Savigny - Les Serpentieres	1972	Dom. Leroy

8/96. A present from forumite Kevin Ostendorf, received May-96.
The first outstanding fact about this 24-years wine is the appearance of the bottle. Pristine! The fill, the labels, the capsule - all testified to the fact that this wine was bottled recently. I have no idea why or how, but I am 100% sure that this bottle was labeled and released not more than 4-5 years ago. If the source was not that of the illustrious Domaine Leroy, I'd get mighty suspicious. But I'm sure the wine is authentic and I'd be very interested to learn the story behind this weird late-late-release (Kevin?).
COLOR: Normal red color, not faded or brownish as one would expect from a 24-years (B). A respectable layer of sediment attested to the wine's age.
NOSE: Superb nose of a mature (B). Not too earthy, with fresh fruit still pretty discernable. I was afraid the aroma would fade quickly, but it held its own for more than an hour.
TASTE: Beautiful expression on the palate. Delicate, reasonably concentrated with some dry prunes flavor so typical to old (B). Bear in mind that this wine is "only" a 1er Cru, and even that from the Cote de Beaune, not from the sturdier Cote de Nuits terroir. Still, at 24 a 'happy' wine in the mouth. Very smooth and elegant. A real rare treat.
LENGTH: Simply no aftertaste to talk about.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: Totally integrated, with the right amount of acidity to counter the old-(B) touch of sweetness. Not overly alcoholic as some old wines turn to.
OVERALL: Superb! An amazing wine taking into account its age. As far as I know 1972 was a pretty bad vintage. I can hardly believe anyone but Madam Bize Leroy could have produced such a pearl and be brave enough to market it so many years later. Thank you Kevin. MARK: 18/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Yes (depends on the price).

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Jacob "Yak" Shaya.