Catching up on recent wines consumed he

1998 Ridge Lytton Springs

nose: berries and more berries, with creeping hints of tarriness
emergining later
palate: thick, rich, fruity, but balanced; still youthful in feel

Consumed with braised lamb, this wine lived upto expectations. It was
fruity without descending into overripeness and it managed to have
enough restraint to make it a decent food wine.

1990 Louis Jadot Cote de Beaune-Villages

nose: initially, dired flowers, light berry fruit; later, smoke; later
still, sappy notes and spices
palate: initially, light but fruity; later, gaining depth; later still,
getting acidic

This wine was a recent purchase at a charity auction (notes on the
tasting to follow eventually, I hope), sold in a lot with a '93 Jadot
1er. I must admit to having doubts about the ability of a Cote de
Beaune-Villages from a forward year like '90 to hold this long, so I
opened it right before dinner and tried it immediately. In the end, my
worries were misplaced, as the wine not only survived over an hour after
opening, it actually improved for the first 30 minutes. Most pleasant,
and a great surprise. Next on the agenda, an '89 Chevillon NSG --
another charity auction purchase.


Mark Lipton

Mark,
I have friends who disparage 1990 in Burgundy as too ripe and forward.
And it's true that I'm not sure that the top wines will ever reach the
heights of some more structured vintages (and there is sometimes a
roasted note there). But the thing that does make 1990 one of the great
vintages in my inexpert opinion is the number of wines that totally
overachieved for their appelations. 1999 is the only other vintage I
can think of where there are so many delicious and potentially
long-lasting wines from Maranges, CdB-Villages, Marsanny, Fixin,
CdNVillages, Mercurey, etc. (we'll see re 2002).

DaleW wrote:
Mark,
I have friends who disparage 1990 in Burgundy as too ripe and forward.
And it's true that I'm not sure that the top wines will ever reach the
heights of some more structured vintages (and there is sometimes a
roasted note there). But the thing that does make 1990 one of the great
vintages in my inexpert opinion is the number of wines that totally
overachieved for their appelations. 1999 is the only other vintage I
can think of where there are so many delicious and potentially
long-lasting wines from Maranges, CdB-Villages, Marsanny, Fixin,
CdNVillages, Mercurey, etc. (we'll see re 2002).

Yes, there are the idealogues who dislike any hot weather vintage. On
the basis of this one bottle, I'm leaning toward your camp, Dale.

Mark Lipton