April 15, 2023 - (from memory) Cloudy medium ruby, bouquet is reduced and "bretty"with red currant, cherry and earth, palate also starts out with lots of reduction buy gives way to bright, mineral tinged red fruit, earth, touches of spice, medium acidity and smooth tannins, finishes with red fruit, minerality, earth and more
I know, I know, we're all sick of talking about it, plus there are too many other important things going on in the world, but I just can't resist. This Gevery made me both smile and a little sad, sans the brettanomyces (which my score looks past), it's an excellent burgundy, with all the subtly one would expect from a “below the Route de Grands Crus" grand cru, maybe not the most "Gevrey" of Gevreys but excellent nonetheless, now for the sad part, Ray's wines seemed to have declined each sequential vintage, judging by all the funk on this one, careless cellar management is most likely the culprit, on the other hand, if he got the cellar funk in order and got another dozen vintages under his belt, Ray's "intuition-based" wine making may have actually held, but we will never know, too many casualties left on the side of road, myself included, my last Maison Ilan has now been emptied, pleased things concluded in a pleasant fashion
December 29, 2021 - A no show, but he got my dough!
June 13, 2021 - My forst meeting with this controversial (ahem) house. Very creamy and dense, we were guessing something from the Rayas man. The fruit is sweet and forward, plenty of strawberry here, seems to be in a great spot.
Very interesting to see this, thank you Jannie for bringing it.
#FogheadsInTheGarden
August 30, 2020 - Gotta drink 'em, right? And honestly, this is pretty good. Lovely and intense nose of red berries and spice. The palate is a touch hollow, but the overall package is surprisingly enjoyable. Better than expected and better than many '11s.
May 29, 2019 - Not very good, but not awful, so that's something.
July 5, 2018 - Maison Ilan @ Medlar: Dense. Slightly dense ruby. Very fragrant. Rose petals. Fuller and denser on the palate. Darker and denser. A little less persistent than the Mazoyeres. ****
May 5, 2018 - This was decent with some nice dried florals and hints of spice, but also had a persistent reduction note that never resolved completely.
April 1, 2018 - Shows very well now, great aromatics and restrained depth that teases about the future. One to linger over.
February 22, 2018 - Overripe and not my style. Prunes and a bit tannic. A hint of bay leaf makes it somewhat interesting, but a poor QPR by any measure.
October 25, 2017 - Quite the breadth of comments here, but having had one of these a year ago and then following this one for three days open, I think patience could show a decent reward. It doesn’t have the overall beauty I believe Grand Cru should possess, but it is balancing out better with the oak and fruit and really starting to reveal more layers to the onion. Pretty solid, and I enjoyed it most on the final day with the long exposure. I’d let it rest another year or so if I had more because it still seems to be headed in a better direction. 4+12+16+9= 91