Deep garnet in color, the 2010 Latour Martillac gives up notes of crushed rocks, tar and black olives over a core of stewed plums, cedar chest and dried herbs with a touch of dried cranberries. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a solid frame of chewy tannins and oodles of freshness supporting the muscular fruit, finishing savory.
The more serious grand vin twin, the 2005 d’Issan, has a stunning nose of spring flowers, blackcurrant and blue/black fruits galore, and an impressively opaque dark plum/purple color. With a rich, concentrated and pure mouthfeel, wonderfully sweet tannin, full-bodied density and richness.
It is a big, concentrated offering, exhibiting a dense ruby/purple color, and a classic nose of minerals, black currants, leather, and vanilla. The wine is long, ripe, and medium-bodied, with high levels of sweet tannin.
The 2007 Talbot has a pleasant, classic nose of singed leather and game, a little muffled compared to its peers. But there is a sense of charm that I like, and it speaks of its appellation origin. The palate is medium-bodied with a smooth texture. It lacks depth and grip but is nicely balanced with a cedar-tinged finish.
Even better from bottle than from cask, and one of the finest wines of the vintage, this dense purple-colored 2002 reveals wonderfully sweet notes of charcoal, fresh mushrooms, smoke, earth, leather, cassis, and cedar. Full-bodied, highly extracted, broodingly backward, dense, and deep.
Jadot’s 2010 Meursault Charmes is rich, explosive and powerful. I can see the temptation to drink the Charmes early as it is quite expressive, but the wine really needs time to settle down. Endless layers of fruit build to the huge, dramatic finish.
An intoxicating, staggering perfume of tangerine oil, orange marmalade, apricots and exotic fruit soars from the glass of this full-bodied, beautifully textured, pure yet harmonious, expansive, dry white wine. This is about as good as it gets for a southern Rhone white.
The clarity and detail here with briary, cedar and touches of forest floor, suggesting that it has both feet planted on its drinking plateau. The palate is medium-bodied with a firm grip in the mouth. This is clean and fresh with a fine line of acidity: brambly red fruit, white pepper, cloves and a touch of fennel on the finish.
It has fashioned a terrific, inky/blue/purple-hued 2005 with a beautiful bouquet of spring flowers, creme de cassis, pain grille, and blueberries. Powerful and concentrated with full-bodied richness, stunning purity.
Deep garnet colored, the 2010 Lynch Bages comes sailing out of the glass with notes of redcurrant jelly, black cherry compote and cassis plus wafts of smoked meats, tar, cigar box and dried roses. Full-bodied, the palate is stacked with red and black fruit layers, framed by ripe, firm, fine-grained tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing very long.
The 2013 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières was showing plenty of new oak on the vanilla-laced, almost buttery bouquet. There is too much botrytis here. The palate is well balanced with candied orange peel and peachy notes, rich and generous but missing genuine Puligny-like characteristics.
A little more precision on the nose, the fruit a little fresher with lifted mulberry, violet and lavender scents. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp acidity.
A sleeper of the vintage, Lanessan's 1996 boasts an impressively saturated dark ruby/purple color, and knock-out aromatics of melted chocolate, asphalt, and cassis. Deep, rich, and medium-bodied, with excellent concentration and purity, this impressively-endowed, flavorful, well-structured wine.
It exhibits a dense ruby/plum/purple color in addition to a subtle herbaceousness intermixed with smoked meats, black currants, licorice, cedar, and foresty notes. Rich and full-bodied with light tannins, and a slightly richer, more savory, broader, deeper style.
It has a perfumed, quite feminine bouquet with wilted rose petals infusing the red berry fruit. This seems very composed and refined. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannin, fine focus and plenty of freshness and vigor towards the lightly spiced finish.
A delicious vin de plaisir, this medium-bodied, perfumed wine has no hard edges, a plum, cherry, currant-based nose and flavors, and seamless integration of tannin and acidity.
It possesses as much power, ripeness, and fleshy fruit.It is a beautifully made wine with a subtle dosage of toasty new oak, an appealing texture, and excellent length.