3 red Burgs: 15`Clos des Lambrays,16`La Pousse d`Or Amphore,14`Drouhin-Larose Bonnes-Mares

I recently purchased a number of single bottles of Grand Cru red Burgs looking for the holy grail with the idea of then getting more. The first one to be opened and previously reviewed was:

2014 DROUHIN-LAROZE BONNES-MARES GRAND CRU- decanted and served, first mistake= serving it immediately; the initial nose was corky and of dried wild cranberry and Im thinking I got a bad bottle OR it needs more air so I swirled and swirled and occasionally sipped and after about 25 minutes, it was now the genuine article; its big and rich and full bodied and replete with red and black raspberry fruit accented with a streak of spice that runs all the way through; a strong candidate, but needs of time.

IMG_0520 2.jpeg
Before moving on to the next bottle, a local wine shop owner/ friend suggested I try the wines from La Pousse d`Or to get a feel for their style; so, I started with this 1er Cru before going to their Clos de la Roche and Cortons he had in stock:

2016 LA POUSSE d`OR VOLNAY CLOS des 60 OUVREES CUVEE AMPHORE 1er Cru- as recommended, I decanted it for 3 1/2 hours and once poured, noticed its very intense, vibrant dark red purple color, the nose was redolent of black cherry as was the taste profile; it was a huge black cherry fruit bomb and after 30 minutes, it just seemed to expand and explode with more of the same; I closed it up, stored it in the frig and returned the next night to find it was much more balanced and integrated, but still a black cherry concentrate and concluded I’ll pass on moving forward here.

IMG_0545.jpeg
So, the next night, I opened:

2015 DOMAINE DES LAMBRAYS CLOS des LAMBRAYS GRAND CRU- in a blind tasting, I would have called this a youthful version of a Burt Williams 1995 Williams Selyem Allen Vineyard Pinot as it had all of the attributes I’ve loved about that wine; following its rich and vibrant dark magenta color came aromatics of cinnamon and spice laden red raspberry which persisted throughout all the way to the back end; it had a wondrous, feel good texture, was in perfect balance and immediately got the early on vote for the most likely to succeed in the taste off for adding to my red Burg stash.

IMG_0547.jpeg
With 3 more wines to go, I’ll wait before placing a re-order.

Cheers,
Blake