1990 Batailley

Tasted at The Sampler’s Batailley vertical tasting in London with Philippe Castèja, the 1990 Batailley has a muted nose: tobacco, sage, mushroom and smoke aromas but lacking the rounded ebullient fruit one usually finds on this vintage. It begins to open with further aeration, with wild mint and graphite—becoming more Pauillac with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a bucolic entry, nice weight in the mouth, a dash of black pepper livening things up, fleshing out a little toward the savory, chestnut-tinged finish. This is the best bottle of 1990 Batailley that I have encountered. Tasted January 2011.

Beautiful wine. Very dark ruby-red. Wonderful blackberry, mineral and violet aromas. Full-bodied, with round and velvety tannins and a long, beautifully fruity finish.--1990 Bordeaux retrospective. Best after 2005. James Suckling, Wine Spectator 2000

The 1990 offers medium dark ruby color, as well as an open knit, fragrant, spicy, sweet nose. In the mouth, the wine is decidedly less structured and tannic when compared to the 1989, but more soft, elegant and, at least for now, more flattering. A clone of Batailley's 1962? Anticipated maturity: 1995-2010. Wine Advocate.February, 1993