Monday hangout at Domaine (Chicago, IL): Served double blind. Highly volatile on the nose, with some sweetness and a fair bit of tannin (that had me thinking nebbiolo for a second). I ended up guessing something like a classically-styled, 1980s Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Given the reveal, I don't think this wine was showing correctly. The murkiness of this bottle also lends credence to my assertion that this wasn't correct.
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This has a full, inviting nose of incense-laced earthy black cherry with so much spice. Grand Cru concentration and density. Rich, youthful fruit is buoyant and balanced with edgy, still firm structure. Fine grit in the finish. Seems to be on the front end of a long drinking window.
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Barrel tasting at Comte Armand (Pommard): Mature aromatics with layering of mush and earth. The palate has nice richness of fruit and still fresh acidity though the flavors show evolution of 20+ years.
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Comte Armand Cellar Visit and Tasting (Pommard): Tasted at the domaine. Served blind, I thought this younger from a moderately ripe vintage given that it came across as a big of a tannic beast needing lots more time. Others enjoyed it more than I did.
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Extremely dark and muscular. More an expression of Pommard than Pinot Noir. This would be an interesting ringer in a Saint-Emillion tasting. Very ripe, but enough acid to hold it in check. Baindaid brett and earth. Still plenty of grippy tannins.
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1st of 6. A corked bottle but clearly a wine that will not be ready for a number of years. While Pommard is a powerful Burgundy this is a very beefy wine and to my mind atypical of what to expect from the region. Perhaps it will develop into something more sophisticated with time. (Replaced with a 1998 Clos des Lambrays which was a perfect match for ham hock and potato gratin).
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HDH Burgundy Auction (Chicago, IL): Armand's Epeneaux has always been one of my favourite Burgundies, and this bottle is no exception. The nose has some classic Burgundian stank, with some animale and barnyard. Rustic in the best sense of the word. The tannic structure is obviously pretty heavy still (Bordelais?), but this is as classic as it comes.
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Developing a beautiful core of sweet red fruit yet still pretty structured and tannic. Went very well with a slow cooked boeuf bourguignon but still has plenty to give. No shame in opening this now though it should be epic in another decade.
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Bordeauxesque nose with graphite and dark fruit notes. If you told me this was '98 Palmer or some other Margaux I wouldn't be surprised. A bit more pinot-like on the palate, with some dark cherry fruits, good length, and grainy tannins. Some more mature brambly notes. Nice.
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Bright cherry red, beautiful Pinot nose, opened up in the glass, so delicious, this is such a pretty wine, mature but will easily hold, not very complex on the palate but there us something poetic about this burgundy that's is so appealing and sensuous 93
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Dark, deep and masculine. Plenty of structure in place - definitely better on the 2nd night. Tobacco and ash frame the dusty black cherry fruit. Drying tannins (especially on the first night). Good balance and length - fine to drink now, but guessing it will be approaching peak in 3-5 years. 91++
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The star (for me -- there was not a consensus on this) of a tasting that included '96, '00, and '03. The overwhelming not is spicy pan d'epices (gingerbread) with great aromatic complexity. At first, the mid-palate felt hollow and the tannins too firm, but over 1.5 hours the wine took on much more volume and roundness, with tannins mellowing somewhat. A great pleasure to drink. It may be that the tannins will fade further in 5 years but it is singing aromatically today -- I would drink mine now.
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Andrew's and Howard's birthday dinner (Hippopotamus Restaurant, Wellington): A deeper colour than the 1996. The nose of the 1998 was dumber, less luxuriant than the 1996, but with similar notes of earth and red berry fruit. On palate, this wine was still very primary. It showed less acidity than the 1996, with richer, more luxuriant fruit. Flavours more dark berries than the 1996, also game meats, with a suggestion of animale. But it was quite unresolved and blocky and needs at least five more years to come together.
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Med body, some lightening at the edges. Violets and cherry nose. Decent crisp cherry fruit to start, but falls away quite fast, there's no real mid palate to this, it's lacking density of fruit flavour, so the tannins still dominate the finish
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Lovely nose of violets, liquorish, meat, tobacco, red current, cherries and a hint of orange peel. Still quite tannic, with the tannins mellowed, but still grippy. Good acidity and enough fruit to hold it all together. A perfect example of Pommard with some years to go.
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At the Talbooth,£92 off the list, no formal note. Dark, slightly leathery, meaty fruit, quite full bodied with fairly soft tannins and lovely fresh acidity carrying a good length finish. Not fantastically complex but true to type and very enjoyable.
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Mature disc. Nose puts on weight in the glass, really a very nice, plush, dark singed Pinot fruit, some earth. A little bit simple on the nose. Really rather a more red fruit profile on the palate. Quite tart. A tannic Pommard. Overall, good class but a bit simple.
I think this is drinking at peak; would be pulling corks now rather than waiting for the tannin to subside. I'm much more with Meadows on this (87) than the Revue du Vin de France (19/20).
3+ bordering 4-/5
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sat bottle out for 30 min, started off pretty acidic but a couple glasses in this really became more than the sum of its parts and it was really nice. Had a glass the next day and it was still going strong. Wonderful nose throughout
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Glengarry Old Wines Dinner (Auckland, New Zealand): Wonderful nose - multi-dimensional, earthy and ripe. In the mouth - tremendous texture and fruit quality - some pruney quality. Fresh cut fennel echos on palate. Very structured - this wine will always have a tannic edge - albeit fine grained tannins. This is great wine and a wonderful Pommard. No hurry at all...
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This had a nice earth-toned plummy aromatic but it really didn't deliver in the flavor and texture department the way it seemed to indicate it might. There was one suggestion for subtle corkiness but it didn't seem that way. Could still be tight as there was not a lot of mid-palate fruit and the finish was short and a bit tannic. It could also be that this just isn't that fantastic to begin with. I'll go with giving it the benefit of the doubt. It wasn't bad but it just didn't deliver and up against the 2001 Confuron Romanee St. Vivant it pretty much got schooled.
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A touch of a sour note on the finish (storage?), but overall a nice value burg. Darker fruits predominate, and its kind of a mix between soft velvet glove and heavy hammer. Not bad for lunchtime.
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Seemingly an odd superposition of Pinot and a more robust, darker varietal that goes beyond Pommard rusticity. Deep dark fruit front with earthy and mushroom notes, but angular and falls somewhat flat in the middle, giving way to a hard acidity and granular structure. Somewhat thin. Masculine styling. Decent.
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2/20/2023 - acyso wrote: flawed
Monday hangout at Domaine (Chicago, IL): Served double blind. Highly volatile on the nose, with some sweetness and a fair bit of tannin (that had me thinking nebbiolo for a second). I ended up guessing something like a classically-styled, 1980s Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Given the reveal, I don't think this wine was showing correctly. The murkiness of this bottle also lends credence to my assertion that this wasn't correct.
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3/20/2021 - Nanda wrote: 93 Points
This has a full, inviting nose of incense-laced earthy black cherry with so much spice. Grand Cru concentration and density. Rich, youthful fruit is buoyant and balanced with edgy, still firm structure. Fine grit in the finish. Seems to be on the front end of a long drinking window.
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7/5/2019 - Nanda wrote:
Barrel tasting at Comte Armand (Pommard): Mature aromatics with layering of mush and earth. The palate has nice richness of fruit and still fresh acidity though the flavors show evolution of 20+ years.
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7/1/2019 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Comte Armand Cellar Visit and Tasting (Pommard): Tasted at the domaine. Served blind, I thought this younger from a moderately ripe vintage given that it came across as a big of a tannic beast needing lots more time. Others enjoyed it more than I did.
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11/29/2018 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine:
Mini Epeneaux vertical with the 02 & 03, savoury, sour kraut, gamey, fully mature, fairly simple in the mouth, needs to be drunk up
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5/19/2018 - RichardsFLX wrote: 90 Points
Extremely dark and muscular. More an expression of Pommard than Pinot Noir. This would be an interesting ringer in a Saint-Emillion tasting. Very ripe, but enough acid to hold it in check. Baindaid brett and earth. Still plenty of grippy tannins.
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5/2/2017 - nstow wrote: flawed
1st of 6. A corked bottle but clearly a wine that will not be ready for a number of years. While Pommard is a powerful Burgundy this is a very beefy wine and to my mind atypical of what to expect from the region. Perhaps it will develop into something more sophisticated with time. (Replaced with a 1998 Clos des Lambrays which was a perfect match for ham hock and potato gratin).
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4/26/2017 - nphase Likes this wine: 92 Points
Classic Burg stench, rustic notes. Tannic, somehow. LOTS of structure. Great now, but wait!
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4/1/2017 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
HDH Burgundy Auction (Chicago, IL): Armand's Epeneaux has always been one of my favourite Burgundies, and this bottle is no exception. The nose has some classic Burgundian stank, with some animale and barnyard. Rustic in the best sense of the word. The tannic structure is obviously pretty heavy still (Bordelais?), but this is as classic as it comes.
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11/21/2016 - PJRONeill Likes this wine: 93 Points
Developing a beautiful core of sweet red fruit yet still pretty structured and tannic. Went very well with a slow cooked boeuf bourguignon but still has plenty to give. No shame in opening this now though it should be epic in another decade.
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11/14/2016 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 93 Points
50th bd
Wine no 15 & 16. Both bottles were identical, bright cherry red with cloudiness, just a delicious Burgundy!
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11/7/2016 - psmith wrote: 90 Points
Bordeauxesque nose with graphite and dark fruit notes. If you told me this was '98 Palmer or some other Margaux I wouldn't be surprised. A bit more pinot-like on the palate, with some dark cherry fruits, good length, and grainy tannins. Some more mature brambly notes. Nice.
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8/27/2016 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 93 Points
Bright cherry red, beautiful Pinot nose, opened up in the glass, so delicious, this is such a pretty wine, mature but will easily hold, not very complex on the palate but there us something poetic about this burgundy that's is so appealing and sensuous
93
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11/7/2015 - pifcho Likes this wine: 91 Points
Dark, deep and masculine. Plenty of structure in place - definitely better on the 2nd night. Tobacco and ash frame the dusty black cherry fruit. Drying tannins (especially on the first night). Good balance and length - fine to drink now, but guessing it will be approaching peak in 3-5 years. 91++
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10/23/2015 - ccn wrote: 94 Points
The star (for me -- there was not a consensus on this) of a tasting that included '96, '00, and '03. The overwhelming not is spicy pan d'epices (gingerbread) with great aromatic complexity. At first, the mid-palate felt hollow and the tannins too firm, but over 1.5 hours the wine took on much more volume and roundness, with tannins mellowing somewhat. A great pleasure to drink. It may be that the tannins will fade further in 5 years but it is singing aromatically today -- I would drink mine now.
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2/13/2015 - Loekkeboe Likes this wine: 92 Points
Watery edge but quite dark center.
Nose with overripe cherry, cranberry, mushroom, some minerals (stony flinty something!?), iron/rust and a hint of sweet spices.
The palate is dominated by cherries and dark fruit. Tannins a prominent but pleasent.
The wine grew a lot with and hour of air.
Will evolve for some years to come.
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11/12/2014 - HowardNZ Likes this wine: 92 Points
Andrew's and Howard's birthday dinner (Hippopotamus Restaurant, Wellington): A deeper colour than the 1996. The nose of the 1998 was dumber, less luxuriant than the 1996, but with similar notes of earth and red berry fruit. On palate, this wine was still very primary. It showed less acidity than the 1996, with richer, more luxuriant fruit. Flavours more dark berries than the 1996, also game meats, with a suggestion of animale. But it was quite unresolved and blocky and needs at least five more years to come together.
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11/2/2014 - Atreyu wrote: flawed
corked
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7/21/2013 - psmith wrote: 89 Points
Dark fruits and game notes. Medium bodied... moreso than I remember. Clean flavors; well-delineated. Nice, and ready to drink.
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6/8/2013 - kingkanu wrote: 85 Points
Med body, some lightening at the edges. Violets and cherry nose. Decent crisp cherry fruit to start, but falls away quite fast, there's no real mid palate to this, it's lacking density of fruit flavour, so the tannins still dominate the finish
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4/1/2013 - sharonandroland wrote: 93 Points
Well balanced, complex, long and subtle.
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10/13/2012 - psmith wrote: flawed
Corked
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9/16/2012 - sharonandroland wrote: 93 Points
Same as previous note - 2nd day even better - pencil shaving, Chinese medicine, liquorish, hint of herbaciousness. Tannins much more mellow.
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9/10/2012 - sharonandroland wrote: flawed
Slightly corked
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8/8/2012 - sharonandroland wrote: 93 Points
Lovely nose of violets, liquorish, meat, tobacco, red current, cherries and a hint of orange peel. Still quite tannic, with the tannins mellowed, but still grippy. Good acidity and enough fruit to hold it all together. A perfect example of Pommard with some years to go.
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5/15/2012 - BradE wrote:
Dark fruits, great nose, really opened up over an hour as well. Good juice. No reason not to drink now.
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1/20/2012 - Paul D wrote: 89 Points
At the Talbooth,£92 off the list, no formal note. Dark, slightly leathery, meaty fruit, quite full bodied with fairly soft tannins and lovely fresh acidity carrying a good length finish. Not fantastically complex but true to type and very enjoyable.
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11/5/2011 - rnellans wrote: 89 Points
Rustic. Good fruit but tannins a bit harsh. A bit disjointed.
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11/4/2011 - englishman's claret wrote: 90 Points
Mature disc. Nose puts on weight in the glass, really a very nice, plush, dark singed Pinot fruit, some earth. A little bit simple on the nose. Really rather a more red fruit profile on the palate. Quite tart. A tannic Pommard. Overall, good class but a bit simple.
I think this is drinking at peak; would be pulling corks now rather than waiting for the tannin to subside. I'm much more with Meadows on this (87) than the Revue du Vin de France (19/20).
3+ bordering 4-/5
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7/25/2011 - Fur in the glass Likes this wine:
sat bottle out for 30 min, started off pretty acidic but a couple glasses in this really became more than the sum of its parts and it was really nice. Had a glass the next day and it was still going strong. Wonderful nose throughout
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3/18/2011 - Marc wrote: 93 Points
Glengarry Old Wines Dinner (Auckland, New Zealand): Wonderful nose - multi-dimensional, earthy and ripe. In the mouth - tremendous texture and fruit quality - some pruney quality. Fresh cut fennel echos on palate. Very structured - this wine will always have a tannic edge - albeit fine grained tannins. This is great wine and a wonderful Pommard. No hurry at all...
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8/30/2010 - jimbomatic wrote: 87 Points
This had a nice earth-toned plummy aromatic but it really didn't deliver in the flavor and texture department the way it seemed to indicate it might. There was one suggestion for subtle corkiness but it didn't seem that way. Could still be tight as there was not a lot of mid-palate fruit and the finish was short and a bit tannic. It could also be that this just isn't that fantastic to begin with. I'll go with giving it the benefit of the doubt. It wasn't bad but it just didn't deliver and up against the 2001 Confuron Romanee St. Vivant it pretty much got schooled.
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1/30/2010 - psmith wrote:
Dark, robust, meaty wine. Black fruits and some reductive rubber notes up front. Tannic. Young wine, and a bit disjointed, but some nice elements.
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11/23/2009 - BradE wrote:
A touch of a sour note on the finish (storage?), but overall a nice value burg. Darker fruits predominate, and its kind of a mix between soft velvet glove and heavy hammer. Not bad for lunchtime.
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11/23/2009 - Mister45 wrote: 92 Points
Gorgeous. Velvet. Good acids, cherry, dark cherry. Cassis. Very elegant and drinking well.
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6/26/2009 - psmith wrote:
Seemingly an odd superposition of Pinot and a more robust, darker varietal that goes beyond Pommard rusticity. Deep dark fruit front with earthy and mushroom notes, but angular and falls somewhat flat in the middle, giving way to a hard acidity and granular structure. Somewhat thin. Masculine styling. Decent.
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3/14/2009 - psmith wrote:
Somewhat cloudy. Forward, gamey, and somewhat candied red fruits. Ample hard structure. Needs time.
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