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1973 Château La Conseillante - Pomerol

1973 Château La Conseillante - Pomerol

They say it’s hard for a producer to put into the bottle what nature hasn’t provided, so a closer look of the growing season gives you a good idea of what to expect. 1973 had a very cold spring, with mostly cold and wet summer to follow. Late September was a...

1989 Montrachet - Amiot Bonfils

1989 Montrachet - Amiot Bonfils

This particular bottle is a 1989 Montrachet produced by Amiot Monfils (now known as Guy Amiot et Fils) and had a slightly damaged label but perfect level and color, so excellent tasting material. Amiot Bonfils only had about 0.09 Ha of vines in Montrachet (and this...

1983 Château Troplong Mondot - St Emilion Grand Cru Classé

1983 Château Troplong Mondot - St Emilion Grand Cru Classé

The 1983 Troplong Mondot had a medium tuilé color, mostly browns with just a tad of red left. The first aroma’s rising from the glass were very evolved and tertiary with gamey, meaty scents in the forefront. Later on it started to open up...

1986 Château Troplong Mondot - St Emilion Grand Cru Classé

1986 Château Troplong Mondot - St Emilion Grand Cru Classé

The 1986 Troplong Mondot was totally different than the 1983 and that showed immediately: the appearance was younger, darker and more concentrated, still cherry red in color, no brown showing yet. The scents here also performing better (a...

1995 Château l'Arrosee - St Emilion 1er Grand Cru Classé

1995 Château l'Arrosee - St Emilion 1er Grand Cru Classé

This estate has changed owners quite a bit and most recently been bought by Domaine Clarence Dillon from Haut Brion who fused and renamed it Quintvs.

The color of the 95 is medium brick red to pomegranate, still mostly red but the slight...

1970 Château Clinet - Pomerol

1970 Château Clinet

Still quite dark in color, but as expected for its age typical brownish red. A very concentrated nose of jammy fruit (red and dark), lightly spiced and with a touch of forest floor reaches first. Following this is an animalistic odor, like unwrapping that 2 pound grain fed pie...

1970 Château Pavie Macquin - St Emilion Grand Cru Classé

1970 Chateau Pavie Macquin

Semi translucent brick red, perfectly in sync with its lifespan. Very light and delicate odor here, just faintly indistinctive fruit left (red cherry?) but lots of forest to replace it : mushroom, earth and dry leaves are clearly present here accompanied by tobacco, tar...

1964 Barbaresco - Mario Minuto & Figli

1964 Barbaresco, Mario Minuto & Figli

This wine has a somewhat bizarre color : cloudy and very light and brownish orange, it looks like a murky but light rosé wine, not appealing or inviting at all. There is a powerful nose of marzipan and something chemical (molten plastic) at first, fully keepi...

1976 Richebourg - Côte de Nuits - Grand Cru

1976 Richebourg, Gros Frère et Sœur

 

Quite translucent cherry red with an edge of sunworn terracotta rooftiles. It’s incredibly how much fruit there still is despite its age but it’s impossible to ignore the cherry extravaganza here : there’s ripe and sweet red cherries, cherry blossom, cherr...

1978 Batard Montrachet - Bernard de St Honge

1978 Batard Montrachet by Bernard de St Honge.

Perhaps not the greatest producer nor the best of the Montrachet  parcels, but as it turned out, still surprisingly well made. The cork of this wine had already descended a couple cm down into the neck of was barely hanging on to the sides by its fin...