Les Climats du Coeur, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru

Vosne : Magnum, served blind. Whole cluster, toned red fruits, immediately very DRC in style if a touch cloudier. Intense spice and nail polish that speak Brûlées to me. Striking clarity despite the vintage ripeness. People were guessing 99 RSV and 10 DRCs; there was even a guess for Leroy. Day two, more blue fruits and a touch dusty, but so quintessentially Vosne. 94-95

A rather delicious oddity. Some debate as to the extent this wine showed whole bunch qualities. At first this felt rather brooding and dark, but with time the floral intensity of this wine did make itself clear to me. An eccentric wine.

A private dinner (Scharzhof, Wiltingen, Germany) : Magnum. Grapes from many producers, but the Gevrey character is clearly represented - and also the stemmy Dujac style is noticeable in the glass. I like it better than both the Meursault and the Vosne-Romanée (tasted last year) from the same range.

A private dinner (Restaurant d'Oude Schuur, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium) : Magnum. Tasted blind. Quite frankly, a weird wine. Mature but lively appearance, nutty, beef stew, seems very mature but clears up considerably, forest floor, clearly a warm year. In the end I correctly guessed the vintage and the village, but it is a very untypical wine which reminded me of Prieuré-Roch (which makes up 10% of the blend), stemmy tannins, good length.

Wilson Daniels Dinner (Smyth and The Loyalist - Chicago IL) : Ripe black cherry and plum from start-to-finish with roasted meat. Still nicely fresh, slightly backward and firm, with some tannins that will benefit from more cellar time to soften. Very good weight.

Wilson Daniels Dinner (Smyth and The Loyalist - Chicago IL) : Alongside the Gevrey, both showcase their appellations wonderfully. Ripe red fruit throughout with enticing Vosne-styled aromas, showing plenty of whole cluster spice, plus possibly some DRC barrel character. Charming fruit on start and finish with good enough concentration, just slightly less heft in the middle. Very good now, with further upside.

Henri Boillot Clos de la Mouchère Vertical with Bonus Bottles (My home - Chicago IL) : Magnum, popped-decanted-and poured, then enjoyed over a couple of days. Served blind to the group. This came across as very Gevrey to me (mostly black cherry, some red cherry with roasted meat), but the group thought it more like Morey or Chambolle based on lighter, more elegant textures. My perspective was that is likely younger vine character coming through, plus its inherent youthfulness. This …

Enjoyable.

gooooooooooood

HDH auction tasting at Tru (Chicago, IL) : Earthy and dusty, but featuring aromas of dark cherry, cough syrup, and licorice. While the nose is immensely alluring, the palate fails to live up to the promise, with a very strange chlorine note. Heavy oak. Truth be told, can't quite make heads or tails of this one.