Over the winter as I was accumlating bottles at Premier Cru, occasionally I'd
bottom feed if I saw something interesting. At one point a few bottles of '95
Robert Chevillon Bourgogne showed up for $14. I thought to myself "Hmm, maybe a
little long in the tooth for simple Bourgogne Rouge, you don't know where that
bottle has been, a vintage you've had mixed luck with (despite it's reputation)
- let's just order one."

So a month or two ago I had PC ship my stash. Decided to open the '95 Chevillon
with last night's leftovers. A bit of bottle funk, first sip seems to be all
acidic red fruit. Glad I only ordered one. But wait, what's happening here?
Just 5-10 minutes of air makes all the difference. Earth, autumn leafpiles, a
little spice. The raspberry/black cherry fruit continues filling out with the
air. After one hour I'm left with a complex (if light to medium-bodied),
delicious Burgundy that belies it's humble AC. Damp earth, flowers, spice,
and a nice finish. A-/B+

Of course the wines are long gone (I think they were only listing 4 or 6 or
something to start with). I feel stupid for not buying all- despite my
reservations,I should have figured $14 Chevillon is too good to not take a
chance. AARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B
a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party
where it was only choice.
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

We had a similar experience over the weekend. For a small tasting of
mid-range pinot noir, someone brought a Sancerre--Henry Bourgeois 2001
"Les Baronnes". It started out tasting like an inconsequential
beaujolais, acid and cherries and not much else. An hour later, it
opened up into a kaleidescope of earth, straw and spice while retaining
the fruit in the background. The theme of the tasting was the "wily
and capricious pinot noir grape", and this was the best example.


Dale Williams wrote:
> Over the winter as I was accumlating bottles at Premier Cru, occasionally I'd
> bottom feed if I saw something interesting. At one point a few bottles of '95
> Robert Chevillon Bourgogne showed up for $14. I thought to myself "Hmm, maybe a
> little long in the tooth for simple Bourgogne Rouge, you don't know where that
> bottle has been, a vintage you've had mixed luck with (despite it's reputation)
> - let's just order one."
>
> So a month or two ago I had PC ship my stash. Decided to open the '95 Chevillon
> with last night's leftovers. A bit of bottle funk, first sip seems to be all
> acidic red fruit. Glad I only ordered one. But wait, what's happening here?
> Just 5-10 minutes of air makes all the difference. Earth, autumn leafpiles, a
> little spice. The raspberry/black cherry fruit continues filling out with the
> air. After one hour I'm left with a complex (if light to medium-bodied),
> delicious Burgundy that belies it's humble AC. Damp earth, flowers, spice,
> and a nice finish. A-/B+
>
> Of course the wines are long gone (I think they were only listing 4 or 6 or
> something to start with). I feel stupid for not buying all- despite my
> reservations,I should have figured $14 Chevillon is too good to not take a
> chance. AARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!
>
> Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B
> a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party
> where it was only choice.
> Dale
>
> Dale Williams
> Drop "damnspam" to reply