91 Pts Stephan Reinhardt - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"The golden 2011 Savennieres Les Vieux Clos from Nicolas Joly started disappointing. It lacked both a clear, aromatic bouquet and a good palate. Although its cork was terribly black and mildewed on the exterior site (which was more or less the case with all the 2011s from this estate) the second bottle I opened a month later was better, offering honey, quince, caramel and nut flavors on the nose and a quite clear and expressive palate with a salty and compact and only slightly bitter finish. Strangely, the first wine became better over the next three weeks when I stored the bottle at a constant temperature of 12 C. Just in case there is a consumer out there who is willing to open an expensive bottle of wine three or more weeks in advance here is my finding of what you could eventually expect: Ripe, sweet and minerally scented aromas of honey, quince confiture and hot stones on the nose are followed by an elegant, sweet, fresh and fruit intense palate and an expressive and persistent finish. However, the finish, which initially was bitter is now much longer and more complex, though it keeps its slightly bitterness which we would hardly tolerate in a clean and modern wine. Obviously you have to be prepared to receive different qualities with the same label. So if you like Russian Roulette you can get a 91 scorer but also <80. I opt for the better bottle here."

90+ Pts Cellar Tracker

Based on 15 notes and 12 scores from 11 users on Cellartracker as of 2/13/16. Median score 91 points. Average Score is 90.9 pts.