Hospices de Nuits Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges Cuvée Georges Faiveley Faiveley

Second Sunday Group: 1990 Burgundies (Neil's) : Double blind. Ruby core with a light meniscus. Very pretty upon first pass, with notes of fresh flowers, cherry and mineral. Medium body with good acidity. Cherry and mineral on the palate. My initial thought is Chambolle. Develops a meaty tone with air. Flavors turn a bit darker, almost sour black cherry, with a dried fall leaf quality too. 89-90 pts. My #5, Domino's #7 Group #6, 57 pts.

Truly terrific wine from the get go. Very round and lush but also keeping good freshness and balance through the acidity. Great earth notes but also still fresh fruit. This is so fine / too fine for a Nuits St Georges and blind one would not be guessing this and possibly go more towards Gevrey. Second bottle with pretty consistent showing. Got one left and while there is no hurry just drinking too well now not to pull a cork.

Cloudy crimson color. This had a surprisingly intense nose of red clay, cigar, tar, and pine, perking up at the end with a tart whiff of cranberries. Sniffed blind, I would have been certain this was Bordeaux, so anchored is the aromatic profile in the "darker," more savoury end of the spectrum. On the palate this shows typical Faiveley austerity, being dominated by the limestone underlying this vineyard. This has tremendous persistence at the back of the palate, with the …

Medium red in color, nose with red fruit, herbs, damp earth and a bit of tea. Palate still got lots of go, lively and transparent, not old and still got life ahead, very good.

Really fascinating bottle. Cork soaked all the way through, but came out in one piece. Just a tiny bit of oxidation on bottle; easily wiped off. Otherwise bottle in great shape. Popped and poured. Medium-red with very little bricking. Crazy-smokey initially. Maneuvered through the evening between smokiness, a little tomato juice note, and a strong sous bois aspect. A little oak still showing up, but not offensive; at this point one wonders whether it will ever completely integrate. Good fruit, …

Unimpressive upon opening. Three hours later came good. Red fruit leather. Seemingly lacking on entry - mid palate the power emerges - very rich, very intense, finishes very long and also quite dry. Really lingers on the palate. Great match for beef, but we drank it as a drink. That said, did just fine as a drink.

Incredibly dark and deep. Saddle sweat and tannins on the nose. Very large scaled, chunky wine with notable ripeness and sweetness. Again, very tannic. Simple and little staying power over time-transient glory before rapidly falling away.

Last up among the red Burgundies was a 1990 Hospice de Nuits Nuits St. Georges les St Georges Cuvée Faiveley. We never did figure out whether this was really a Domaine wine, or negociant, but it showed quite well, with an impressive, very pure nose of red and black fruit and the most tannic profile of any of the wines we tasted. The concentration on the palate was impressive as well, but in a distinctly different style from the almost …