I was blown away by a bottle of this earlier in the year, but unfortunately this doesn't live up. There's the same breadiness and rich fruit, but it comes across softer and less focused than I remember, a fun wine but missing the extra gears of acidity and vibrancy that I recall from my earlier experience.

Brightly fruited with doughy and mineral accents, now starting to show some savoury development as well, and really focused and vibrant on the palate thanks to a spine of powerful acids. Delicious.

Underwhelming for the producer - lots of tart gooseberry and snap pea notes with herbal, almost green Chartreuse-like scents. But this doesn't show that chalky mineral character I expect from Vatan, and it also feels a touch heavy and slightly spirity on the finish.

Incredible wine. So delicate and complex; this is an amazing wine to sit and follow over a couple of hours as it opens up. Such an array of flavour here with ripe Meyer lemon, intense minerality, and delicate floral, herbal, and oaky scents along with that classic Roulot matchstick reduction. The palate feels remarkably light and delicate, conveying an amazing intensity of flavour with barely any sense of weight, and the balance is incredible.

Fantastic wine, a wow from the aromatics alone. A soaring fragrance of red and black fruit, black olives, violet, and more savoury meatiness, and a palate presence that's very polished with very fine tannin and bright acidity giving the fruit a sense of remarkable freshness and keeping it very light on its feet.

A touch disappointing - I've had other bottles of this that were *spectacular*, and while this was an outstanding bottle of Syrah, it felt as if it was missing a gear. Lots of savoury smoky, briny, and meaty goodness here around a core of bright fruit, but it feels a touch astringent and short on the finish without the length and polish I typically expect here.

So this was an adventure - at dinner, a touch foursquare and blocky with the fruit still very rich and primary, and giving the impression it needs a lot more time despite plenty of developing meaty and smoky scents. Leftovers the next day (at lunch) transform into something much more polished and fragrant, and it's much more enjoyable then showing far more aromatic complexity, more freshness and brightness, and great overall balance.

Lightly corked - it's a bummer as there's great raw material here, and this has always been one of my favorite Clapes.

Producer over vintage, as the axiom goes, and it holds true here. There's remarkable stuffing and depth here - lots of rich red fruit and olives here, with higher toned floral, spicy, and meaty scents that become much clearer with a lot more air. Comes across a touch hard and tannic even after a few hours in the decanter, but leftovers the next day actually show better. I'll give my rest some more time.

Not a fan. The nose shows those tart gooseberry and citric Sauvignon notes, but also an overripe tropical character with banana and creamy notes, and the palate is much too alcoholic and soft for my taste. Meh.

Painfully young, but impressive to explore right now. There's remarkable freshness and power to the red fruit here, intense stemmy, floral, and oaky accents around the fruit, but right now I find it more impressive than genuinely enjoyable.

Very ripe with impressive depth to the fruit here, but also showing a distracting varnishy note on the nose and some reduction. One of those wines that perhaps I'd have enjoyed more with a lot more air, but in a big lineup at lunch I didn't give this a lot of attention.

What Adrian said. A phenomenal bottle of wine, drinking so well right now with the fruit still very fresh and youthful, but framed by an array of developed earthy flavours. Why do I not own more Jadot CSJ?

Takes a while to open up, but it's worth the wait - this is really impressive, with layers of red and dark fruit coming together seamlessly with more savoury earth and mushroom notes, and a light herbal topnote to the aromatics. It's a powerful wine that still shows some grainy tannin on the back end, but somehow simultaneously conveys a sense of elegance along with the rusticity.

Lots of ripe fruit and minerality, but feels lean and more about being impressively dry rather than genuinely enjoyable. As if someone put a Riesling through the fun-removing machine. Give me some goddamn residual sugar. More #losing than #winning here.

YAAASSSS. This is still a rock star of a wine, with such piercing intensity to the flavours and amazing depth. Such clear, fresh fruit coming together with herbs, honey, and those higher toned Eiswein spicy/herbal notes, finishing incredibly long. Brilliant.

One of those wines I would be content just sitting and smelling - the aromatics on this are brilliant; classic Graves with such intense smoky, gravelly, and tobacco leaf scents leading into a palate with very clean, fresh black fruit. It still feels rather youthful with lots of intensity and freshness to the fruit flavours, and I'll hold off my bottles a bit longer in the hope of more tertiary development, but this is already in a really nice place.

Brilliant wine. Lives up to the hype. Buy as much as possible.

A dark colour, and smells of stale apple and oxidation. Sigh.

Corked. A heartbreaker, as the aromatics reek of TCA, but there's still remarkably bright fruit on the palate and it was worth holding one's nose to take a sip or two.

I liked this a lot five years ago, but didn't find much pleasure here. It's certainly interesting with both the appearance and aromatics somewhat resembling a hefeweizen beer in terms of its cloudiness and the savoury, wheat/hay-like flavours here, and the palate shows ripe fruit matched by good acidity. But I suspect my tastes (more than the wine) have changed quite a bit since I last had this.

Lots of volatility, some dirt, and some red fruit. Eh.

Well this was incredible. Just a stunning perfume with an array of flavour that's impossible to catalogue; remarkable clarity and brightness to the dark fruit flavours here, and a lightness of touch that makes it feel almost weightless despite the intensity and persistence of flavour here.

Corked. NOOOOOO!

From magnum. This is classic Verset. The wild, sauvage flavours of Syrah with intense meatiness, smoke, green olive, earth, and so much more going on, but conveyed in a remarkably delicate, understated package. It's a wine that whispers rather than speaks loudly, with aromatics that keep building with more time, and an amazing lightness of touch. Nobody made Cornas like Verset.

Very pretty; fresh red fruits and intense green olive notes with savoury earthy and herbal notes adding complexity, and just a touch of funk that adds to the wine rather than distracting from the other flavours. Light on its feet and very polished, drinking nicely now.

Holy shit. Well, this is absolutely epic. I cannot imagine Burgundy being better than this. The flavours are classic Roulot - fresh citrus fruits, herbs, and intense minerality accented by oak, sulfur, and reduction, but it's the sheer scale and depth here that are mindblowing. The balance is impeccable; there's immense depth and power here, but also a sense of quiet understatement to how the flavours are conveyed, and the finish goes on forever.

A fantastic wine that only suffered as a result of being poured alongside the otherworldly '07. There's plenty of that Roulot oak/reduction/minerality combination and a core of bright fruit, but there's also a touch of botrytis apparent that lends a faintly honeyed character to the fruit, and leaves the finish a bit less focused than I'd like.

Classic Kruggy goodness here with lots of ripe fruit, freshly baked biscuit, and very light hazelnut and toasty notes; it's a big wine but very light on its feet with no shortage of acidity and effervescence, and it's a lot of fun to drink as a palate cleanser.

I've always found this a very open-knit, accessible Verset, and this is a consistent showing - the fruit here is brighter and more exuberant than in the '94, and it's augmented by lots of savoury meaty, gamey, and briny notes. There's some grainy tannin beneath and bright acidity, and while it's very good right now, I think there's still some upside ahead.

Liked this a lot, though I think this is a very, very good Chave rather than a *great* one. The flavours are classic Chave with tons of red fruit, smoke, meat, and more low-toned earthiness and it's a ripe, powerful wine, but it feels a touch unfocused on the palate without the depth or precision I typically expect from Chave. Still a very impressive wine, though I found myself preferring the Versets. (Admittedly, I'm biased there...)

Unreal. The colour here is a brownish caramel and the texture is very viscous - and each sip has me going "holy shit." The complexity here is unreal - an array of fresh and dried fruits, caramel, orange marmalade, fresher zesty notes, and so much more - and the balance is incredible, with palate-staining sweetness but incredible acidity balancing it and giving it surprising lightness. Each sip haunts and lasts on the palate for ages, and this is one of the greatest wine experiences I've ever had.

The aromatics start out with a blast of oak – lots of vanilla and wood here, but there’s a ton of ripe yellow fruit beneath. It’s a fleshy, chewy wine, not especially high in acid but well balanced.

A touch of funk on the nose clears with some air, and beneath are layers of really bright, fresh Chardonnay fruit, chalky minerality, biscuit, and gentle yeastiness. It’s a powerful wine, light on its feet with intense acidity giving it razor-sharp precision, and this is outstanding Champagne.

A pretty wine at first – very delicate and understated with a core of citrus and apple fruit that’s still quite fresh and light herbal, floral, and more savoury developed notes accenting the fruit. It comes across just barely off-dry with light sweetness buffered by bright acids, but a bit of air hurts this as it starts to feel quite tired, picking up some odd chemical and baked apple aromas. From the first glass or so when it was really fresh and vibrant, it seems like a fantastic wine, though one on the downslope.

Oh hell yes. This is in such an incredible spot right now. The fruit’s still very fresh and youthful, there’s a gentle maturing smokiness starting to emerge around the youthful fruit/mineral/floral flavours, and it manages to convey both the gentle, understated touch of the Merkelbachs and the sheer intensity and power of the ’01 vintage. This is a great wine, and drinking so well right now I’ll have a hard time keeping my hands off my other ’01 Merkelbachs.

From magnum. A touch of earthy funk on the nose leads into a palate with pretty red fruited flavours and lots of mature savouriness. The fruit still feels fairly fresh, though it’s well into the phase when the tertiary savoury flavours have overtaken the fruit.

Lots of debate over whether this was corked. I didn't think so, but at the same time there's something rather odd - quite dirty and funky on the nose and while some of the funk blows off with some air, more than a whiff still lingers and distracts from the red fruit and other flavours beneath.

An impressive wine - it's packed with ripe red and black fruit, with more flamboyant herbal, spicy, and floral scents emerging around the fruit. It doesn't have the lower-toned earthy notes that I typically expect from Gevrey, but it's delicious all the same and very easy to drink now with fine grained tannin and bright acids making it very accessible now.

Quite liked this – it’s very funky with lots of that old Chenin wooliness and other savoury hay/straw like notes dominating, and lighter quince and peach fruit beneath. It’s modestly sweet – more like a ripe demi-sec than a moelleux, but nicely balanced with bright acids and drinking well now.

I’ve found a lot of variability among ’83 Zillikens, but this was one of the really good bottles. A core of ripe fruit that’s still quite powerful and fresh, and layers of honey, spice, smoke, mineral, and herbal notes around the fruit. Intensely sweet with the power and richness I’d expect at this pradikat, but impeccably balanced with powerful acids making it feel vibrant and fresh. Fantastic.

Almost painful in terms of how young and primary this is, but goddamn what a wine. The raw material here is amazing – such clear, fresh fruit and immense minerality, and piercing intensity to the flavours. The balance is fantastic and this has all the indications of turning into something absolutely incredible with more time.

Disappointed here – it’s surprisingly hard and lean for the vintage; there’s some pretty red fruit here but a ton of acid and tannic structure dominate to such an extent that I wonder if it has the stuffing to age, or whether it might feel like one of the leaner ‘75s down the line.

A remarkably youthful showing - there's a core of black fruit here that still feels quite rich and primary, savoury earth and cedar accents, and a lot of tannin beneath. If this were served blind, I would have been guessing it as something at least a decade younger. The balance and depth here are impressive though, but right now this needs some meat alongside or a decant before drinking.

Liked this a lot – normally I find a lot of Charmes-Chambertin pretty underwhelming, but this one had the richness and breadth that spoke of a grand cru with lots of generous red and black fruit, earth, spice, and light floral scents all coming together in a polished medium weight package.