Friday, April 11, 2008
Mouton 1998 and Clos Vougeot Leroy 2000
Had these two last night with a few of my coworkers. The Mouton was opened at 4, decanted for sediment and then returned to the bottle, the Clos Vougeot opened and just poured.
Can't say I was too happy with the Clos Vougeot. It was showing a lot of wood on the nose and while the palate had some interested red fruits the wood tannin was pretty high--it wasn't harsh, but it was very present. The color was very slightly browning so perhaps this was not a pristine bottle. After a couple of hours the wood on the palate did fade into the background and the red fruits opened up, but the nose never really came around.
The Mouton, on the other hand, was just great. After its aeration we poured the first of it at 7. The nose, not surprisingly given its relative youth, wasn't too expressive, although it was very clean, not showing any wood or hot alcohol. It was rich without being heavy, excellent structure without either harsh tannin or jarring acidity. Over a couple of hours black fruits started to come out; by 10, when we poured the last glasses, it had become a wine with a lot of fruit but also real elegance. Not at all what I was expecting from a young Mouton, but I was pretty happy about the whole thing.
Can't say I was too happy with the Clos Vougeot. It was showing a lot of wood on the nose and while the palate had some interested red fruits the wood tannin was pretty high--it wasn't harsh, but it was very present. The color was very slightly browning so perhaps this was not a pristine bottle. After a couple of hours the wood on the palate did fade into the background and the red fruits opened up, but the nose never really came around.
The Mouton, on the other hand, was just great. After its aeration we poured the first of it at 7. The nose, not surprisingly given its relative youth, wasn't too expressive, although it was very clean, not showing any wood or hot alcohol. It was rich without being heavy, excellent structure without either harsh tannin or jarring acidity. Over a couple of hours black fruits started to come out; by 10, when we poured the last glasses, it had become a wine with a lot of fruit but also real elegance. Not at all what I was expecting from a young Mouton, but I was pretty happy about the whole thing.
