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TN: '92 Leroy Volnay-Santenots

Opened tonight with a dinner of duck with turnips (caneton aux navets):

1992 Dom. Leroy Volnay-Santenots

color: dark garnet with no sign of browning at the edges nose: initially quite reticent, opening to show raspberry and cedar palate: slightly tannic, good acidity, fruity

This wine was my first-ever exposure to the wines of Dom. Leroy. It surprised me because it was so primary: I got no secondary or tertiary characteristics at all, though Jean claimed to get some earthiness in the nose. To me, this wine was squeaky-clean, almost to a fault. It went splendidly with the duck, however, with the duck bringing out the fruity character of the wine.

Mark Lipton

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Mark Lipton
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The wines of Leroy are noted for being extremely slow to mature in many cases. Leroy still sells wines from the 60s and earlier - at a steep price. Many of these wines are still in very good form, while those made by many others from the same vineyard and year are long dead. I have not tasted your wine. I do wonder, however, if it may still be a baby and if it might develop complexity as it ages for many more years. I have two bottles of Dom. Leroy's 1988 Richebourg and one of Romanee-Saint-Vivant. I have not even considered opening these yet and hope they will peak while I am still alive. I suspect that they would be dumb at this point and very full of tannin - 1988 is that kind of year and seems built for an extremely long life in the hands of Leroy and a few other top domains.

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cwdjrxyz

Yes, I began to suspect that this might be the case. I probably should have solicited advice before opening it, but sometimes curiosity (and the need to clear cellar space) get the best of me. ';-)

'88 as a vintage is indeed one for the ages. In certain regards, it calls to mind '75 in Bordeaux: will the fruit outlast the tannins and acid? I've opened a number of village-level '88 Cote de Beaunes over the past year and they've been quite youthful. In fact, I'm hanging on to my remaining de Montilles and Lafons to see how they develop. OTOH, a tasting we did of several '88 GCs from the Cote de Nuits last year and most of them were showing quite well. I'd guess that your '88 Richebourg will hang around for a good long while yet.

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

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