January 24, 2023 - Late note. This was my wine of the year for 2022.
Color was clearer than expected but definitely some rust at edges. Explosive aromas of dark red fruit and mushrooms and more. The palate tastes matched the nose. Medium body. Long finish. Everything you could want a mature burg to be. A haunting beauty.
May 17, 2022 - Mugneret Gibourg Clos Vougeot (Medlar (London)): Touch of cork rained on the nose I felt, something bit out of kilter, impactful palate but than slightly too sour / acidic finish.
November 7, 2020 - Saturday lunch gathering (Bethesda, Maryland): RV mentions a hint of TCA. Not terribly expressive nose that is dominated by cedar, also concentrated black and red fruit, blackberry, raspberry, a hint of leather, dark spices and earth. Very good concentrated, coiled black and red fruit, good acidity, earthy mineral, still showing noticeable tannins and a medium long concentrated black fruit driven finish with cedar at the end. I don’t detect any TCA but not terribly expressive. I am a big of the recent M. Gibourg wines but the 90s wines are not at the same level.
October 12, 2018 - Burgundy and Barolo (Oficine Brera, Los Angeles): Very spicy from the first moment, rich red, black, and blue fruits. This is a totally complete wine at peak. Racy and full throttle.
It was an incredible treat to have this next to the '93 Ruchottes from the same producer. Each on its own was excellent, and side by side they were even better. The concentration it took to follow them along was intense.
February 26, 2018 - Dinner at Formento's (Chicago, IL): Man, was this good. A fricking gorgeous nose of fresh black cherry, clay, and spice. The palate seems more youthful than 25 years. Though the fruit is showing some maturing earth tone flavors. Great richness and roundness of the maturing but still young black cherry fruit. Long, fresh, layered finish. Superb and just entering a drinking window.
February 26, 2018 - Dinner at Formento's with Michael (Chicago, IL): When I initially opened this, I was quite disappointed, as I thought this didn't show very much. Air certainly helped. The nose was gorgeous, with beautiful red fruit and florals, and just the right amount of earthy funk in the background. The palate seems a little coarse from the tannins (they are super young), and the fruit is still quite primary, believe it or not. In fact, the secondary characteristics are taking a backseat here. As far as Clos Vougeot goes (it's one of the dirtiest-tasting vineyards to me), I found this to be an outstanding and mercifully clean example.
November 2, 2013 - Wine and Food Matching @ Ben's: Charcoal, cherry, redskins and musk with subtle oak still present. High toned red fruit on the palate, there is plenty of grip and texture, though overall you feel that it needs much more time to evolve. Clearly very good, but very much in need of patience.
March 22, 2013 - Really concentrated and deep. Still on the young side, but starting to show some tertiary characteristics. Sweet red fruit amidst the structure. Very good wine. Drinking quite well to my palate.
May 14, 2012 - Concentration is amazing, but so is the tannin load on this wine... big earthy, stewy nose; this is a huge wine, huge black friut that really will benefit from 10+ years of aging.
January 20, 2011 - Tight. Very very very tight and unyielding right now, showing a core of dark fruits and earth and hiding a lot else in reserve.