Wine Advisor
Comte Georges de Vogue, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru 1990
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
First tasted July-03: drunk alongside Richebourg DRC 1993 it is instantly noticeable with its deeper purple hue. The nose is very deep, sumptuous and plummy. There is a real exotic, almost Rhone-like dimension here. The palate continues with deep gamey black fruits, well integrated oak and dense mid-palate. Very well balanced - this wine is a great example of power and finesse with a magnificent sweet strawberry tinged finish. A very regal wine. Give it another 5-8 years. Then at the de Vogue vertical in May-04: a deep garnet core. The nose is still exotic, slightly pruney this time but more backward. The palate is robust, bulging with rich liquorice laced fruit. Very masculine but with a sweet core. Lacks the harmony of the last bottle - rather an awkward adolescent. Tasted May 2004.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
While the Bonnes Mares is closed, the dark ruby/purple color and the wine's terrific potential are evident. Full-bodied, with a blossoming, black-cherry nose complemented by a judicious use of toasty new oak, this wine exhibits wonderful richness, excellent definition and structure, and a long, dense, concentrated finish. Anticipated maturity: 1997-2010. After a wait of nearly twenty years, these 1990s are the first truly profound wines to emerge from this great domaine since 1972. If the rigid oenologist who fashions these wines, Monsieur Millet, would throw away his filters, they probably could have been even more exciting. However, these 1990s are stunning enough to convince me that the resurrection of Comte de Vogue has begun. Interestingly, Millet has shown some flexibility and is now doing a cold maceration of 5-7 days before starting the fermentation, which has no doubt contributed to the black/purple color of these wines. Importer: Ideal Wine and Spirits Co., Medford, MA.
About the Producer
Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue is one of the most important estates in the Chambello-Musigny appellation, thanks to its stake in important vineyards. The Comte de Vogue is, as the English writer Charles Dickens once said, "as historic and admirable as a great mountain". The vineyard of the Comte de Vugo covers approximately 12.5 hectares, of which about 7 hectares are located in the Mussini vineyard (70% of the entire top vineyard) and about 2.5 hectares in the nearby Bernemar region. The grapes are all hand-harvested and the vast majority are destemmed (although in 1990 100% of the stems were retained). The wines are first fermented in vats, then aged for 18 months in small oak barrels (40% to 45% renewed), clarified with egg whites and lightly filtered before bottling. The wines are extremely intense and full-bodied, which is not surprising given the extremely low yields and the limestone soils of the Mussini vineyards. The wines of the Comtes de Vugo are not meant to be tasted young, and in outstanding vintages these very long-lived wines usually require 10 to 15 years of ageing. However, it is worth noting that the 2002 vintage of Musigny Old Vine is of particularly high quality. It has intense aromas of red cherry, spice and candied raspberry aromas, with a hint of oak. This noble, full-bodied, refined wine has fragrant floral flavours with fruity notes of red and black fruits. A more feminine wine than the bold, chewy, highly robust 1990 vintage, this is a work of art with delicate tannins.
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