An exceptional 1996, balanced acidity, intense flavour. No over extraction. A lovely wine, drunk with a hamburger and chips lunch in the Suffolk countryside. What could be nicer?
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1996 Burgundy Retrospective - The Second Session (Eddie V's - Tysons Corner, VA): Wine 1, Very youthful medium expressive nose displaying concentrated black and red fruit, cherry, stewed tomato, blackberry, coffee bean, mint, iron, sweet spices and earth. Excellent concentration, nicely layered roasted black fruit, good energy and precision, bright acidity, good mineral presence and a long concentrated black fruit driven finish. This remains incredibly youthful and primary. Not showing much tertiary notes and seems a bit subdued.
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Burgundy Dinner with Friends (Tasting Blind) (Officine Brera - Los Angeles CA): Served double blind to the tasting group, alongside the 1995. Wonderfully elegant black fruit in absolutely perfect harmony. Good weight and length. So enjoyable now, this will continue to evolve in interesting ways for most likely another two decades.
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Drinking extremely young but after 2 hours in a decanter, it began to show a real depth of dark cherry spice that suggests this is a great wine in the making even if it's mostly asleep today. There is a steel-like structure here but the balance is exquisite and I am confident this wine will drink well at some point down the road. The nose was quite musty on this bottle but it didn't seem to affect the palate. 93+
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Took a while to open up with a reticent nose, but after an hour it really blossomed with cherries. mushrooms, and the Sauvage quality of Chambertin. The finish was long with perfectly balanced tannins. In a good place right now, but this will continue to evolve for years.
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Wine Dinner Extravaganza (North Lincoln Avenue Loft - Chicago IL): Served single blind alongside Claude Dugat and Roumier (corked). Open and double decanted around 4 PM, then served around 8 PM. Maturing black cherry with sauvage throughout and braised meaty spice hints. Fairly robust tannins and acidity add complexity.
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Not much experience with bachelet but wow. This is a powerhouse wine. still rich concentrated. Amazingly well resolved and compact. It has not given up its goodies and can stand another 10 to 20 years aging.
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Very typical of '96. Great nose of forest floor and cherries. Well structured palate with dark fruits and earth flavors. Acidic line running right down the center of the palate. Still very young with a long life ahead.
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Not the most pleasant nose at first, it clearly benefited of being aerated. Bloody, iron, with earthy and pickle notes, the palate is on the other hand, quite pretty right away. Not the most complex Charmes but shows nice balance between ripeness and acidity. Dark fruits, rather on the austere side.
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As you would expect for a 96, this needed a good decant and quite a bit of time in the glass for the acidic spine to come better into balance. Noticeably ripe, sweet and powerful but still balanced and elegant with that acidity holding everything together beautifully. Couldn't live with the 99 but still very good indeed and runner up for WOTN for me.
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Medium red color with bricking at the rim of the glass. Complex nose of mushrooms, flowers, herbs, and dried cherry. In the mouth, light cherry fruit leads to a brooding mid-palate of earth, mushrooms, and floral notes. There's a bit of herbal/vegetal notes on the finish, which give it more of a drying feeling. Good but not great. B+
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Acker Merrall 1996 Burgundy Dinner (L2O - Chicago IL): Great red fruit on the nose with some muscular spice and just hints of emerging forest floor. Red cherry and black cherry on the palate also spicy, with really great acidity and integrated soft tannins. Picks up concentration from middle through excellent finish. Open approximately 5 hours before serving, with about 1 1/2 hours in a decanter.
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Burgundy Lunch (Pasadena California): Sappy red fruit, wet earth, leather and tons of minerality on the nose. Ripe fruit, dusty tannins with the typical acidity from this vintage on the finish. A great example of an elegantly made 96 Chambertin. This particular bottle was much fresher than the previous 3 sampled over the last 18 months.
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Quite a deep colour with a definite turn in the rim. Plenty of black fruit, a touch of brett , VA showing up as acetone and some spice. Not the cleanest of bouquets, but quite complex to balance. Not too much of that metallic hint of most 96's. Medium-full bodied with plenty of black fruit covering the acidity. Old fashioned and a tiny bit rustic on the finish with the acidity becoming more prominent with time in glass. A very good effort that is certainly drinking well enough now, but may develop a touch more with more time.
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This was the star of the Burg flight and ended up being my favorite red Burg of the weekend. Big, quite powerful mature dusty dark red fruit. Serious herb drawer aromatics, lilac and mint with well integrated stoney mineral and a very long finish -Wow. Side note this was my first CC from this producer but I love his Gevrys . Well priced wines -to me he is an over achiever worth seeking.
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Some brett? but more cranberry and earth. Very penetrating and perfumed nose. Silky, earth driven with cranberry, mineral wine that is very bright. Still structured and very pretty wine that is complex and very interesting wine that is developing well. Interesting stuff.
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Burgundy Dinner at Mike's (Wellington): Purple, glossy. On nose, licorice and balsamic notes, subtle fruit and earthiness. On palate, heavy minerality (even salty), under-ripe fruits, slightly sharp acidity. Others loved this wine; I couldn't find its greatness, at least when compared to the 1998.
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The Usual Suspects Taste 1996 Burgundy!: Hmmm... this one is slightly oxidized, apparently by a fault in the cork. dark currant fruit, but alse notes of sherry, pumpkin and squash on the nose and the palate. too bad, as the material here was very nice - a good bottle of this would be stunning I bet.
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12/9/2022 - fcxj wrote: 90 Points
Nothing to write home about, the aromatics don't excite.
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9/22/2021 - dream wrote:
VA
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7/11/2021 - jc01 Likes this wine: 95 Points
An exceptional 1996, balanced acidity, intense flavour. No over extraction. A lovely wine, drunk with a hamburger and chips lunch in the Suffolk countryside. What could be nicer?
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6/19/2021 - jchan1 wrote: 94 Points
Splendid array of dark fruits that is typical of Bachelet. Average nose, deep palate. Quite pleasant.
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4/28/2019 - dcwino wrote: 93 Points
1996 Burgundy Retrospective - The Second Session (Eddie V's - Tysons Corner, VA): Wine 1, Very youthful medium expressive nose displaying concentrated black and red fruit, cherry, stewed tomato, blackberry, coffee bean, mint, iron, sweet spices and earth. Excellent concentration, nicely layered roasted black fruit, good energy and precision, bright acidity, good mineral presence and a long concentrated black fruit driven finish. This remains incredibly youthful and primary. Not showing much tertiary notes and seems a bit subdued.
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4/26/2019 - fcxj wrote: 88 Points
Charmes dinner. Some coffee notes. Richer than 1995 alongside but also fuzzy and creamy.
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8/16/2018 - Burgundy Al wrote: 94 Points
Burgundy Dinner with Friends (Tasting Blind) (Officine Brera - Los Angeles CA): Served double blind to the tasting group, alongside the 1995. Wonderfully elegant black fruit in absolutely perfect harmony. Good weight and length. So enjoyable now, this will continue to evolve in interesting ways for most likely another two decades.
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8/16/2018 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Burgundy Dinner with Friends (Tasting Blind) (Officine Brera - Los Angeles CA): Tasted double blind. Seemed slightly stewed to me right away, which became very apparent when I later served a 2nd bottle of this same wine from my cellar.
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7/24/2018 - fcxj wrote: 94 Points
JM House. Reduction on the nose. Deep, intense and clear. Great wine.
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8/16/2017 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
96 Burg dinner. Serious depth, but not blown away by aromatics. Took a while to open.
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10/14/2016 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drinking extremely young but after 2 hours in a decanter, it began to show a real depth of dark cherry spice that suggests this is a great wine in the making even if it's mostly asleep today. There is a steel-like structure here but the balance is exquisite and I am confident this wine will drink well at some point down the road. The nose was quite musty on this bottle but it didn't seem to affect the palate. 93+
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5/13/2016 - tarheels5 wrote:
Beautiful Pinot...drank with Amy home on a Friday night...right before first trip to freedom tower.
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6/21/2015 - Burgfiendnyc Likes this wine: 95 Points
Took a while to open up with a reticent nose, but after an hour it really blossomed with cherries. mushrooms, and the Sauvage quality of Chambertin. The finish was long with perfectly balanced tannins. In a good place right now, but this will continue to evolve for years.
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4/24/2015 - Burgundy Al wrote: 93 Points
Wine Dinner Extravaganza (North Lincoln Avenue Loft - Chicago IL): Served single blind alongside Claude Dugat and Roumier (corked). Open and double decanted around 4 PM, then served around 8 PM. Maturing black cherry with sauvage throughout and braised meaty spice hints. Fairly robust tannins and acidity add complexity.
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9/4/2014 - DAN BAILEY wrote: flawed
Something wrong here on the nose. Seemed like TCA to me and the palate seemed dulled too.
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5/19/2014 - jhngo Likes this wine: 95 Points
Not much experience with bachelet but wow. This is a powerhouse wine. still rich concentrated. Amazingly well resolved and compact. It has not given up its goodies and can stand another 10 to 20 years aging.
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3/13/2014 - Burgundy Al wrote: flawed
La Paulee "Warm-up" Dinner (RN74 - San Francisco CA): Very odd wine, very disjointed and off kilter.
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11/4/2013 - Burgundy Al wrote: flawed
Charmes-Chambertin Dinner (Boka - Chicago IL): Served single blind in another flight of mid-aged Charmes-Chambertin. At first I thought this just musty. I was hoping. I was wrong.
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10/26/2013 - James Arthur wrote:
Very nice, but not great. Still fairly primary; good red fruit and strong but not overwhelming 1996 acidity. I think this should go much longer.
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7/9/2013 - LBBURGJUNKIE wrote: 93 Points
Very typical of '96. Great nose of forest floor and cherries. Well structured palate with dark fruits and earth flavors. Acidic line running right down the center of the palate. Still very young with a long life ahead.
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6/5/2013 - french16 wrote:
Not the most pleasant nose at first, it clearly benefited of being aerated. Bloody, iron, with earthy and pickle notes, the palate is on the other hand, quite pretty right away. Not the most complex Charmes but shows nice balance between ripeness and acidity. Dark fruits, rather on the austere side.
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5/3/2012 - DAN BAILEY wrote:
As you would expect for a 96, this needed a good decant and quite a bit of time in the glass for the acidic spine to come better into balance. Noticeably ripe, sweet and powerful but still balanced and elegant with that acidity holding everything together beautifully. Couldn't live with the 99 but still very good indeed and runner up for WOTN for me.
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4/7/2012 - gutt22 wrote:
Medium red color with bricking at the rim of the glass. Complex nose of mushrooms, flowers, herbs, and dried cherry. In the mouth, light cherry fruit leads to a brooding mid-palate of earth, mushrooms, and floral notes. There's a bit of herbal/vegetal notes on the finish, which give it more of a drying feeling. Good but not great. B+
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10/19/2011 - Burgundy Al wrote: 93 Points
Acker Merrall 1996 Burgundy Dinner (L2O - Chicago IL): Great red fruit on the nose with some muscular spice and just hints of emerging forest floor. Red cherry and black cherry on the palate also spicy, with really great acidity and integrated soft tannins. Picks up concentration from middle through excellent finish. Open approximately 5 hours before serving, with about 1 1/2 hours in a decanter.
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10/3/2011 - Papies wrote: 95 Points
The Chambertins, A Fine Wine Tutored Tasting with Jasper Morris MW (Berry Bros & Rudd, London): Seriously old vines here some back to 1920s. Decanting recommended here and according to JM one should open these 2 hours ahead.
Red fruit, high acidity. lush wine. Complex, strctured and super long on the palate. Lovely. 95
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6/17/2011 - BurgFixx Likes this wine: 93 Points
Burgundy Lunch (Pasadena California): Sappy red fruit, wet earth, leather and tons of minerality on the nose. Ripe fruit, dusty tannins with the typical acidity from this vintage on the finish. A great example of an elegantly made 96 Chambertin. This particular bottle was much fresher than the previous 3 sampled over the last 18 months.
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7/8/2010 - TBAFB wrote: 93 Points
Quite a deep colour with a definite turn in the rim. Plenty of black fruit, a touch of brett , VA showing up as acetone and some spice. Not the cleanest of bouquets, but quite complex to balance. Not too much of that metallic hint of most 96's. Medium-full bodied with plenty of black fruit covering the acidity. Old fashioned and a tiny bit rustic on the finish with the acidity becoming more prominent with time in glass. A very good effort that is certainly drinking well enough now, but may develop a touch more with more time.
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6/14/2009 - bon vivant wrote:
This was the star of the Burg flight and ended up being my favorite red Burg of the weekend. Big, quite powerful mature dusty dark red fruit. Serious herb drawer aromatics, lilac and mint with well integrated stoney mineral and a very long finish -Wow. Side note this was my first CC from this producer but I love his Gevrys . Well priced wines -to me he is an over achiever worth seeking.
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7/19/2008 - nwk wrote:
Some brett? but more cranberry and earth. Very penetrating and perfumed nose. Silky, earth driven with cranberry, mineral wine that is very bright. Still structured and very pretty wine that is complex and very interesting wine that is developing well. Interesting stuff.
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5/30/2008 - Barbara B wrote: 88 Points
Burgundy Dinner at Mike's (Wellington): Purple, glossy. On nose, licorice and balsamic notes, subtle fruit and earthiness. On palate, heavy minerality (even salty), under-ripe fruits, slightly sharp acidity. Others loved this wine; I couldn't find its greatness, at least when compared to the 1998.
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1/1/2006 - HandPickedBurgundy wrote:
Medium deep ruby red, hardly any paler rim, no browning. Lovely silky smooth rich and deep redcurrant. Great wine.
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6/5/2005 - RickG wrote:
The Usual Suspects Taste 1996 Burgundy!: Hmmm... this one is slightly oxidized, apparently by a fault in the cork. dark currant fruit, but alse notes of sherry, pumpkin and squash on the nose and the palate. too bad, as the material here was very nice - a good bottle of this would be stunning I bet.
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