1996 Lagrange; 2002 Geantet-Pansiot Gev-Chamb Poissenot

[marcs]

I have a bad habit of popping and pouring. I never know what I'll drink in advance, and once I decide I have no patience. Oh well, take these for what they are worth.

1996 Chateau Lagrange: This was a nice wine but not great. Had a sort of acidic slightly metallic thing going on, but mingled with a definite chocolate/mocha counterpoint and some nice green-ish accents. The acidity really dances but perhaps obscures some of the deeper and richer elements of the wine. Don't know if that would change with age or decanting, or maybe it just needed richer food (we had w chicken). Some tannins left in there too. The counterpoint between the acidity and the cassis/chocolate was interesting, but the wine lacked the depth of black fruit I get in the more recent internationally styled Bdx that make up the bulk of my cellar. Is this how Bdx used to be, back when Lagrange was traditional and had not made the switch to intense selection, or is 96 just a little later in coming round?

2002 Geantet-Pansiot Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Les Poissenot: Wow. Fantastic nose right out of the box. A hint of sweet candy mingled with a beautifully fresh cologne / perfume quality (in a good way). Palate is crisp and fresh and stalky but layered and juicy at the same time. One of those guys you go back to over and over again to see the interesting changes from five minutes ago. Not yet a relaxed or mellow wine, has some of that acidic high-strung quality to it and the finish is maybe a touch clipped. Don't know what it will do with age but it's awfully good now. Has some nice California (slightly confected) accents on a great Burgundian bone structure. I like that combo a lot.

If I had to I'd say that Lagrange is maybe 89-90, G-P is 92-93. Depends on your tastes as always, and I try to avoid Cellartracker-esque grade inflation -- 89-90 is good wine for me.

[Chasse-Spleen]

Thanks for the notes, Marcs. I had the '96 Lagrange once a few years ago, maybe about 4 - 5 years ago. It was a very hot day and when the wine was initially poured, it was indeed very acidic. But after cooling off and with decanting, the acidity became totally integrated and the wine was much smoother. Your note totally reminded me of that night. When I first tasted the wine, I was like - "what's up with this?"

-Chasse

[marcs]

When I first tasted the wine, I was like - "what's up with this?"

-Chasse

Exactly -- you got it. That baby was REALLY acidic for a high-level Bordeaux. You expect tannins but not so much the acidity. I guess maybe we just didn't give it time to integrate though, we tore into that bottle. I have one more bottle and I'll decant as you suggest. Oh well, casualty of pop and pour.

But the G-P G-C Poissenots (fourteen syllables in the name of that wine! Burgundy is out of control) was an example of the good side of taking a wine right away. Would hate to have missed the initial phases of that wine, it was wonderful right out of the bottle.

[johnz]

I had the '96 Lagrange 4-5 years ago, and while it was clearly a good wine, it was such an adolescent it just wasn't interesting to me. I have 5 additional bottles, but based on my first reading of it, I may give it another 5 years when it should be more integrated. It's a good wine, but I don't think it will ever be as good as the '90 is now.

--Gary Rust