Dinner with JP and friends

Tasted Wednesday, June 29, 2011 by cortoncharlie with 797 views

Introduction

Dinner with Jean Paul's wine buddies at the Wine Vault with superb catering by Chez Patrick. An amazing collection of wines all in excellent condition.

Flight 1 (1 Note)

Flight 2 (2 Notes)

  • 1996 Domaine Leflaive Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

    Still so painfully young and absolutely not oxidized. Light golden straw color. Quite citrus dominated at first with a strong acidic spine. Gradually fleshed out over 3 hours with some honey suckle emerging but still nowhere near it's potential. A more elegant and refined leflaive and so different from the Chev and Batard. It will be hard to keep my hands off my remaining bottles for a few years while I work on the combettes and pucelles. Definitely a few points of upside.

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  • 1989 Chateau Musar Blanc 92 Points

    Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

    My first white Musar and to taste a fully mature one was a real treat. Really reminded me of an old white Hermitage but with that little bit of something else (white Rioja or sherry?). Very flamboyant nose and palate with lots of honeysuckle, tea, herbs and some burnt rubber. Very oily texture. This wine was really singing and I prefer this to the few bottles of red Musar I've had in the past. Overpowered the 96 Leflaive BBM tonight but while the Leflaive would continue to improve I think this was it for the Musar.

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Flight 3 (2 Notes)

  • 1966 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands-Echezeaux 96 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru

    For old wines I find that provenance mattered more than reputation and this bottle was in excellent condition and absolutely singing. Soaring nose of red fruit and flowers followed by a complex palate that unfolded like a peacock's tail. The stemmy undertone added a fine counterpoint to the lovely fruit. Held over 1.5 hours. A DRC not in its drinking window could be a complete waste, but then you encounter a bottle like this with that special magic. What a treat and thank you Benoit. WOTN.

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  • 1985 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

    A bottle in lovely condition. In prime drinking window but can hold and improve. Lots of sous bois at first and quite gamey and leathery. Not the most complex but had decent length. Definitely on the farmey side of the red burg spectrum especially next to the DRC. Just a good old fashioned burg that is drinking very well.

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Flight 4 (3 Notes)

  • 1959 Château Mouton Rothschild 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    How often do you get to taste a 66 DRC GE and a 59 Mouton together? Well this was such a night. For me this bottle was all about power. I would never have guessed the age by the soaring aromatics and the dense color that was showing only some rust on the rim. For me this came across as a bit porty which they say is a hallmark shared by many legendary wines. May I dare say still too young? A championship boxer but I preferred the ballerina in the Trot 82 tonight. Still absolutely memorable and a very generous contribution.

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  • 1978 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    I thought this was a revelation. Fresh, dense and pure and quite high pitched on the nose with some mint/menthol. A bit of a bite but not overly alcoholic. The wood was there but not intrusive. Lovely fruit without coming across as over-extracted. The type of wine that put Napa on the wine-making map. Too bad they don't make them like this any more. Can see myself rating this higher if wasn't served alongside the 59 Mouton and 82 Trot.

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  • 1982 Château Trotanoy 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

    I always considered this to be one of the best right banks from the great 1982 vintage and tonight it delivered the goods again. From a pristine bottle that had been lying in JP's cellar in France since release until it was shipped here recently. Drinking absolutely at peak and showing all it's flavors and complexities with everything one would expect from a good pomerol. Powerful without being weighty and a lesson in balance and elegance. Even this claret basher is a convert!

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Flight 5 (1 Note)

  • 1986 Penfolds Grange 94 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    I don't get to drink a lot of Grange but Mike and David who were big Aussie wine collectors considered the 86, 76 and 71 as three of the best vintages for Grange. This bottle was unmistakably Grange but still painfully young and hard to assess. It was a full throttle, turn up the volume kind of wine. Bach/Vivaldi this was not and more like The Who or ACDC. A bit of a strange exotic beast and made me think of my friend Gazza's description of La Turque as a "transvestite". Don't get me wrong. I like Grange but I find it a kind of curiosity and peculiarity. I think maybe I am a tad conservative with the score but would love to reassess in another 5-10 years.

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Flight 6 (1 Note)

  • 1977 Fonseca Porto Vintage 92 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Fonseca is one of my favorites and 77 supposed to be a strong vintage but maybe we didn't give this bottle enough air to fully reveal it's glory or perhaps it was the end of the evening and I was feeling the effects of the previous 9 bottles. This was good but it didn't rock my world (but then again I'm not big on port in general). Nonetheless a very nice accompaniment to the lovely cheese plate prepared by our friends at Chez Patrick and a fitting end to a stupendous evening.

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