2001 Jean Grivot, Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru, Les Beaux Monts 1x75cl

Vinous – 91

(tasted from a magnum): Full dark red. Maturing but energetic aromas of black raspberry, graphite minerality and licorice, plus a hint of truffley underbrush. Fleshy on entry, then sweet, pure and stuffed with fruit, if still a bit introverted and dominated by its rather powerful structure. Finishes juicy and long, with substantial dusty tannins. This still-evolving wine should benefit from time in a decanter but I suspect it won’t soften much further. Grivot, who saved 45 magnums of this wine and his 2001 Richebourg, told me that the Beaux Monts did not give a lot of pleasure during its first ten years. "It was good but monolithic, introverted, almost fragile," he told me. "But in the last two years it has been much easier to drink, and has shown more sucrosité." [Stephen Tanzer, 04/01/2017]

Anticipated maturity: 2017-2026

Burghound – 90-93

A completely different expression from the Brulées as this is much finer and already displays fascinating aromatic complexity and classy, refined, utterly pure, harmonious flavors and killer length. That said, there is plenty of potential here as the tannic structure is prominent and despite the expressiveness of the nose, this too is quite backwards and will require as much patience as the Brulées. [01/01/2003]