Holiday Dinner - DRCs, 90 and 00 CB, 03 Capo, Krugs and etc.

The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown
Tasted Thursday, December 17, 2015 by dcwino with 653 views

Introduction

Chef Ruta offered us a tasting menu and it was the best meal that we had at the grill room. The menu included a couple games dishes that were mind-blowingly good. The service was perfect as usual.

Flight 1 - Champagne (3 Notes)

The 04 Dom Rose is drinking incredibly well.

  • 1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 98 Points

    France, Champagne

    Along with the 96 Salon, it displayed razor like focus upon release and remained incredible youthful. I often wondered if they will ever get warmer and rounder. Surprisingly they both opened up beautifully in the past couple of years. Incredible decadent and concentrated yet perfectly precise with strong presence of acidity. Honey, tarte tatin, anie and flowers. Incredibly concentrated and perfectly precise. Incredible showing.

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  • 1990 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 95 Points

    France, Champagne

    Somehow this seems fresher and lighter than the 96. Incredibly fresh, mostly white fruits, apple peels, fresh apple, a hint of brioche and white flowers. Quite fresh and energetic. For my palate, the best examples are more like the 96, ripe and decadent with yellow and red fruits. It is one of those few occasions where fresh showing is not necessarily better. Very good but not great.

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  • 2004 Dom Pérignon Champagne Rosé 96 Points

    France, Champagne

    Pure decadence. Beautiful pinot driven sweet nose. No need to analyze, perfectly delicious and hedonistic. No need to wait but will improve.

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Flight 2 - White Burgundy (4 Notes)

Oh Coche!

  • 2005 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet 93 Points

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

    Reductive initially. Dense ripe yellow fruit, lemon oil, lanoline, honey, mineral, crème brulee and a hint of oak. Excellent concentration, strong presence of mineral, oily, medium acidity and medium finish. Very batard and very 2005. Really needs another five to ten years to integrate.

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  • 2005 Etienne Sauzet Bâtard-Montrachet 95 Points

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

    Barry comments that how the Sauzet batard is more precise and fresher than the Leflaive batard which is the opposite of what he would have expected. I completely agree. Even the color is significantly lighter. Quite reductive to start then open up nicely, white fruits, apple and pear, fat, flint, limestone, spicy spices and mineral. Excellent concentration, strong presence of mineral, quite broad, enough acidity to maintain a good balance and clean long finish. Excellent showing.

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  • 1989 Louis Carillon Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet 90 Points

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

    This is similar to the last bottle drank in 2014 but a bit more advanced. Very ripe nose, mango, animal, lanolin, oyster shell and honey. It reminds me an aged sweet Huet with lanolin and oyster shell. Like the last bottle, incredibly concentrated. A bit to evolved to handle the ripeness and fatness. Considering the price, not worth chasing.

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  • 2009 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 100 Points

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

    Interestingly, the last time I drank the89 Carillon BBM, I also drank this wine. This is all about Coche magic. The color is almost green as Barry points out. It is so ripe and concentrated yet incredibly fresh and perfectly precise. So young yet it is perfect both intellectually and emotionally.

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Flight 3 - Red Burgundy (3 Notes)

The Meo was corked!

  • 1995 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg 94 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru

    Small pour to check. Perfectly mature hedonistic nose displaying shy blackberry, caramel, truffle, cedar, mint, sous bois, iron and earth. The palate is a bit thin and angular. Although the nose is hedonistic, it may be a bit more youthful. With air, a bit more soy and more iron develops. I suspect this has been kept in less than ideal condition. 97 point nose but 92 point palate.

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  • 2007 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant 94 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru

    Really youthful example. Crunch red fruits, strawberry and rhubarb tart, cranberry, noticeable stem, mocha, spicy spices and charred rare dry aged steak. Excellent concentration, very youthful and masculine, youthful tart red fruit driven palate impression, bright acidity, slightly dry tannins/stem and clean long finish. Still needs time.

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  • 1999 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Richebourg Flawed

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru

    Corked. Ouch!

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Flight 4 - Rhone (2 Notes)

Two great youthful wines.

  • 2003 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo 95 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Decadent expressive nose displaying very ripe red fruit, Grenache/animal/raspberry dominates, fruit cake, caramel, tobacco and charred steak. Incredibly concentrated and ripe yet maintains very good balance. I am not a big fan of the 03 ripeness in Rhone so my ratings may be a bit lower. If you are a fan of the 03 ripeness, you will find this close to perfect.

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  • 1990 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 97 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Incredible youthful ripe nose displaying black fruits, licorice, fruit cake, a hint of port, tar, dark spices, a hint of mint and charred steak. I find it interesting that my impression is identical to the last bottle drank two years ago at our holiday dinner. Incredible concentration, intense ripe black fruit and port driven palate impression, bright acidty, a hint of tannins but mostly masked by incredibly layered fruits and long sweet finish. It is still youthful but perhaps in another ten years it will start to flirt with perfection, perhaps the modern day replication of the 61 La Chapelle. Now 97 pts but sure to become perfect in time.

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Flight 5 - Bordeaux (4 Notes)

  • 1995 Château Haut-Brion 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    As usual, very youthful nose displaying intense black fruits, cassis, caramel, lactic, tobacco, baking spices and mineral. Excellent concentration, dense yet polished palate, strong presence of mineral, bright acidity, a hint of tannins and lovely long finish. This is a big scale HB that will improve further for the next twenty years. Not quite up to the label of the 89 and 90 but still a great Haut Brion. Not a bad wine to buy in the current soft Bordeaux market.

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  • 1982 Château La Mission Haut-Brion 98 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Expressive nose displaying perfectly ripe black fruits, cassis, strong note of cedar, tobacco, and scorched earth. Excellent concentration, decadent cassis fruit driven palate impression, perfect amount of acidity, still noticeable tannins and lovely long finish. It is drinking perfectly at the moment but no need to hurry. Excellent showing, classic LMHB.

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  • 1990 Château Cheval Blanc 98 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    For my palate, the 90, 98 and 00 have to be some of the top Bordeauxs that are incredibly consistent. The strong Cab Franc nose gives very exotic impression, perfume and talcum powder, ripe black fruits, smoke and mineral. Excellent concentration, quite dense and chewy a la ’90 but very polished, perfect amount of acidity and tannins and long seamless finish that ends with an impression of fine dust. Drinking incredibly well but will improve with time. One of the greatest Bordeauxs for my palate.

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  • 2000 Château Cheval Blanc 99 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    It is consistently one of the biggest and most concentrated Bordeauxs. Explosive nose displaying intense black fruits, blackberry jelly, cassis, smoke, ink, exotic incense and dark spices. Unbelievably concentrated yet beautifully polished and perfectly balance, incredibly layered, perfect amount of acidity and tannins and incredible long finish. This is very similar to the 90 but obviously more youthful and even a bit more concentrated. Incredible wine that is still very youthful but yet so hedonistic.

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Flight 6 - D'Yquem (1 Note)

The perfect showing and the perfect was to end the evening.

Closing

The dinner lasted over six hours as usual. A great time was had by all! Happy holiday!

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