Bad, bad, but not brown

Leroy 1983 Volnay (Burgundy) – Pretty. Very, very pretty. Showily so. And strikingly youthful; the structure’s resolved, but the fruit is still fairly primary and direct. Maybe boring? I don’t quite know what to make of this, but admittedly my palate is completely exhausted at this point. (7/09)

Not your average Vougeot

Leroy 1995 Clos de Vougeot (Burgundy) – Tight-grained and muscular, but by no means overly dominant, showing a fanatic’s assemblage of tiny wild berries, a mélange of mineral-infused truffles, and a whirlwind, rolling persistence that expands past the nose and mouth into the brain, then races straight down to the heart. Great wines so often possess a certain tactility; this one does its own touching without any help from the taster…and exploration which moves quickly from a firm grasp to a passionate caress. There’s a powerful dimorphism at work here; it simultaneously inhabits both masculine and feminine forms, and the tension and interplay between them defines the wine. Breathtaking. Simply breathtaking. (8/07)