91+ John Gilman - View from the Cellar

"The 2011 Cuvée l’Ancien from Jean-Paul Brun has graduated to a heavier bottle that has heretofore been reserved for the Crus here, which may add a bit of gravitas to this wine (as if it really needed any more, given its consistent excellence for years!) in the marketplace, but does not fit as well into the bins in my cellar. However, the wine is so superb that I will have no issues in finding a new storage location for a dozen of these heavier gauge bottles! The deep and very pure nose shows off the intensity of the low yields in this vintage, offering up a fairly tight and primary blend of cherries, cranberries, vinesmoke, a marvelously complex base of soil, fresh herbs and already the first stirrings of autumnal and nutty notes that will build in intensity over the coming years. On the palate the wine is medium-full, pure and wonderfully sappy at the core, with a tightly-knit personality, ripe, tangy acids, outstanding focus and grip and a very long, youthful and nascently complex finish. The balance here is so lovely that there is no problems drinking this excellent wine today, but it is still very early days for the 2011 Cuvée l’Ancien and I will not be opening any bottles out of my cellar for at least another three to four years. 2012- 2030."