mineral. Nice secondary development and while it could definitely use some more fruit and sugar to balance out the acidity, one gets the feeling that this wine might actually get a little better with more time as the acidity mellows a bit. It actually reminds me of a story Don Rice told me when, during a visit to Huet in 1997, he spied some Vouvray from the late 1800s and Gaston Huet mentioned that only then was it starting to drink well as the acidity had finally calmed down. B.

Earthier and richer than the '79 Foreau Sec, the acidity is nowhere near as wild and the fruit is riper, giving the wine a much more approachable and friendly personality. There's little bit of VA and shoe polish showing with aged apricot, a hint of toasted nuts and a good sheep's worth of wool. The earthiness actually reminds me a bit of that in the '95 Huet Petillant. Quite nice, though I'd start to drink up while there's still some fruit, not that it's in any immediate danger. B+.

From magnum. I expected more out of this given the vintage, producer and large format. The wine was high-toned, resolved and dominated by tertiary elements. No real fruit left, but plenty of leather, earth and citrus. Initially there was nice harmony and warmth to the mouthfeel before the acidity moved more to the forefront. Can't say I've been particularly impressed by La Rioja Alta's full range in '70. Their '73s, for instance, blow their '70s away. B-.

Quite a compelling wine! Initially I was a little worried about it as right out of the bottle it showed a little tired, but it really blossomed with air. It has remarkable vigor for its age with what would normally be extreme acidity but for the solid core of fruit. It is bone dry, though, with apple, lime, just a hint of peach and saline flavors. Delineated, complex and while mature, there's no reason to believe properly stored bottles won't provide great pleasure with more age on them. Solid A-.

Not premoxed, but that's because it's sulfured up the wazoo. Seriously sulfurous on the nose and it never really left. I've always found Coche too woody for my tastes and there's no exception here. Some decent lemon, pear and apple flavors, but the wood wins out and the wine is a bit lean. Given current pricing, seems an easy decision to flip them. B-/B.

Still in terrific shape with a surprising amount of fruit left. It's very floral with plenty of pear and somewhat tropical fruit. Indeed I almost got the sensation of canned fruit salad syrup, but in the most pleasant way and not in a sweet sense as the wine is dry. The acidity has softened a bit with age, but still holds the wine together well and there's maybe just a touch of oxidation creeping in, but I have to say the wine was remarkably fresh at age fifteen. A-.

The first few whiffs had me concerned that this would be oxidized like a bottle I had last summer, but like the '71 Moelleux, this one really freshened up with air. Initially it showed a more advanced apricot and early grey tea profile with nice earthiness, but a bit too much of an oxidative character. It soon shifted to a more quince and pear profile with the apricot moving more to the background and the earthiness taking on a more chalky character. There's a good dose of lanolin as well as dark honey note. Nice acid levels and just a hint of sweetness. Still a bit grumpy at this stage, so either give it a serious decant, or leave it be for awhile longer. A-.

In a much better place now than it was on release, where it showed roasted fruit and an extracted, almost over the top mouthfeel and texture. This bottle is much more harmonious. While certainly ripe, the fruit has lost the roasted notes and the wine shows more purity and balance. The mineral notes are also more apparent and rounded out nicely by a hint of dried flowers and pleasant spiciness. There's no denying it's a big bottle of Bojo, but it's really starting to come into its own now and is simply delicious. Solid A-.

Quite good, though seemingly a little atypical from the old Juge I know and love as there's no real funk or barnyard notes. It's quite fragrant with loads of violets, black fruit and licorice on the nose. On the palate the black fruit is sweet, but not overripe and shows nice purity. There's a little bit of rusticity with the tannins, but I have to say, this is the cleanest Juge I can recall trying. Black olives, anise, a hint of herb and black pepper round out the flavor profile with nice minerality. Nice acidity for an '07, though the wine is maybe just a touch drying on the finish. Low A-.

A beautiful, sparkling deep gold color with a knockout nose of marzipan, orange marmalade, quince paste, tea and minerals. Big time structure that almost seems tannic with the acidity so strong that it masks a lot of the wine's sweetness, though in the overall scheme of things, it's not a particularly sweet Moelleux and would work well with savory food. The wine initially showed similar flavors as aromas, but with air the fruit took on a more youthful yellow fruit profile with more pure quince, rather than quince paste, sweet yellow citrus instead of marmalade along with honeycomb notes and the sweetness did become more apparent. Extraordinary depth and complexity with light tea notes and mineral lingering on the long finish. Beautiful stuff! A/A-.

You live and learn. About ten years ago, I and a few other locals that had these wines as well as the Bise Coteaux du Layons and quarts de Chaume grew alarmed with their seemingly rapid evolution. They color was darkening much quicker than expected, given our experience at that time largely with older Huet and the tasting profile seemed to be advancing faster than it should. As a result, most of us opted to drink these wines sooner, rather and later. Indeed, I think I must've consumed my last Bise wine eight or so years ago. Well, having had a couple of various Bise wines over the past couple of including this one, I'm left to conclude that this is just the normal aging curve for these wines. While a amber color, the wine is perfectly intact. It's as intensely sweet as it was on release with honey and apricot preserves dominating with just a bit of early grey tea and minerality on the back end. In fact, it may be too sweet for some as while there are good acid levels to the wine, the sugar tends to be a bit dominant at this stage. Viscous and mouth filling with a long apricot filled finish. Wish I still had some. Solid A-.