I wonder if this wine has started to shut down a bit. It feels generally a bit burly right now, and there was also a strange slightly skunky quality to this wine. Nonetheless, there is some clear citric notes here, as I was able to identify the chardonnay from the smell from someone else's glass alone. As I've said in my countless recent CdC notes, the 2007 is a better wine.

Beautiful bottle of this wine -- there's a gentleness to this wine that really appeals to me. It's not screaming acidity or thin or anything like that, but instead there's some creamy lemon curd flavours without the overbearing acidity of 1996. A touch funky and cheesy, but for my palate, in a perfect spot.

Great bottle of this; fairly in line with the bottle I opened at the HDH recently. This clearly has that funky thing that happens when a fairly reductive wine ages, and has also picked up some bready qualities along the way. Fairly balanced, but not as serene and composed as the 96 Cristal alongside (which I preferred).

The nose to me is a little more alluring here, showing a fair bit of yeastiness. Very minerally and bright, with a lovely chalky texture on the palate. While there's definitely the lighter texture on the palate (I've never found the Chetillons to be a particularly weighty wine), the ripeness of the vintage I think helps flesh out this wine quite a bit. A fairly convincing bottle, but given the tariff here, it wouldn't be the first choice for my cellar.

The vintage appellation combo scares me, but the producer certainly plays a huge role here. In fact, this truly does taste like a classic Rayas wine, with the sweet red fruit and lighter disposition, coupled with the crazy amount of white pepper. Nowhere as alcoholic and heavy as the vintage would indicate, but there is definitely some serious structure for a bit of aging here.

Served double blind. I initially thought that this was a really clean CdP, given the amount of intense plummy fruit and mild earth tones here, but retasting did land me in Burgundy after all. Fairly dark and tannic, with lots of structure and ripe fruit; I eventually guessed 1999 red Burgundy. This bottle had been decanted the night before, which may have been responsible for my sense that this was a lot older than it actually was.

I didn't catch the disgorgement date on this bottle, but for me, this was definitely far too along the oxidative spectrum for me. Just way too nutty and browned apple, and while there was acidity, it just didn't feel too fresh.

The nose is quintessential Leroy, with that intense perfume, but the palate is where this wine falters. There's some Nuits earthiness here, but the lighter vintage doesn't do this any favours, as the wine feels a little emaciated on the palate. Some pleasant acidity and red fruit, but without the oomph that the nose promises.

Far better than the house's embarrassing 2002 effort (a wine that has forever coloured my impression of this producer). This shows a little thin and acidic, as expected with the vintage, but on the flip side, there's certainly some nice earthy flavours on the palate. This doesn't have the full on weight and power as you'd expect from such hallowed terroir (cf. 1990 Jadot Beze later today, or even the 1988), but there's enough here to keep this wine interesting.

#0770. Given my previous experience with this wine, I was very, very excited to get to revisit it. However, this bottle suffered a little bit in the pop and pour treatment, and while I tried to give it as much air as possible in the glass, it never seemed to really pick up enough steam. As well, this bottle seemed to be a little more advanced than expected, in that there was a bit more secondary character than comparable bottles. Nonetheless, this is a powerful rendition of nebbiolo with silky red fruits and a lot of stuffing on the palate.

Fleshy and ripe as expected for the vintage, with a nice amount of peaches and other orchard fruits here. A slight matchstick tone on the nose and palate, but with adequate acidity to balance out the ripeness.

I liked the 2009 of this more; this vintage was more high toned and showed a slight nail-polish remover thing that I didn't really like. On the palate, it's a little thinner and doesn't have the same breadth that the 2009 has.

I'll be honest, I don't quite understand the fuss about the PYCM wines (I certainly prefer Boillot's bottling of Corton Charlemagne for half the price). They all are kind of ripe and slightly Californian, but with somewhat unintegrated acidity. Mind you, they're still pretty delicious and I wouldn't turn down a glass, so long as I'm not the one stuck with the tab. This has a surprising amount of brown sugar and caramel on the nose and palate, coupled with a slightly disjoint (but high) amount of acid. Oak pokes out a little here too.

This suffered being poured alongside the 1990. The thinner, slightly weaker vintage shows here, and while there are some really convincing earthy notes here, there's a little more evolution and the acidity of the vintage pokes out a bit.

A true powerhouse of a wine here, and it far surpassed the 1988 in quality. The nose is sweet, layered, perfumed, and earthy, with a hint of iron. Weighty with the ripeness of the vintage, but with a lifted elegance as well, with a structure that has kept this wine from collapsing in on itself over the years. Not muddy and dirty like lesser 1990s at all.

Served blind next to the 2006; I got the vintages wrong. I found this a little more drinkable with a slightly less forbidding structure and with more intense aromatics and freshness here. A little lifted and given the reveal, I was surprised at how accessible this wine seemed.

Served blind next to the 2005, which I thought was better (and the 2006). Fairly difficult to distinguish on the nose; they both showed similar intensely black-fruited earth aromas, but this bottle seemed more structural from the tannins that I had guessed that this was the 2005. Not the most approachable right now.

Ripe and flashy, showing a bit of flab on the nose from the vintage. A little overoaked at this stage, with a palate that is slightly lighter than I would have expected. Not sure what the trajectory of this is.

I think I liked this wine more than others today; the nose shows fairly dirty with a fairly rustic disposition. The palate is very interesting, as it's one of the first wines from MG where I feel like I could taste something that I imagine to be chaptalization, where there's a midpalate sweetness that dies off before the acidity kicks off on the finish. A little backwards and rustic, but still quite good and complex for what it is. Drink up, though.

Slightly reduced on the nose. Black fruited and spicy on the nose with a moderately slightly candied quality (not in a bad way). The palate is silky and elegant; fairly structured and still with a good amount of tannins.

Opened this to get a sense of the producer, as it's one that has been on my list for a while, but I never got a chance to try one. I'm generally pretty impressed here; there's a fairly light touch here, with a more delicate fruit composition that definitely feels quite Morey. Perhaps a little something that comes off as stems on the palate. Very sensible oak use here as well.

Initially I was a little less impressed with this, but it definitely blossomed with air, eventually showing more and more spice tones. The red fruit and approachability are both hallmarks of the 2010 vintage, and I think the elegance here belies the NSG appellation a little bit. I've never bought the negoce Dujac wines (this is my first and only bottle), but this is certainly an enticement to give them another shot.

Late release. From half-bottle. I couldn't really understand this wine too well; it was really, really dirty and stinky and seemed to have some chemically off flavours at first, but those did seem to dissipate with air. It didn't seem flawed, but I'll have to note to generously air out the older Huet wines when I open one next time.

Easy 100-point potential on this wine, it's just a question of time. Maddeningly red-fruited and pretty, but with that classic stern Conterno structure behind the perfume and light sweet fruit. I can picture Roberto when drinking this wine. The finish is incredibly structural, and the tannins will need decades to soften. Without a doubt a monumental wine in the making. What a treat to see it now.

No, it's not fully mature, but I'm also not one of the necrophiliac fetishists who derive their enjoyment of old Bordeaux from wines that have one foot in the grave. This is sitting at this boundary where the fruit and secondary characteristics are in perfect harmony with each other. An explosively perfumed nose with graphite and leather and a hint of pyrazine, followed by sweet black fruits. On the palate, this still shows a bit of rawness on the finish from the structure, but whatever primary elements here have softened and give this a really luxurious, plush quality. The juiciness from the ripe vintage, coupled with all that Latour structure make for an incredibly complex drinking experience.

Serving this next to the 1990, it was so obvious how much more raw and young this wine was. This is black-fruited, dense, and packed with power, but it feels almost clumsy and unsophisticated next to the brilliant 1990. Without a doubt this will become a phenomenally compelling wine (perhaps to the same level as the 1990 in ten years?) but right now this is an exercise in potential. There are but nascent signs of secondary development here but a lot of the requisite hallmarks are here, especially the graphite and leather. Give this time.

A wine of raw potential that is not anywhere close to ready. Wow, big surprise, right? We had already seen that with a recent 2009 Chaillot, and it's certainly nothing revelatory to say that this is a really intense and large-scaled wine, with more of everything that the Chaillot has. The tannic structure is more firm and grippy, and the fruit while amply present, still feels kind of purply and young. Plenty of potential but not ready now.

The more I try the CLB wines, the more I think they're really just for smelling. The nose here is pretty much in line with the rest of the CLBs I've had -- beautiful crunchy red fruit, with a really lovely spiciness. But the palate is certainly less compelling and interesting, with a surprising thinness relative to the amount of material is on the nose.

Wow. The nose here shows some of the really ripe and complex earthy tones that you would expect from a Leroy. Silky and rich, with lots of spice and black fruit on the nose and palate. The ripeness of the vintage here shows, but despite the relatively more buxom producer profile, this wine still feels really much in balance. I would love to see this with more time.

Not a fan of this at all. It came across as tinny and thin, with some prickly oak and a rusty smell on the nose. Worse is a distinct taste of cigarette ash on the palate.

For a "modernist" producer, this is remarkably restrained. There's a sweet cherry and spice aroma on the nose with a little more polish than I generally like in my nebbiolo. Juicy with nice breadth on the palate. Resolved now, but in no danger of decline.

Incredibly autolytic, to the point where you get an almost musty funk on the nose. The palate has great acidity that helps to balance all the bready, doughy flavours, and there's a nice creamy texture here overall. Not my generally preferred style of champagne, but this is a pretty good bottle for the genre.

A slightly more dumb nose than the Forest alongside, but also not quite as reduced. The palate here I found a little more enjoyable too, with some citrus and a nice creaminess overall. The complexity is a little lacking next to the Forest, but I think this is drinking a little more expressively.

One of those frustrating bottles of Forest where it takes forever for it to open up into anything interesting and even then it's not super expressive. The nose shows a little more than the Séchet, but the palate is still pretty clamped down and I don't get much out of it. Probably the right thing to do with these wines is to open them a day ahead, but ain't nobody got time for dat.

Pretty much fully resolved, this is a wine where further aging I suspect is mostly for academic interest. This isn't as burly and unforgiving as more modern editions, and the ripe fruit and resolved tannins give this a really nice silky quality. A little dusty but with beautiful dried figs on the palate and a fairly enjoyable bottle of Cos (I'm not a fan of the later ones).