Mazis Chambertin..... Lynch Bages..... Hermitage - La Chapelle.....

Today we were invited over for a nice dinner with seven friends. I brought the wines and decided to bring prime representatives of the three best wine regions in France. What's more, I wanted the three wines to be of approximately the same age and in the same price range.
This is what came up:

Mazis Chambertin			1985	P. Naddef

4/96. Bought in auction Dec-95 for $73 (imported from Chicago for $83 net).
The first wine I try from this grower. On the label it said that only 320 bottles of this Grand Cru were made in 1985. Mine was number 279.
COLOR: Ruby red. Not particularly deep, with some paling towards the rim.
NOSE: Mature red fruit, engulfed by delicate 'Bourgogne Nose' in exactly the right proportion. Beautifully complex and enticing.
TASTE: Excellent and concentrated fruit fills the mouth. Still a bit tannic, although fully mature. Extremely tasty and elegant.
LENGTH: Not particularly long, but very good and multi-layered aftertaste.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: Medium body, good measure of fruit acidity and some soft tannins. Deliciously balanced, with plenty of 'winyness'. Not a blockbuster, but delicate and complex.
OVERALL: Superb wine from a relatively unknown producer. At its peak now though will last for sometime.
MARK: 18/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Yes.

Lynch Bages					1985	Pauillac

4/96. Acquired from England Sep-95 for $63 (imported for $73 net).
COLOR: Very dark violet-red. Impressively opaque. Hardly any clearing towards the rim.
NOSE: Big nose! Floral bouquet, black fruit, pencil-tip and wood, all quite abundant. Sure to unveil more in years to come.
TASTE: Delicious! Sweet fruit that makes its way thru the heavy veil of ripe tannins. Very smooth and tasty, though a little straight forward. The best food-wine of the evening.
LENGTH: A somewhat bitterish finish turns into a medium-long very pleasant aftertaste.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: Medium-light body. Still very young with some unresolved tannins. Good fruit and acidity allows it to be enjoyed now. Not very complex but perfectly balanced.
OVERALL: Superb! An 'easy' great Bordeaux that still has many years in which to open up.
MARK: 18/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Yes.

Hermitage - La Chapelle			1983	P. Jaboulet

4/96. Bought in auction Jul-95 for $80 (imported from Chicago for $92 net).
COLOR: Almost jet-black! Some clearing towards the rim.
NOSE: Excellent mixture of spices and fruit. Not overwhelmingly strong, complex yet extremely clean. So different from both the (B) and the B, yet the easiest to fall in love with.
TASTE: Super duper! Full of fruit and extract. Mouth filling if there ever was one. It takes over the palate with such vigor that layers after layers of flavor are exposed in one sip.
LENGTH: Long strong and beautiful.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: A real blockbuster. A wine endowed with so much of everything, yet succeeds in maintaining a perfect balance between its structure and its 'flesh'. Impressive 'legs' too.
OVERALL: Extraordinary! The third time I have this nectar, and every time it is as good as the previous time. Will keep for many more years.
MARK: 19/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Yes.

Reach Me? yak@yakshaya.com

Copyright 1996-2003.
Jacob "Yak" Shaya.