René Engel: Light TCA, salvaged by decanting with cellphone wrap. Such clean fruit, candied and red, opulently lifted sweet spice almost excessive, primrose, orange acidity, woody, cherry blossom. Truly a great wine in its infinite texture variation and dimension. Clean, so pure. ~96-97
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Absolutely wow nose, evolved and secondary with wet dog (in a good way!) and forest floor alongside deep dark fruit. Soft and round, great depth of fruit flavour, perfectly balanced by acidity and tannins. In an absolutely perfect drinking place, and utterly gorgeous.
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Grands-Echézeaux Dinner (Summer Pavilion, Ritz Carlton, Singapore): Unfortunately corked. A pity - I was looking forward to retrying this after a bottle I enjoyed almost 7 years back. On the nose, there was plenty of the dreaded cardboard character of a TCA'ed wine underneath otherwise pleasant notes of sweet red fruit, spice, dried roses. The palate was round and soft on the attack, but still showed some strength in its red fruited core, with nice bits of spice and mineral hovering about. Unfortunately, it felt a bit scalped past the mid palate and into the finish. Sad one this.
Opened too late in the night which was a real shame as this spectacular wine was probably not fully appreciated. Comparable to the ‘02 from earlier in the day but lighter, softer, and more of the approachable showy red cherry of the regular Echezeaux plus the detailed earth influence of the GE. A slight lacquer over the cherry. Fresh and pure, gorgeous.
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Domaine René Engel Dinner (Fleur de Sel, Tras Street): Excellent. This had the most expressive nose of the lot, with a wonderful perfume of wood spice drifting around funky dark cherries and berry aromas, some sweet dried flowers, and a funkier underlayer of sous bois, meat and a streak of iron. A glorious nose. Like the 1993 Aux Brulees from the flight before, the palate here was very resolved, with soft, melting, velvety tannins forming a lovely, plush bed for yummy flavours of dark berriess and cherries interwoven with lovely bits spice. In fact it drank almost like a bigger version of the Aux Brulees. This was superbly balanced too, with crystal-clear acidity driving the wine into juicy finish with a twist of orange peel coated with a little coat of fine tannins. It had lovely depth and presence to it, yet it was all very lively, almost lithe - very un-2000 in that aspect I thought. It may not have the sheer depth and power of a Grands-Echezeaux from a great vintage, nor structure to go the long haul, but this is drinking wonderfully now and was very enjoyable indeed.
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eye: maturing color with some bricky reflexes, 3 mm fading on the rim, fine sediment. nose: (keeps evolving in the glass) sour cherry, sous bois, but not particularly complex. palate: very well integrated, medium body with some glycerin quality in the finish, excellent structure and weight, still substantial embedded and finely grained tannins, but the acids are mostly exhausted. therefore i suggest to drink this wine (preferrably) now or until 2014 at the very latest. 18 Caudalie, stable. very good indeed
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Initially this was quite inexpressive on the nose, but absolutey fabulous on the finish, with some very ripe (not quite over-ripe) dark fruit in between and great concentration. Over time in the glass it became more and more fragrant. The structure is still very present and this really needs a lot more time but it is a great wine with a real sense of energy. Must try not to touch another for a few years.
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light garnet colour. Nose offers up ripe mature small red fruits with spice, leather and sous bois, very mature. Fruit drying out with slightly astringent tanin's.Very developed 2ndry characteristics, good mineral acidity. Drink up.
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Maturing colour, foxy, pinot nose. On the palete, rich, slight touch of astringency, but at present sufficient fruit is there to balance the acidity and softening tanins. Not the longest of finishes for this level of winr, but a very enjoyable bottle that leaves you wanting more. I think this is prety much at its peak now and will hold a year or two.
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Dinner Chez Pelz: This came out of the bottle very weird. It had a distinct dill pickle and caper berry flavor to it. I thought that would subside with some time and air, and for the most part, it did. As a compliment, this was the only wine of which there was nothing left in the bottle at the end of the evening. Easy drinking. Has some soft tannins with air, and fruit is crushed red berries, and plum. Some smoke on the finish. Finish is a bit shorter than I would have expected. I'd drink this any day with dinner, but I suspect this is a poor QPR, at least the way it's drinking right this moment.
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Clear ruby red color; My initial impression after popping and pouring was that this wine smelled better than it tasted. It had lovely slightly aged Burgundy aromas but had a large hole in the middle. After some time in the glass it finally started to open up and show some complex flavors and expand on the finish. Disappointing for a GE Grand Cru but a good wine that was easy to drink.
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4/6/2024 - overkloud wrote:
corked
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3/15/2024 - hprphf wrote: 96 Points
René Engel: Light TCA, salvaged by decanting with cellphone wrap. Such clean fruit, candied and red, opulently lifted sweet spice almost excessive, primrose, orange acidity, woody, cherry blossom. Truly a great wine in its infinite texture variation and dimension. Clean, so pure. ~96-97
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3/15/2024 - nmmnori wrote: flawed
Rene Engel Dinner (Benoit Bistro, Manhattan): TCA
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10/5/2022 - jamesabdavis wrote:
Absolutely wow nose, evolved and secondary with wet dog (in a good way!) and forest floor alongside deep dark fruit.
Soft and round, great depth of fruit flavour, perfectly balanced by acidity and tannins. In an absolutely perfect drinking place, and utterly gorgeous.
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9/10/2022 - Collector1855 wrote: 96 Points
200 Burgundy Grand Crus from vintage 2000, 4-day blind tasting (Singapore): Here we go, a big step up from the Ech. Great wine right toff the bat. Beautiful aromatics, farmyard, cured meat, most complete wine of this prestigious flight where no bottles was below $2k.
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3/7/2020 - hprphf wrote: 93 Points
La Paulee 2020 - Gala Dinner (Pier 60): GC weight. Drinking well with vintage. 93
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2/12/2020 - Paul S wrote: flawed
Grands-Echézeaux Dinner (Summer Pavilion, Ritz Carlton, Singapore): Unfortunately corked. A pity - I was looking forward to retrying this after a bottle I enjoyed almost 7 years back. On the nose, there was plenty of the dreaded cardboard character of a TCA'ed wine underneath otherwise pleasant notes of sweet red fruit, spice, dried roses. The palate was round and soft on the attack, but still showed some strength in its red fruited core, with nice bits of spice and mineral hovering about. Unfortunately, it felt a bit scalped past the mid palate and into the finish. Sad one this.
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1/12/2019 - fcxj wrote: 94 Points
RE dinner. Sweet aromatics and palate, though not necessarily great length. Sunny year, big yields not ton of structure but the wines keep going.
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10/6/2018 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 93 Points
Opened too late in the night which was a real shame as this spectacular wine was probably not fully appreciated. Comparable to the ‘02 from earlier in the day but lighter, softer, and more of the approachable showy red cherry of the regular Echezeaux plus the detailed earth influence of the GE. A slight lacquer over the cherry. Fresh and pure, gorgeous.
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12/30/2013 - western Likes this wine: 91 Points
Last bottle. Lovely mature GC. Delicious.
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10/16/2013 - Paul S wrote: 93 Points
Domaine René Engel Dinner (Fleur de Sel, Tras Street): Excellent. This had the most expressive nose of the lot, with a wonderful perfume of wood spice drifting around funky dark cherries and berry aromas, some sweet dried flowers, and a funkier underlayer of sous bois, meat and a streak of iron. A glorious nose. Like the 1993 Aux Brulees from the flight before, the palate here was very resolved, with soft, melting, velvety tannins forming a lovely, plush bed for yummy flavours of dark berriess and cherries interwoven with lovely bits spice. In fact it drank almost like a bigger version of the Aux Brulees. This was superbly balanced too, with crystal-clear acidity driving the wine into juicy finish with a twist of orange peel coated with a little coat of fine tannins. It had lovely depth and presence to it, yet it was all very lively, almost lithe - very un-2000 in that aspect I thought. It may not have the sheer depth and power of a Grands-Echezeaux from a great vintage, nor structure to go the long haul, but this is drinking wonderfully now and was very enjoyable indeed.
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3/23/2012 - microbox wrote: 89 Points
eye: maturing color with some bricky reflexes, 3 mm fading on the rim, fine sediment. nose: (keeps evolving in the glass) sour cherry, sous bois, but not particularly complex. palate: very well integrated, medium body with some glycerin quality in the finish, excellent structure and weight, still substantial embedded and finely grained tannins, but the acids are mostly exhausted. therefore i suggest to drink this wine (preferrably) now or until 2014 at the very latest. 18 Caudalie, stable. very good indeed
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3/2/2012 - jamesabdavis wrote:
Initially this was quite inexpressive on the nose, but absolutey fabulous on the finish, with some very ripe (not quite over-ripe) dark fruit in between and great concentration. Over time in the glass it became more and more fragrant. The structure is still very present and this really needs a lot more time but it is a great wine with a real sense of energy. Must try not to touch another for a few years.
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12/26/2011 - western wrote: 90 Points
light garnet colour. Nose offers up ripe mature small red fruits with spice, leather and sous bois, very mature. Fruit drying out with slightly astringent tanin's.Very developed 2ndry characteristics, good mineral acidity. Drink up.
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7/17/2011 - Brussels 1049 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Maturing colour, foxy, pinot nose. On the palete, rich, slight touch of astringency, but at present sufficient fruit is there to balance the acidity and softening tanins. Not the longest of finishes for this level of winr, but a very enjoyable bottle that leaves you wanting more. I think this is prety much at its peak now and will hold a year or two.
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5/24/2009 - steffenpelz wrote:
Dinner Chez Pelz: This came out of the bottle very weird. It had a distinct dill pickle and caper berry flavor to it. I thought that would subside with some time and air, and for the most part, it did. As a compliment, this was the only wine of which there was nothing left in the bottle at the end of the evening. Easy drinking. Has some soft tannins with air, and fruit is crushed red berries, and plum. Some smoke on the finish. Finish is a bit shorter than I would have expected. I'd drink this any day with dinner, but I suspect this is a poor QPR, at least the way it's drinking right this moment.
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5/24/2009 - Winetex wrote: 88 Points
Clear ruby red color; My initial impression after popping and pouring was that this wine smelled better than it tasted. It had lovely slightly aged Burgundy aromas but had a large hole in the middle. After some time in the glass it finally started to open up and show some complex flavors and expand on the finish. Disappointing for a GE Grand Cru but a good wine that was easy to drink.
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