January 28, 2024 - not blind
I expected a lot. For me just over his peak. Still great to drink but mainly tertiary aromas. Some meaty notes, extract sweetness, refreshing acidity. From a perfect cellar. 95-96
December 31, 2023 - Pu’er tea all over, some polished leather and just a ton of tertiaries going on. Feels unreal to be smelling this, it’s not mind blowing but very intriguing. Needed some swirling to get through all that tertiaries and to the fruits. Sweet plummy fruits, orange peel, dried plums, savoury meat, powdery but still persistent tannin. Gave it some time and it unfurled into something really beautiful and haunting. Good acid too. Although this is great drinking at almost 45 yrs old, my feeling is it’s probably peaked and should be drunk sooner rather than later. Overall it fell slightly short of my sky high expectations but nevertheless, is an extremely good bottle.
December 30, 2023 - End of year celebration: One of my bucket list wines and an incredibly generous pull. Having tasted my Balthazar, was easy for me to identify this as a northern Rhone from the same era. Slight browning in colour; rich, autumnal dark red fruit that had both sweetness and umami. Good, but not transcendental; but I caveat this was unfortunately was finished too quickly for me to follow the wine properly.
December 30, 2023 - A true privilege to have this bottle. Didn’t quite meet its legendary status but was a fantastic bottle nonetheless.
September 1, 2023 - Smoked meat, black pepper, black raspberries, iron, herbs, spice, and barbeque notes hit your olfactory senses. Full-bodied, concentrated, deep, long, and intense, the sweet, and tart red berries, kirsch, pepper, spice, and earthy nuances make the blast of chewy cherry griotte in the finish stand out and linger. This is stunning to drink now and can provide at least 25-35 more years of drinking if well stored! Drink from 2023-55.
July 10, 2023 - Barely no bricking. Smoky and mysterious. Irresistible still. Monstrous. However... In keeping with my prediction of 2019, the 78s are in decline now. This one has lost a lot of its fruit and complexity. It is somewhat simple and monolithic. I really wanted to find this wine transcendental but it's just not. It's sadly gone. Exciting of course (it's a 1978!) but it falls well short of greatness. Goodbye!
June 4, 2023 - One of best wines of my life
February 17, 2023 - Clean and correct, didn't move me.
February 4, 2023 - Funky complexity on the nose with dark spice. Palate required an hour to open. UK bottle.
February 2, 2023 - A more acid-leaning finish to this bottle. Less nuance than the best bottles. 93-ish