Laurent's top 1993s are massively concentrated, huge, intense wines that will require 8-10 years of cellaring. The grand crus from Gevrey-Chambertin are some of the finest wines in the Laurent portfolio. The Mazis-Chambertin, from a vineyard planted in 1904, is a monumental red Burgundy with colossal richness, prodigious extraction of fruit, and an opaque black/purple color. It has fruit, tannin, and power to spare, and may require 15-20 years of cellaring. Could this be one of those rare Burgundies that will evolve for 25 years without losing its fruit? Although backward and uncivilized at present, it is a superstar of the vintage! The Gevrey-Chambertin Estournelles St.-Jacques, Gevrey-Chambertin Poissenots, Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux St.-Jacques, Ruchottes-Chambertin, Mazis-Chambertin, and Chambertin are all immensely structured, over-sized 1993 red Burgundies that will require considerable patience. Keep in mind that Laurent bottles unfined and unfiltered, so these wines are totally natural expressions of their vineyards, unmanipulated and uncompromised save for Laurent's peculiar elevage of jumping from new oak back to old oak, to new oak again, depending on a particular wine's evolution.
A Patrick Lesec Selection (Paris fax # 011 33 1 42843822), various American importers