Clos Des Lambrays, 1996 Grand Cru, Domaine Des Lambrays, Morey St. Denis

As with most good red burgundy, the name is excruciatingly long. However, the wine was surpisngly good. We found this on a wine list at a 5* restaurant in town, Nana and it seemed a fair deal. While it had a three figure price, grand cru burgundy is rarely cheap. It was decanted for us, even though it had very little sediment.

The wine itself was marvelous. It smelled of truffles, cinnamon, candied cherries, and ginger. It was well balanced, with slightly reserved acids, and still had some velvety tannins left after nearly a decade. The finish was quite long and went through layers of cedar, leather, and roses. It maintained a core of red fruit and earth.

Paired with a foie gras appetizer with an aged balsamic vinegar it worked quite well.

However, the wine changed during the dinner, in most cases for the better. By the main course it had opened up even more, with some more red fruit becoming apparent, as well as some dried fig and maple syrup. The heady truffle aroma, however was lost. This was paired with a duck breast and pistacios. A marvelous pairing.

By the end of the meal, the wine was starting to fade, but still quite tasty. More of the earth became apparent, as did some of the dried fruit. On the finish I started to note some almond...

Generally, this wine was exactly what it was supposed to be. A wine from a great region in an OK year, that had been aged the appropriate amount of time. If you see this one for under $175, and have a special meal to celbrate, I recommend it.

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