Dinner at Osteria Langhe

This dinner, with a friend from HDH, has been a long time in the making, but better late than never...

• 1986 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Ruchottes 85 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  While this bottle was still alive, it was, sadly, on the down slope. The nose here was much better than the palate, showing some browned fruit, as well as a light touch of caramel. The palate though, was mostly just an acidic affair now, with not much else showing. Granted, this wasn't dead or shot, but it wasn't exciting either.

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• 2011 Coche-Dury Meursault 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

  There's something that I really love about the Coche style. It's got all that reductive minerality that I seek in Meursault, but on top of that, there's also this buttery, heavily oaked texture that no one else seems to be able to replicate. There's even a bit of sweet caramel here, but it's all held in balance by insanely taut white acidity and dense minerality. There is a real thickness to the texture of this wine as well, almost like a syrupy concentration, but none of the accompanying goop or cloying sweetness. Looking back at this, there's a huge pile of words, but at the end of the day, Coche is Coche.

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• NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée 95 Points

  France, Champagne

  Red label; cork code 49 (so definitely a fairly old bottle). The best bottle of Grande Cuvée that I've had (and I've had a lot). Mind you, it's got at least a decade of age on it, but that's why we age it, right? Or, at least, we should be aging this. There's a deep nutty salinity in this bottle that is just absolutely enticing, and while this is immensely concentrated, there's a lightness in its acidity and effervescence. Impeccably balanced, we can but hope that today's iterations can reach the same heights as this.

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• 2010 Marcel Juge Cornas 95 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  This has significantly developed from the last time I had this, about two years ago. This has lost almost all of its baby fat, and lots of darker meaty tones, along with some olive brine have started to emerge. There's a nice bloody note as well... very compelling and rustic, and I'm quite excited to see how this wine turns out with further time.

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• 2000 Claude Dugat Charmes-Chambertin Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Corked.

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• 1972 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Ullage was a little bit bad on this, but are you not going to drink it? This is the embodiment of that old Musigny cliche of an iron fist in a velvet glove. A nose that has a ton of iron, mixed with some potent red fruit and just the right amount of Burgundian poop, and a palate that delivers on all that, with a silky texture that lets the iron and fruit glide through to the finish. Plenty of life in this bottle -- what an absolutely epic Burgundy.

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• 1959 Château de la Guimonière Coteaux du Layon Chaume 85 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Coteaux du Layon Chaume

  Missing vintage tag, but there was good circumstantial evidence to suggest that this was indeed the 1959. Perhaps mostly a curiosity, but a good wine in its own right. The nose was somewhat off-putting at first, and I was slightly confused between the chenin funk and just some TCA. But the funk mostly blew off with a bit of air. The palate here was much better than the nose -- this showed crisp acids, a nice touch of botrytis, and some lovely balancing acidity. Not too complex, but I certainly didn't peg this to be as old as it was.

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• 2004 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 93 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  #17-05. From half-bottle. It's been a while since I had this wine last, but I was certainly very excited to taste it again. This, to me, shows the estate at top form, with a wine that is simultaneously extremely ripe and sweet, but balanced with that fresh green riesling acidity at the same time. I didn't pick up much (if any) botrytis on this either -- this was a sweet but crisp Auslese.

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• 2005 Weingut Robert Weil Kiedricher Gräfenberg Riesling Auslese 93 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  #29-06. From half-bottle. For some reason in my mind, Weil has sat at the lower end of the hierarchy of German wine producers, and there's really not that good a reason for it (I can only think of poor distribution in the US, and somewhat high prices). From my limited experience, the higher-Praedikat wines of this estate are fantastic, and this is no exception. The nose shows almost a hint of the wildness from Mueller-Catoir, although it certainly is not quite that explosive. Tons of sweet tropical fruit, as well as a touch of orange and a smidgen of botrytis. The palate is very sweet, and this is much more open and opulent than the 2004 Doennhoff NH Auslese that we had alongside. There's sufficient acidity to balance this, but I feel that the ripeness here is leaning just towards over-the-top.

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