The wine is Richebourg 1988, Domaine Leroy, bottle 1531 of 2292
bottles. I bought 2 bottles of this at auction in the early 1990s. It
has been properly stored since. A back label says the wine has been
treated in no way to avoid sediment, including filtering. Conditions
for proper storage also are given, and the back label has a copy of
Mme. Leroy's signature. This back label is in English. Since the wine
was exported to the US from the UK, this back label might have been
intended for the UK or US market, or both.

The cork was rather difficult to remove. The cork was very long and
highly compressed. However it was still quite elastic after it was
removed. The fill was as high as is safe for a new bottle of wine. It
could not have decreased by much or any over about 20 years. There was
no capsule, rather red sealing wax was used. This likely explains why
the fill was still so high, as the hard wax forms a nearly vapor proof
seal.

I had my doubts if this wine would yet be ready since many 1988s
started out very hard and high in tannin. However the wine has now
opened up, but I would not be surprised if it develops more complexity
and intensity over at least 10-20 more years. The color was intense,
but not too intense for a red Burgundy, scarlet with little indication
of age. With the first sniff after pulling the cork, it was at once
apparent that this was a top Burgundy. The bouquet is huge and jumps
out of the glass. However it is very complex. You get all sorts of
fruits such as red and dark cherries, plums, perhaps raspberries, etc.
In addition there is a complex mixed oriental spice component. The
wine is perfectly balanced, with just the right amount of acid, the
tannins are now resolved, and the taste confirms what is suggested by
the bouquet. Everything is very pure - no barnyard funk here. The
aftertaste is exceptionally long. Just a drop or two remaining in an
empty glass is easy to smell after a few hours.

Unfortunately I do not have the 1988 DRC Richebourg for direct
comparison. However this Leroy Richebourg is better than any
Richebourg I have had from DRC, but I have not had the very top
Richebourgs from DRC. I have had DRC La Tache in several vintages,
which many consider second only to Romanee-Conti in many years and
perhaps first in a few years. I can say this Leroy Richebourg was only
slightly behind the best of La Tache, and I have tasted La Tache 1959
and several of the better vintages of it since. It is too bad that
Mme. Leroy can not get some La Tache grapes from a top year to see how
the wine she would make compares with than from DRC, but of course DRC
is not about to sell any of their La Tache grapes to Mme. Leroy or
anyone else.

One has to wonder if the nearly perfect sealing wax seal allowed the
Leroy 1988 to retain such pure fruit on comparison to cork with
conventional capsule that does allow some exchange with the air as
evidenced by the slow drop in level of the wine over the years. This
sealing wax sealed bottle likely has had nearly no oxygen introduced
since it was corked. Of course a screw cap might have the same effect,
if it has a good enough seal and is designed to seal well for many
decades.

On Mar 23, 1:21*am, cwdjrxyz > wrote:
> The wine is Richebourg 1988, Domaine Leroy, bottle 1531 of 2292
> bottles. I bought 2 bottles of this at auction in the early 1990s. It
> has been properly stored since. A back label says the wine has been
> treated in no way to avoid sediment, including filtering. Conditions
> for proper storage also are given, and the back label has a copy of
> Mme. Leroy's signature. This back label is in English. Since the wine
> was exported to the US from the UK, this back label might have been
> intended for the UK or US market, or both.
>
> The cork was rather difficult to remove. The cork was very long and
> highly compressed. *However it was still quite elastic after it was
> removed. The fill was as high as is safe for a new bottle of wine. It
> could not have decreased by much or any over about 20 years. There was
> no capsule, rather red sealing wax was used. This likely explains why
> the fill was still so high, as the hard wax forms a nearly vapor proof
> seal.
>
> I had my doubts if this wine would yet be ready since many 1988s
> started out very hard and high in tannin. However the wine has now
> opened up, but I would not be surprised if it develops more complexity
> and intensity over at least 10-20 more years. The color was intense,
> but not too intense for a red Burgundy, scarlet with little indication
> of age. With the first sniff after pulling the cork, it was at once
> apparent that this was a top Burgundy. The bouquet is huge and jumps
> out of the glass. However it is very complex. You get all sorts of
> fruits such as red and dark cherries, plums, perhaps raspberries, etc.
> In addition there is a complex mixed oriental spice component. The
> wine is perfectly balanced, with just the right amount of acid, the
> tannins are now resolved, and the taste confirms what is suggested by
> the bouquet. Everything is very pure - no barnyard funk here. The
> aftertaste is exceptionally long. Just a drop or two remaining in an
> empty glass is easy to smell after a few hours.
>
> Unfortunately I do not have the 1988 DRC Richebourg for direct
> comparison. However this Leroy Richebourg is better than any
> Richebourg I have had from DRC, but I have not had the very top
> Richebourgs from DRC. I have had DRC La Tache in several vintages,
> which many consider second only to Romanee-Conti in many years and
> perhaps first in a few years. I can say this Leroy Richebourg was only
> slightly behind the best of La Tache, and I have tasted La Tache 1959
> and several of the better vintages of it since. It is too bad that
> Mme. Leroy can not get some La Tache grapes from a top year to see how
> the wine she would make compares with than from DRC, but of course DRC
> is not about to sell any of their La Tache grapes to Mme. Leroy or
> anyone else.
>
> One has to wonder if the nearly perfect sealing wax seal allowed the
> Leroy 1988 to retain such pure fruit on comparison to cork with
> conventional capsule that does allow some exchange with the air as
> evidenced by the slow drop in level of the wine over the years. This
> sealing wax sealed bottle likely has had nearly no oxygen introduced
> since it was corked. Of course a screw cap might have the same effect,
> if it has a good enough seal and is designed to seal well for many
> decades.

thanks. While I seldom have tried the wines that you open, I always am
fascinated by the notes.
In general I think that the '88 Burgs have shed a lot of tannin and
are showing better than some feared 5-10 years ago.

In article
>,
DaleW > wrote:

> On Mar 23, 1:21*am, cwdjrxyz > wrote:
> > The wine is Richebourg 1988, Domaine Leroy, bottle 1531 of 2292
> > bottles. I bought 2 bottles of this at auction in the early 1990s. It
> > has been properly stored since. A back label says the wine has been
> > treated in no way to avoid sediment, including filtering. Conditions
> > for proper storage also are given, and the back label has a copy of
> > Mme. Leroy's signature. This back label is in English. Since the wine
> > was exported to the US from the UK, this back label might have been
> > intended for the UK or US market, or both.
> >
> > The cork was rather difficult to remove. The cork was very long and
> > highly compressed. *However it was still quite elastic after it was
> > removed. The fill was as high as is safe for a new bottle of wine. It
> > could not have decreased by much or any over about 20 years. There was
> > no capsule, rather red sealing wax was used. This likely explains why
> > the fill was still so high, as the hard wax forms a nearly vapor proof
> > seal.
> >
> > I had my doubts if this wine would yet be ready since many 1988s
> > started out very hard and high in tannin. However the wine has now
> > opened up, but I would not be surprised if it develops more complexity
> > and intensity over at least 10-20 more years. The color was intense,
> > but not too intense for a red Burgundy, scarlet with little indication
> > of age. With the first sniff after pulling the cork, it was at once
> > apparent that this was a top Burgundy. The bouquet is huge and jumps
> > out of the glass. However it is very complex. You get all sorts of
> > fruits such as red and dark cherries, plums, perhaps raspberries, etc.
> > In addition there is a complex mixed oriental spice component. The
> > wine is perfectly balanced, with just the right amount of acid, the
> > tannins are now resolved, and the taste confirms what is suggested by
> > the bouquet. Everything is very pure - no barnyard funk here. The
> > aftertaste is exceptionally long. Just a drop or two remaining in an
> > empty glass is easy to smell after a few hours.
> >
> > Unfortunately I do not have the 1988 DRC Richebourg for direct
> > comparison. However this Leroy Richebourg is better than any
> > Richebourg I have had from DRC, but I have not had the very top
> > Richebourgs from DRC. I have had DRC La Tache in several vintages,
> > which many consider second only to Romanee-Conti in many years and
> > perhaps first in a few years. I can say this Leroy Richebourg was only
> > slightly behind the best of La Tache, and I have tasted La Tache 1959
> > and several of the better vintages of it since. It is too bad that
> > Mme. Leroy can not get some La Tache grapes from a top year to see how
> > the wine she would make compares with than from DRC, but of course DRC
> > is not about to sell any of their La Tache grapes to Mme. Leroy or
> > anyone else.
> >
> > One has to wonder if the nearly perfect sealing wax seal allowed the
> > Leroy 1988 to retain such pure fruit on comparison to cork with
> > conventional capsule that does allow some exchange with the air as
> > evidenced by the slow drop in level of the wine over the years. This
> > sealing wax sealed bottle likely has had nearly no oxygen introduced
> > since it was corked. Of course a screw cap might have the same effect,
> > if it has a good enough seal and is designed to seal well for many
> > decades.
>
> thanks. While I seldom have tried the wines that you open, I always am
> fascinated by the notes.
> In general I think that the '88 Burgs have shed a lot of tannin and
> are showing better than some feared 5-10 years ago.

As Dale, I have tasted maybe 10 Romanee-Conti Burgundies in my 40+ years
of drinking wine but I love to read others notes with the hope that I
may taste them in the future.