Savigny - Les Serpentieres 1972 Dom. Leroy
8/96. A present from forumite Kevin Ostendorf, received May-96.
The first outstanding fact about this 24-years wine is the appearance of
the bottle. Pristine! The fill, the labels, the capsule - all testified to
the fact that this wine was bottled recently. I have no idea why or how,
but I am 100% sure that this bottle was labeled and released not more than
4-5 years ago. If the source was not that of the illustrious Domaine
Leroy, I'd get mighty suspicious. But I'm sure the wine is authentic and
I'd be very interested to learn the story behind this weird
late-late-release (Kevin?).
COLOR: Normal red color, not faded or brownish as one would expect from a
24-years (B). A respectable layer of sediment attested to the wine's age.
NOSE: Superb nose of a mature (B). Not too earthy, with fresh fruit still
pretty discernable. I was afraid the aroma would fade quickly, but it held
its own for more than an hour.
TASTE: Beautiful expression on the palate. Delicate, reasonably
concentrated with some dry prunes flavor so typical to old (B). Bear in
mind that this wine is "only" a 1er Cru, and even that from the Cote de
Beaune, not from the sturdier Cote de Nuits terroir. Still, at 24 a
'happy' wine in the mouth. Very smooth and elegant. A real rare treat.
LENGTH: Simply no aftertaste to talk about.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: Totally integrated, with the right amount of acidity to
counter the old-(B) touch of sweetness. Not overly alcoholic as some old
wines turn to.
OVERALL: Superb! An amazing wine taking into account its age. As far as I
know 1972 was a pretty bad vintage. I can hardly believe anyone but Madam
Bize Leroy could have produced such a pearl and be brave enough to market
it so many years later. Thank you Kevin.
MARK: 18/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Yes (depends on the price).
Reach Me? yak@yakshaya.com
Copyright 1996-2003.
Jacob "Yak" Shaya.