DRC RSV & Other '02 Red Burgs at The Kenwood

We put this tasting together to share a group purchased bottle of '02 DRC RSV with eight of us. We thought we'd mix in some good '02 Red Burgs for comparison as well. And to keep things honest we added a mix of Champagne and white Burgs as well. The tasting menu that Don Saunders put together from The Kenwood just added to an already great evening.

• NV Gosset Champagne Brut Excellence 91 Points

  France, Champagne

  Light gold color. Drank 1 glass over 20 minutes. I thought this was very nice. Creamy, nutty, pear and quince notes. Good balance, with some intensity on the palate.

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• 1999 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart 93 Points

  France, Champagne

  Light-medium gold color. Drank 1 glass over an hour. This was just lovely, really nice and toasty, good purity, elegant and balanced if somewhat understated. This was a bit of a tweener bottle. I've seen some variation on these. This was very good, but not as impressive as some.

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• 2006 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 94 Points

  France, Champagne

  Light gold color. Drank 1 glass over an hour. I couldn't stop gushing over this, nor could I put it down. Wow, deep, intense nose, toasted, lemon, pear, orange, orange peel, and minerals. The palate is also intense but has that signature poise and weightlessness, nicely toasty, brioche, lemon, lemon cream, orange zest, clean minerality, very long and pure. Fantastic. 94+ to 95pts.

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• 1990 Domaine Fabien Coche Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 96 Points

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

  Light gold color, amazing at 26 years of age. Drank 1 glass over an hour plus. This absolutely as good as the last time we had it, maybe even better. The nose is vibrant with fresh cut lemon, lemon wax, citrus zest, spices, crystalline minerality. The palate is even better than the nose. Medium full body, very light on its feet, intense minerality, powdery citrus infusion of lemon and lime, so focused and pure, racy acidity, very long, over 60 seconds. Fantastic. These are just crazy good and in fantastic shape. Makes me very happy and crazy at the same time that I have no faith in keeping any bottles now for half that age. 95+ to 96pts.

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• 1990 Domaine Fabien Coche Bâtard-Montrachet 93 Points

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

  Light gold color, age defying. Drank 1 glass over an hour plus. I'm not quite sure how to score this tonight. I thought it was very good and got better through the night as well. A testament to where this wine is at in its evolution. Fortunately we have more bottles to see just how representative this was. Tart, sour lemon, varnish, apple peel, more mineral and citrus as it opens. The Pernot Batard '12 stood out in comparison. 92+ to 93pts tonight.

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• 2012 Paul Pernot et ses Fils Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet 94 Points

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

  Light gold color. Drank 1 glass over an hour. Thanks to Dave D for the bonus bottle tonight. This showed so well in its relative youth. Seemed more like a classic Cali high end Chard than a a Grand Cru White Burg, but i don;t think anyone cared in the least., This was bright and tropical with round, full bodied, buttery core. Great aromatics of tropical fruits, medium full bodied, lemon, pineapple, oak. Good length. A bottle to follow. 93+ to 94pts.

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• 2002 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant 96 Points

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

  Murky medium dark red color with a 5-7mm transitional margin. PNP, drank 1 glass over 2 hours plus. This was a bottle we purchased as a group and shared with eight of us. On a relative basis, it was worth every penny to try. I wouldn't pop out and buy one for myself, but I thoroughly enjoyed this bottle and it lived up to the hype as much as any bottle really can under the circumstances. The evolution was certainly interesting. This starts off earthy, with tart cherry, damp earth, and develops a stellar nose with bright rose floral notes, becoming nicely perfumed, but it might be the spice notes that really catch the essence here. So refined and exotic, yet not over the top at all. The palate revolves around a core of red fruits, tart cherry, wow - quite intense and lifted, perfumed, spiced in such a nice way, very refined, mineral dense, very long. I thought this was showing extremely well, but even so, it was youthful and should be even better in 5-10 years. 95+ to 96 pts.

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• 2002 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Domaine Louis Jadot 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  Medium ruby red color, no bricking. This was a pristine bottle with a great nose, very bright red fruits, raspberry, framboise, earthy, spicebox, tart, fine grained tannins, very long. This was so ready and yet still almost youthful at this point, a wonderful wine, vibrant and balanced.

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• 2005 Domaine du Clos de Tart Clos de Tart 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de Tart Grand Cru

  Very dark red color. Drank 1 glass over an hour plus. Funny - my experience is very similar to the bottle 18 months ago and I have to echo Chablis28 again. While I found this fun to drink, I couldn't help be struck by how little it had moved and how much time this needs to show its full color. Big, full bodied, deep and layered, anise, black fruits, vanilla, oak, firm tannins, but the savory core on the palate resonates. Needs 5 to 10 years still.

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• 2002 Domaine Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Les Grands Épenots 92 Points

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

  Medium dark red color. Drank 1 glass over 90 minutes. Same bottle as Chablis28 and I don't know that I can add a lot more. This was very good, but it did come off a bit less ready and resolved than the '02 De Montille Rugiens. Certainly it has everything your looking for, plenty of dark red fruits, structure, erthy, savory, spice, depth and good length.

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• 2002 Domaine de Montille Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens 93 Points

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

  Dark red color. Quick splash decant, drank 1 glass over 90 minutes. Drank this side by side with an '02 Gaunoux Grands Epenots. i think this came off a bit more ready, more refined, raspberry, cherry, earth, mineral, medium body. Very tasty.

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• 1990 Château Rieussec 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Dark amber color. Drank 1 glass over 30 minutes. This bottle might have been a bit more advance than the previous couple. Very good, and an admirable replacement for the '02 d'Yquem that we lost if I do say so myself. This really had a great orange marmalade and spice quality going for it, honey, baked apricot, blood orange, long. Very, very tasty.

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• 1983 Dow Porto Vintage 90 Points

  Portugal, Douro, Porto

  Very dark/purple red. Drank a small pour over 30 minutes. No detailed notes, anise, raisin, plum, liqueur. 89-90 points.

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