This is classic, great old Burgundy. The oak is completely integrated, with pure sappy, nuanced, Pinot fruit shining through. Notes of strawberry, sous bois, orange blossom and zest, creme de cassis, liquid caramel, and wood spice. Drinking perfectly. This opened up over the course of 1 hour with air, and stayed strong for a total of 3 hours, with no decline. Elegant, but ripe and mouthfilling in the midsection. Long finish. Lovely. 95 pts.

Awesome notes Drab.
I never heard of Ponnelle before. Interesting.

Is it time to drink up all my 1961 burgundies? Just kidding!

Drab, my last two '61 Burgundies were tiring a little. It must be that clean living you are doing!

Thanks for the note.

quote:

Originally posted by dr.darkrichandbold:
Drinking perfectly. This opened up over the course of 1 hour with air, and stayed strong for a total of 3 hours, with no decline. Elegant, but ripe and mouthfilling in the midsection. Long finish. Lovely. 95 pts.

Not that I've ever had the chance to try one, but I've read that older burgs must be drunk soon after opening, as they tend to collapse fairly quickly. Not true?

quote:

Not that I've ever had the chance to try one, but I've read that older burgs must be drunk soon after opening, as they tend to collapse fairly quickly. Not true?

I would say any wine this old could do that. But...Pinot could, potentially do that even more so. With this wine, that was definitely not the case. However, I suspect this wine to be more of an exception (in many respects) than the rule...

Interesting side note I thought to add...from what I've gathered, the late 50's/early 60's Ponnelle wines were made by Christophe Roumier Sr. (Father of the current Christophe Roumier, and son of the founder George Roumier). No wonder this wine was so good...

Thanks for the awesome TN.