Remoissenet Pere and Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru "La Garenne" 2004
Comes in a particularly thick, heavy bottle. Mid-straw colour, very good clarity and brightness. Decidedly oaky Chardonnay featuring very classy oatmeal, grilled nuts and not-so-attractive lifted, somewhat raw spicy new French oak on the nose followed by "more of the same" on the palate albeit somewhat tempered by honeyed flavours and a smooth texture that I found rather compelling. Relatively low acidity butressed with some "minerally" structural grip and pretty good length but one seems to be continually asking a very important question, "where's the fruit?". 80 points. A major disappointment. 13.5% A/V
Frederic Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Grand Cru "Ruchottes-Chambertin" 1999
Bought several of these last year at what I thought was a relatively good price - $90 plus shipping - this was the first bottle I've opened. Drunk over three nights, the wine sufferd virtually no degradation which is quite unusual for red Burg's open for this amount of time. A lot fall in a heap after night one.
Excellent robust, healthy ruby/plum/garnet colour with minimal rust in the edges. Heavenly bouquet of satsuma plums, fat juicy, crushed black cherries, funghi, sous bois, spice box, just the right amount of pinot sap and gorgeously-judged, superbly integrated background savoury oak. The palate is similarly endowed and wrought with piles of plump fruit, almost perfect sappiness, subtle counterbalancing oak, a silky texture and terrific mouthfeel followed by just the right amount of acidity and grip, presenting an even keel and maintaining freshness and focus. The wine reveals an eerie delineation - seemingly elegant and understated; so easy to drink but long and deceptively seductive, multilayered and opulent. A most lovely Grand Cru! 92 points. Drink now -2014. 13.5% A/V.
Hugel Gewurtztraminer "Hugel" Vendange Tardive 1997
Darkish burnished gold with enormous thick legs evident on the inside of the glass. Just incredible viscosity. Jumps right out at you screaming "lychee, lychee, lychee". Add copious quantities of honey, rose petal, Asian spices, cloves, apricots and you have one of the biggest, thickest, sweetest V.T's I've encountered over my 25 year "serious" wine drinking experience. Definitely not for the faint-hearted, this demonstratively rich and bold effort possesses just enough acidity to maintain equilibrium on a super-intense, almost clotted finish. I enjoyed this wine over three days (no cork back in) with little change in its demeanour. Sure to have its detractors, I thought the wine quite excellent but definitely a drink now proposition although I've seen these Alsacian late-picked wines hold at this level for many years. 90 points. 13% A/V.
Penfolds Reserve Bin 05A Chardonnay 2005
This rather expensive (at retail) wine was picked up, quite recently, at just over half its recommended retail price on the secondary market. Sealed with a screwcap this wine is a reductive nightmare - no colour development with horrible overt hair oil, charred wood and struck match on both nose and palate. Did not budge with hours of breathing. Left out overnight, I'll come back to it today and report back if there's any improvement. NR - faulty wine.