2011 Simple Series 9: Sean BOD

Simple dinner #9 and the SIMPLE just getting better and better, maybe I'm greedy but I believe everyone in the group having the same thought: to surpass today line up and set the bar higher and higher and end the year with a Grand SIMPLE dinner. Thanks to Sean generosity for popping 5bottles with a mini theme for himself: wines from 5decades and end with 6 each decade: 66-06. Everyone generously bring out their very best bottle to this dinner and I must say this is one of the best dinner, spectacular line up with loads of great whites that giving the red some hard time and of course, lovely company! Cheers everyone!

I have group wines from same region for easy reading. The exact serving sequence is shown below:
N.V. Krug Champagne Grande Cuvée Brut
2005 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Silex
2004 Louis Jadot Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles
1996 Verget Corton-Charlemagne
2002 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot
2000 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur
2006 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
1996 Château Trotanoy
1985 Delas Frères Hermitage Marquise de la Tourette
N.V. David Leclapart Champagne Cuvée l'Apôtre
1966 Château Latour Grand Vin
2009 Thibault Liger-Belair Moulin-à-Vent La Roche
2007 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs
1986 Château Mouton Rothschild
1996 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque
2003 Sine Qua Non Chardonnay Mr. K The Noble Man
1976 Reichsrat Von Buhl Friedelsheimer Gerumpel Riesling Beerenauslese #27

Different in style:
Krug: Power house
David Leclapart: Purist

• NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée 90 Points

  France, Champagne

  Alcohol :: 12%
  This has stored for 2yrs since purchased thus i believed the degorgement should be at least 3yrs from now. Popped and poured and the beautiful aromas blasted out from glass which told us that the additional bottle aged did help to let this power house showed its best right out of the bottle. Expressive and powerful with its light oxidative tone, layered of coldness, mineral, peppermint supported firmly by the underlying sweetness and white fruits and a dash of honey. Very rich, almost painfully intense, slightly sharp on the entry but rounded up on the mid palate, very powerful but a little bit raw, or I should say rough. The mineral driven finish is a bit short which I feel could be longer and finer. This is indeed a very good Krug MV but not the best I had and I'm fond to the Aporte of which offer much better detail and purity if not power.

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• NV David Leclapart Champagne Premier Cru L'Apôtre Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 92 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Alcohol :: 13%
  From 2005 fruits. Light gold. Vigorous beads bring out the freshness and energy of the wine, still a baby but the nose is promising: very light oxidative nuttiness, blood, mint, citrus and grape fruits sailed alongside with white flower and mineral. Very clean and sleek. Crisp, light entry and built up better depth and power on the mid palate toward the finish with really refine mouth feel that filling by the mineral and green apple, citrus notes. Definitely not a crowd pleaser as this is driven by mineral instead of fruits and has the sense of restraint. Impeccable balance, very sleek package with great definition, purity and drive. This is an excellent Champagne that deserved our full attention. Really lovely. Purist will like this. 92-94

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• 2005 Didier Dagueneau Silex 90 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé

  Alcohol :: 13.5
  Light gold. This has opened since afternoon and indeed help to open up the wine beautifully: highly perfume and fresh, so refreshing. Perfectly ripe pink guava and pineapple surrounded by perfume floral and mineral, the aromas is truly captivating. Full bodied with very good depth and weight but remained vibrant and light, like a ballerina dancing on the palate with good class and sense of elegance that move on to very long persistent finish with mineral. A touch of greenish but the underlying sweetness and grapefruits, pineapple buffered it off to make way for the roundness and slight creaminess that caressing the palate. Very stylish, as we expected from Didier....

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• 2004 Louis Jadot Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Alcohol :: 13.5%
  Fragrance and sweet intense aromas display loads of cold tones, herbs, pepper, red cherry, very sweet and fragrance with deep mineral background. Forward, opulent with layer of complexity with unctuous texture. This is very forward and lack of the definition and tension from a Chevalier. This is still a delicious juice though, round, creamy, buttery, sweet and long juicy finish. This would be an outstanding wine if wasn't an oxidized bottle. At the moment the 1996 Louis Latour Chevalier Demoiselles still the benchmark of this plot for me. 88

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• 1996 Verget Corton-Charlemagne 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  Alcohol :: 13%
  Popped and poured. For the very first sniffed I knew this was a outstanding white Burg and very classy one. The broad-shoulder bouquet is intense with good depth, harmonious and focus. Very ripe white and yellow fruits that's perfectly blended with the huge background of mineral, sea shell and floral scents. This full bodied, mouth filling juice offered stunning depth and complexity yet with good delineation, vivacity and razor sharp precision, thanks for the lively acidity in 1996. The power, strong mineral background and only little touch creaminess lead me to Corton Charlemagne instead of others commune. Incredible length flirting with class and finesse. This is a complete, matured Corton Charlemagne that provide immense drinking pleasure now yet have no problem to last for another decade or more. Far better than the previous bottle.

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• 2002 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Alcohol :: 13%
  Decanted about 1-1.5hrs. Light golden. This too display very ripe aromas with grape fruits, beewax and florals, very intense but still pretty tight and shy. The crisp, ripe acidic entry leads to the weighty mid palate that is rounded and pure with slight creamy butter mouth feel. Very youthful and structured but already showed good harmonious and class, this has everything it needs for the long term. The long finished is driven by the pure mineral and ripe yellow fruits, juicy and delicious. This is a very sleek, medium scale, complete Chablis though this is overwhelmed by the magnificent Verget CC. 91-92

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• 2000 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Alcohol :: 13%
  Opened for 3hrs and decanted for 2hrs. This is indeed singing after such long hrs of aeration. Served after the excellent Blanchot and this was even better! Absolutely top class, and Chablis just couldn't get much better than this. The medium golden juice displayed highly complex, intense bouquet of ripe white and yellow fruits, chalky mineral, cold fresh herbs and perfume floral scents with hint of bee wax that added even better depth and breadth to it. The palate is equally stunning. Astonishing richness, concentration and larger scale than the Blanchot but it is perfectly balance, precise and delicate that the juice just flow through the palate smoothly with no sense of heaviness. Complex, layers of nut, citrus, sea shell, herbs. I really like the purity and sense of elegance and finesse. The slight spicy infused finished lingered with mineral with persistent and the length is unreal. Quoted from the birthday boy who is a hardcore white burg fanatic: The myth is true, Raveneau still the best Chablis maker and nothing seem to come close...yet. I'm in love.... 94-95+

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• 2006 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Alcohol :: 13%
  Opened for 6hrs and decanted for 1.5hrs. This is a little bit steely and sharp compared to both Raveneau. Nevertheless, the aromas is impressive: complex, good depth: gun flint, steely, cold green herbs, ash, mineral, white and yellow floral that the complexity also reflected on the palate that is wonderfully rich and intense. The huge mineral and acid backbone is a little bit sharp however there is enough concentration and ripe fruits to buffer this off and give way to slightly creamy mouth feel that showed sense of class and finesse. The long finished has very good persistent with pineapple, mineral as well as touch of iodine aftertaste. Yet another world class Chablis though this is less refined than the Raveneau could offer. 90-91+

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Cru Beaujolais that rival the re-known Ducster!

• 2009 Thibault Liger-Belair Moulin-à-Vent La Roche 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Moulin-à-Vent

  Alcohol :: 13%
  Decanted for 2hrs. For the first sniff I knew this was a 2009 Beaujolais, such tell-tale elegance, high tone aromas of cherry cola, red floral notes with pepper and mineral added a bit more complexity to it. Blessed by the 2009 vintage, this possess very good richness, purity of fruits and enough structured to be interesting, and indeed I enjoyed this a lot. Sweet cherry note with floral, mineral, autumn leaves as well as touch of austerity underpinned by refreshing acidity and low-medium level of really fine, silky tannin. Very juicy on the finish too. Beaujolais wouldn't get much better than this.

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• 2007 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Alcohol :: 13.5%
  Decanted about 30-45mins. Youth purplish ruby red that display very fresh and 'new' aromas of sweet dark cherry, floral, autumn leave with a bit of hard mineral that reminded me of iron. This is so approachable, especially for a Ducs. Rich and concentrated for a 2007 with lots of sweetness that introduced light touch of softness with medium level of tannin kick in here for better grip. However, I feel that the tannin is slightly over-extracted that covered the softness and make me feel heavy, edgy and mocha like bitterness that masked the elegance of Volnay and move on to the long finish that is slight bitter, austere with mineral aftertaste. A very good wine but this will be even better if the tannin able to resolve with time. 88-90?

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• 1996 Château Trotanoy 86 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Alcohol :: 13.5%
  Decanted for about 2hrs. First red of the night and the transition from the great whites to the red was smooth, at least for the nose. Good complexity with lots of sweet fruits intermixed with secondary notes: ripe cherry, fig and plum with floral scents, wildness, earth and leather. This wine possessed really good vibrancy and concentration of fruits, a little bit tannin and earth. The balance is here and is really quite delicious with the slight creamy mouth feel. However it faded in the glass very quickly, become quite dry and austere and lack of precision. Having tasted some vintages of Trotanoy, it has the capable to deliver even in a normal vintage such as 99 & 02, but the 96 clearly not the case. The medium length finish is a little bit savory as well as dry herbs. Drink soon rather than later as I don't think this has any upside potential with age.

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• 1966 Château Latour Grand Vin 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Alcohol :: NA
  1966, 45yrs old by now but still so fresh, lively and having intense dark ruby core. The beautiful bouquet is fully matured and while dominated by the secondary notes, this still has very intense dark fruits core as well as dried flower that well accompany by cedar, pencil shaving, antique furniture, leather as well as earth. I really love the nose here, pure, complex and harmonious. The palate is equally compelling with its lively and vibrant profile, still wonderfully structured and so much to offer: layers of fig, dried floral, sweet currant and mushroom all perfectly integrated along with little touch of really silky tannin that flow through the palate with care, so silky smooth that culminated to the medium length, persistent complex finish with autumn leaves, dried floral, sweet plum nuanced that lingered. Latour once again demonstrated its stunning aging potential. This lacks a little bit of depth and length to be extraordinary but still, this is a classy, outstanding Latour that is drinking at its peak now.

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• 1986 Château Mouton Rothschild 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Alcohol :: 12.5%
  Opened for about 7hrs and decanted for 2hrs. Such dark color, this magnificent Mouton seems never aged, on the color itself everyone think this could be as young as a 2000! Nose was quite tight and shy, but it was deep and intense. Cedar, pencil shaving, capsicum, earth with sweet dark fruits underneath. The palate is as youthful as the color may suggest, still terribly tight despite such long hrs of aeration. Formidable structured dominated the palate and the underlying sweet dark fruits were struggling to surface. Large scale, expansive with mouth coating intensity but this is well delineated, focus and precise. Massive tannin here, provide good grip and depth but this is very ripe and fine grained with no sense of heaviness. The finish is unreal with wonderful freshness! The last sip is getting sweeter and juicier. This is no way near the its drinking window. Hand off for at least another decade. Today I prefer the completeness of the Turque but I believe the Mouton will be eventually overcome the Turque 10yrs down the road. 93-95+

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• 1985 Delas Frères Hermitage Marquise de la Tourette 88 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Alcohol : ??
  Decanted for about 1.5-2hrs. Slightly cloudy garnet, still dark on the core. This is unmistakably a 80s Hermitage and in fact most of the ppl got this right. A little bit wild with underlying sweetness of dried fig, ripe plum, cherry intermixed beautifully with cedar, gaminess, roasted herbs and mushroom. The nose is so welcoming and fragrance. Fully matured but still possessed good level of sweet dark fruits along with good acid backbone, mineral and dry extract. Quite juicy and the medium length finish with good persistent. This is indeed quite delicious and complete though a bit one dimensional.

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• 1996 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque 94 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Alcohol :: 13%
  Decanted about 3.5-4hrs. This was served blind alongside with the 86 Mouton and everyone was keeping the focus to the 86 Mouton, well, that's for sure. However, this was every bit as good as the Mouton, perhaps not the scale and structured, but the sheer class and finesse. Intoxicating bouquet with super ripe plum, dark cherry laced on an array of spices, coffee, caramel and mineral, the intensity and complexity is absolutely stunning. As sensational as the nose, this full bodied juice offered incredible intensity that coat the mouth immediately yet remained such perfect balance with class, finesse and elegance. There is enough concentration of really pure dark and red fruits mixed, mineral to buffered the medium level of super fine tannin and formed the solid structured with lush, polish and refine texture. The grip and tension on the palate is fabulous and demonstrated what is power with grace. Very very long spicy infused finish that just goes on and on. This is absolutely delicious and will only be better in another 5yrs time. The 86 Mouton might be surpass the Turque 5yrs down the road but today I'm a fan of the 96 Turque. Did I mention 1996 is not a strong vintage in Rhone? 94-95

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• 2003 Sine Qua Non Chardonnay Mr. K The Noble Man 84 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley

  Alcohol :: 10.3%
  Medium golden in color and man, the nose is dominated by super intense sweet yellow fruits and bortrytis: plum, apricot and peaches soaked in the honey syrup. This is extremely rich and thick, cloying and heavy as this lack of the acidity to lend the freshness and keep it in shape. The finish is super powerful and medium length, but also one dimensional. It is hard to finish, even a small glass. This reminded me the Austrian TBA that I had yrs ago which was also super sweet, cloying and hard to swallow. Will this ever come to balance (sweetness vs acidity?). I'm skeptical about this. 84

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• 1976 Reichsrat Von Buhl Friedelsheimer Gerumpel Riesling Beerenauslese #27 92 Points

  Germany, Pfalz

  A.P. 5 106 044 27 77
  Medium bright golden. This has everything you expect from an aged, great German BA and this is a wine I can drink all day compared to the Mr.K. Soft and fragrance bouquet display stunning freshness with layers of peaches, haw flakes, mineral and black tea with soft petroleum note added more complexity to it. The palate share the finesse, grace and flavors complexity with the nose, everything was well integrated, perfectly balance and incredibly fresh, light and pure. Not powerful, no firework, but a quiet wine that slipped through your palate with care and you need to pay attention in order to catch it. The long finish still possess very good tension and lingered with mineral, honey and black tea nuanced. Yum!

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