Top 200 wines of 2024, part seven, 96 point wines, first tranche, 27-20

The Vallouit Cote Rotie Rosiers 1998, #27, is a wilder child than its 1999 sibling (#53 above); unpredictable and volatile it always produces fireworks. This bottle in early December took us on a thrill ride, with raw red meat and dripping blood, white pepper, iron ore, and wolframite; some Madagascan cocoa, briary, garigue, brine, olives and tapenade, with a spine-tingling bracing acidity, and a menacing edginess to its personality. You could easily mistake this for a great example of Noel Verset Cornas.  

The Leflaive Batard Montrachet 1996, #26, Steve's kind contribution at a celebratory dinner at Elystan St in mid-December, was remarkably youthful looking, tight and reductive on opening, with toasty oak and plenty of grippy tannin. And then it just burst into life and opened gloriously. It became rich, expressive, layered, intense and detailed, with citrus and saline oceanic notes. 

La Conseillante 2010, #25, revisited for the first time in nearly a decade, a wine which stood out in an ever so impressive line up of 2010 EPs many years ago. Rich, regal, powerful and still youthful. Truffle, licorice, violets and perfectly ripe - predominantly black - fruits, with classy, complex mineral terroir notes; it is opulent with a luxurious mouthfeel, gloriously textured, seamless and silky on the palate with a long languid finish; very fine.

Cappellano Barolo Pie Rupestris, 2001, #24. After the disappointment of a corked bottle in March, and the previous May, this more than made amends. When these wines are on, like this one was, they are full throttle, captivating and thrilling, with everything dialled up to 11. It is rich, perfumed, detailed, powerful and with superb precision and weightlessness.  But for every good bottle you seem to get one duff one. 

Kindly opened by Antoine in Chambery, the Lamarche Grand Rue 2003, #23, was an absolute delight and better than we dared to hope, especially after the cork crumbled, which was a blessing in disguise because it had more time to express itself. The wine itself had a rich, berry, lux attack and it had Grand Cru gravitas with superb mouthfeel and finish.

The Meo-Camuzet 1995, #22, like its 1990 sibling (#67 above) it was matched against, was fully mature, but with so much more vibrant energy. Like its flight mate it had a lush opulence and complexity, with myriad spice and orange peel notes, but whereas the 1990 had metamorphosed into a state of decadence, this had a little more grip and tension, and a sumptuous finish.

La Mission Haut Brion 1988, #21, impressed as much as it did in 2023 when we rushed out to secure a consortium purchase. Tasted next to the brooding 1998 (#41 above) at Graham's memorial dinner, this tastes more than a decade older, but it is a wine at its apogee. So much going on here, with wonderful incense on the attack, a compelling and luxurious palate, with such poise, nuance and some cool notes.  

Ch. Magdelaine 1982, #20, came out a nose in front after an epic head-to-head with the 1985, #28. Drank out of a Conterno Sensory, it had an evolved colour, with mahogany, ripe, rich, berries, incense, exotic nuances of ginger and an array of spices, and plenty of tobacco. It was aromatically more expressive, intense and complex than the 1985, at least initially. Later it developed glorious tertiary complexity, with truffles and myriad tobacco notes.