1/21/2022 - bill00 wrote:

Fantastic bottle. Big, rich pinot fruit. Incredible texture. Plenty of acid, but it's well integrated. This is in a great spot right now.

12/8/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Light spice. Lean and lacking a bit in fruit and density. Was hoping for more here given the vintage.

12/7/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Very high acid sticks out making this a little prickly and slightly out of balance. Pleasant enough with food, but a relatively weak vintage for this wine.

11/26/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Utterly spectacular from the first sniff to the last taste. Incredible depth and purity of fruit. Completely seamless. Powerful and concentrated with no heaviness. Everything is in the right place. Nothing to nitpick, there's just no doubt. Benchmark.

11/14/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Fantastic aromatics. Super expressive with light spice and pretty red fruit. Silky smooth. Love the overall impression of delicate weightlessness. Great bottle.

10/24/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Another excellent bottle with similar notes to bottle 6 months ago. So easy to drink right now.

10/23/2021 - bill00 wrote:

There is a little bit more richness/ripeness than usual for Venus which makes it more easy-going than typical. Very nice, well-balanced and drinking well.

10/22/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Dark fruited and spicy. Dense and seriously structured. Lacks a bit of refinement/silkiness for Roumier Amoureuses. Potentially very long-lived. Have had better bottles of this 2-3 years ago, but no apparent issues or flaws with this bottle.

10/21/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Relatively restrained and took 30-60 minutes to get going. Classic Clos minerality. Nicely mature at this point though I thought this was more impressive when it was a bit more youthful, say 3-5 years ago.

10/9/2021 - bill00 wrote:

This was great and much better than a recent bottle of '96 (not totally surprising given vintages but still). Classic stem and spice aromatics but they aren't overpowering and are in total harmony with the beautiful dark cherry fruit. Impressive balance and refinement. Improved over several hours.

10/9/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Another nice bottle of this. Youthful and lively and should benefit from more time in bottle.

10/8/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Similar notes to bottle a few months ago with impressive textural richness and plenty of balancing acid. No rush here.

10/7/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Far short of a bottle from a couple of months ago. While this is by no means premoxed it lacked energy and clearly not what this wine is fully capable of.

10/5/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Nicely developed aromatics with loads of acid. Clearly not a top CdM vintage but very enjoyable right now.

10/5/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Late release from Krug. Have had great bottles of the late release version of this wine but this wasn't quite right. Flat and too advanced.

10/3/2021 - bill00 wrote:

From magnum but there was some seepage and this wasn't quite as youthful and pristine as I was hoping it would be. Solid and enjoyable but there are better bottles of this.

10/3/2021 - bill00 wrote:

From magnum. Much better than a bottle earlier this year as this was fresher with no oxidative notes at all. Precise and minerally and closer to what I remember this wine being years ago, though it still probably would've benefitted from some dosage to fill/round it out.

10/2/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Another great bottle. Fresh and precise with a long life ahead.

9/30/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Solid and in a good spot. Balanced with nice depth and well integrated acidity.

9/27/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Fresh and lively with lemony citrus. Plenty of acidity but it's well-balanced with typical Krug richness and all delivered in a harmonious package. Really like this iteration of GC.

9/26/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Cedar, smoke, cigar, ash and dark fruit. Velvet textured and totally seamless. So easy to drink.

9/25/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Beautiful wine. Pure red berry and a little spice. So refined, seamless and silky smooth. A great wine and incredibly impressive for the vintage.

9/23/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Initially stern and unyielding but improved significantly with a decant and air time. Dark berry and spice. On the leaner side with characteristic '96 acidity.

9/21/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Shows the vintage character with its size and ripeness but carries it well with plenty of acidity. Don't love the vintage for Chablis generally but this is a solid effort.

9/19/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Golden colored. Big, ripe and rich and very much showing the vintage. Loads of popcorn. The richness is well balanced by plenty of acidity. Got better and better with air.

9/18/2021 - bill00 wrote:

This is in a really nice spot where it's had enough post-disgorge aging (disgorged 2003) to show the maturity and development you'd want in a 45 yr old champagne without being oxidative/caramelized.

9/17/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Fantastic aromatics that are super expressive and wide ranging. Pine forest, spice, earth and dark cherry. Refined and elegant for La Tache. Great bottle.

9/16/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Settling into full maturity and drinking well. The red berry fruit that was present when this was younger has softened and faded and turned to a more earthy, Pinot richness. Plenty of acidity keeps this fresh and well-balanced. Probably not getting better from here but seems like it could be on a nice plateau for a while.

9/16/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Simple and straightforward. High acid. Was hoping for a bit more.

9/12/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Youthful with classic Coche reduction notes. Tons of acidity keeps this very fresh and lively vs. other recent '12 white burgs that have seemed a little flabby. May need some more time in bottle to settle down as this didn't move and was going strong after being open for 24hrs.

9/12/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Advanced/oxidative

9/12/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Too advanced for me. Seems like a great wine underneath if you could get a fresher bottle.

9/11/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Late release from Krug released in 2019. Fresh and full of energy. Bread dough. Great depth and balance with well integrated acidity. Great bottle.

9/10/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Classic Leroy stemmy spice and dark cherry fruit. Was worried that this may be almost impenetrably dense at this point but was pleasantly surprised by its refinement and delicate touch. Impressive with clear upside from here. 96+

9/9/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Fully mature with ripe, honeyed fruit and a little bit of petrol. Plenty of acidity to keep it lively and well-balanced.

9/8/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Full and ripe. Lacking a bit of energy. Fine but a little bit dull for Raveneau.

9/7/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Classic dark cherry and tar. Concentrated. Very fine tannins. Drinking well in early maturity with a long life ahead.

9/6/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Light raspberry fruit. Midweight, precise. Drinking well.

9/5/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Youthful with dark cherry fruit and a touch of oak spice. Really nice now but with probable upside from here.

9/4/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Much like a bottle of '11 Coche Perrieres from a few weeks ago, this is drinking fantastically. Super expressive with youthful bubble gum fruit. Beautifully proportioned and full of energy.

9/4/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Not my favorite vintage of this wine as it lacked the typical effusive strawberry fruit and was a little bit more weighty.

9/3/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Fantastic aromatics. Classic notes of olive, blood and smoke. Wasn't quite full follow through on the palate as this bottle seemed a bit low energy but great on the aromatics alone.

9/2/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Excellent Clos des Goisses. Shows the atypical tilt towards Chardonnay (55/45) as it gives the unusual impression of almost lightness/airiness and leans towards white fruits. Refined and beautifully balanced.

9/1/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Red-fruited. Deep and powerful. This was mellower and more easy-going than bottles 1 and 2 years ago, which were incredibly intense and energetic and also a bit more impressive.

8/30/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Nice BdB. Preferred bottles several years ago that were a bit more energetic but this is nicely balanced and enjoyable right now.

8/29/2021 - bill00 wrote:

After a few incredible bottles of '05 DRC Riche and LT in the past several months, I figured the RSV would be similarly approachable, but not at all the case for this bottle. This was primary and dense with totally unintegrated components of oak, stems/spice, fruit and tannin. The parts are intense and impressive but this bottle is giving very little pleasure and hard to fully know what to make of it. No change after being open 24 hours. Based on the pedigree and the other recent '05 DRCs have to believe it'll come together but this needs a ton of time. Based on current drinking this would be sub 90pts so I'm not sure a rating is meaningful at this point.

8/29/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Easy-going, lovely and totally enjoyable with dried cherry and earth but well short of a bottle from a couple of months ago and bottles before that. Just fading a bit. Think that maybe the bulletproof phase of the past several years for '91 Rousseau is passing and these (on average) may be starting a slow decline from a very, very high peak.

8/29/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Yeast and stones. Fresh and precise. Very nice.

8/28/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Very ripe dark cherry liqueur fruit. Big and lush but with plenty of acid. Fine, but simple and straightforward in the context of the vintage and vineyard. Hoping there wouldn't be huge separation vs. a recent '93 Jayer Cros P but alas...

8/27/2021 - bill00 wrote:

Disappointing vs. expectations and not entirely sure what to make of this one. Not giving up a ton on the nose right now. There's an impression of ripe fruit but it's buried by loads of searing acid. A bit disjointed. Improved a bit on day 2 so maybe becomes more harmonious with time but not sure where this ends up. 90+?