Puligny - Champs Canet..... Charmes Chambertin..... Hermitage

Puligny - Champs Canet		1990	E. Sauzet

Acquired from England Feb-96 for $59 (imported for $72 net).
A renowned 1er Cru from the impeccable house of Sauzet. 1990 is a mixed-bag for white (B) as far as my experience goes. Had some truly great wines, but also some disappointments.
COLOR: Very deep golden color. Viscosity is apparent from looking alone.
NOSE: Very good though not great. Roast almonds, hint of honey, pears and minerals. Much too much wood masks some of the aromas.
TASTE: Really rich in the mouth, though again, too much wood is felt. Quite fat and buttery, resembling more a Meursault than a Puligny. Not yet totally open and integrated.
LENGTH: A bitterish finish that transform into a pleasant and long aftertaste.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: Good balance though a bit lacking in acidity. A viscous wine that looks more promising than it is.
OVERALL: Excellent but expected more.
MARK: 17+/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Maybe.

Charmes Chambertin		1989	J. Drouhin

Acquired from Beaune Dec-94 for $36 (imported for $48 net).
I had this wine some 18 months back. I remember I quite liked it then. Let's see if the time passed since then did it any good...
COLOR: Nice brick-red (B) color, not extremely deep with some clearing towards the rim.
NOSE: Beautiful aroma. Fresh red fruits, delicate 'Bourgogne Nose', some mature elements. All in perfect balance.
TASTE: Superb on the palate too. Concentrated, fruity and 'fleshy'. Good acidity, some soft tannins still felt to give the wine a good backbone. A 'happy' wine.
LENGTH: Terrific finish, long and reverberating aftertaste.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: A medium-body but perfect (B) balance. I think this is one of the best Drouhin efforts for 1989. Reaching its peak now, but will stay there for a few more years.
OVERALL: Superb! Perhaps not the most complex of wines but a delight to drink, especially considering the price.
MARK: 18/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Yes.

Hermitage				1983	J-L Chave

Bought in auction for $70 Feb-96 (imported from Chicago for $84 net).
COLOR: Basically Rhone-like deep dark red, but a bit of fading already there. Quite a lot of sediments are seen along the bottle side.
NOSE: Well, this one really stank... took a while to get used to and be able to smell the more subtle and mature components. Spices, dump earth, mushrooms etc. Not a nose to be discarded as simple or bad, but the bret was much to dominant.
TASTE: Very good and complex taste. A bit too acidic by now. So much so as to give the impression of a badly kept bottle. I have tasted the extraordinary 1978 Chave Hermitage and a few of the 1983 Jaboulet 'La Chapelle'. This present bottle was way over-the-hill in comparison to both.
LENGTH: Very long and interesting aftertaste.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: Too acidic, a bit hollow (but not much). Still, complex interesting and multi-layered.
OVERALL: Very good and certainly interesting, but I must admit - this was the worse Hermitage I've tasted so far.
MARK: 17/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? No.

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Copyright 1996-2003.
Jacob "Yak" Shaya.