April 20, 2024 - This is darned good now. As in prior notes, a little thin for a 1er on opening, with signature Pernand sandy tannins, very fine-grained - as befits the quality of this vineyard - and tart cherry. Hand-in-hand with the Pernand tannins goes a palpable sense of density, which is moderate here. The whole package is very clean, balanced, and pure, especially the cherry flavors, and the thinness dissipates somewhat after a night in the 'fridge. A very nice adjunct from Ile to the versions produced by Chandon dB and Rollin; a bit like an imagined Jadot with more elegance. A good surprise after previous showings. At $65 for the 2019, not the value it was in 2010, but reasonably priced, relative to Iles from other good vignerons.
February 25, 2023 - Pure black cherry fruit, an underpinning of earth, minerals and barnyard. Near fully resolved tannins and fresh acidity lead to a clean finish. Absolutely delicious.
February 18, 2023 - Quite tight with acidity and light tannic layer on opening, muted red fruit, mineral, earth, with a sensation of being caught midway between fresh and aged--slight brick to red color, and musky hints. I wondered where is this going? Decanted 45 minutes, drank over two hours with and after dinner. Opened up nicely with air time, raspberry, darker berry, red fruit, balanced and crisp acidity, good length. Any muskiness dissipated, the mineral/earth backdrop was good, the fruit lovely and rich, clean and transparent on the palate, nice mix of fresh and more distilled, as L-C noted, liqueur. Good length.
Excellent with rack of lamb/mint pesto, and after on its own. One year+ since Fitzi/L-C tasting notes, and it seems this is still developing--decant or slow ox for it to shine.
December 15, 2021 - Per my experience, L.-C.'s note captures this wine's present state about exactly right, though mine took a bit more air exposure to come into focus. A lovely glass to take cool in small sips while reading or watching a movie. Not structured and classic like Chandon de Briailles; less dense and pithy than Rollin; on its own terms, a charmer that delights with quiet finesse.
November 28, 2021 - Intense nose of sweet poached raspberries and quetsch, sous-bois and some rasperry liqueur notes. In the mouth medium bodied, concentrated and with fine, but firm tannins that are not yet resolved. Lively flavours, very good length. Overall this is really very good and I think could gain a little more with some more cellar time, but is already delicious now. Give it a bit time to open up though. 90-91 pts.
October 8, 2021 - This was probably better younger. Good cork, good appearance but harsh in the mouth. Not because it needs more time, just out of balance or something.
edit: I was a bit harsh yesterday. The other half, put into a screw cap halfbottle overnight, is better, less harsh. My mark is augmented now. There's still something in the middle palate that has morphed into texture, so it's more enjoyable.
I'm surprised that there were 70 views overnight. I hope I didn't alarm anybody who has stashes of this wine!
September 11, 2021 - Raspberry fruit with some meat and compost notes. Good depth and chalky structure. Fresh and youthful with a chewy and long finish.
April 13, 2021 - This was pretty good, if a bit stiff.
October 1, 2020 - Very enjoyable at 10 years old.
November 11, 2019 - Medium light body, strawberry ruby in color, with a slight tinge of brick red; the flavors are on the higher toned side, emphasizing strawberry and raspberry, with a fair amount of somewhat jammy sweetness coming through, along with light hints of rocky, stemmy tannins. Quality wine, but a bit too high toned and sweet for my tastes. Not sure I see this developing into something of great interest down the line, I think it will just soften and turn more strawberry sweet.