France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Perfect pale gold colour in the glass. This was served right out of the fridge so the bouquet took a bit of time to really open up but soon produced wilting white and yellow flowers, some icing sugar, cantaloupe and green melon, minor lemon citrus, and only trace Leflaive sulphur. The palate was round and opulent and the fruit was still bright yellow and fresh. This was held intact with decent acid and mineral. The second or third last wine of a marathon line up, so notes are falling unfairly short on this special bottle.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
[Magnum] Pale gold in colour. Opened and poured right out of the fridge so the bouquet took a bit of time to open up and show where it was at. This was the second or third final wine out of a marathon line up, so it is hard to say for sure, but I don't think this quite matched the aromatic expression and degree of complexity coming off of the 1992 Batard. This seemed to have more of a straightforward and tiring cantaloupe and melon character without much citrus pep and was shorter on the white Burgundian spice and Leflaive smoke. The palate here, while bright and fresh, was lower on acid resulting in a more flabby and tired feel notwithstanding the remarkably light colour. Good but a little 'dumb'. This good looking magnum was from the November 2017 Bill Graves Acker consignment.
A particularly fresh and youthful bottle. This showing had more in the way of robust red and black berry fruit than smoked meat and earth (although as Kemo Sabe points out this could be due to the comparison to his '79 in the next glass), although these classic aromas were present to be sure. Whiffs of red rose petals. Youthful and intense but so much aromatic expression and complexity. Consistently great every time but have to imagine there is still sizeable upside on good bottles of this.
This detailed nose of big projection is singing out all the classic secondary and tertiary Northern Rhone notes of scorched earth, bacon fat, gamey meat, and duck in addition to ripe red berry fruit with pretty florals intermittent. On the palate there is still sound structure and deep flavour, but imagine this is at about peak performance. Renders the '91 in the next glass, which is superb, quiet.
Although blanc and not rosé this still has a lot of fresh strawberries with powered sugar, also a creamy butterscotch, peach, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Mature and savoury but alive and delicious. Grainy texture, like a pear pastry. I think the bread house style is evident in both this and the '96 magnum tonight.
A quick taste tonight. Leathery red cherry cut with bright acid. This is the sole Italian, brought as a surprise, to a massive Burgundy dinner and is accordingly a little hard to place, although I'd say comparable to my last tasting.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru
Initially there was an air of volatile acidity over this, which blew off quickly enough. The nose then had a good bit of damp earth and farmy soil over developed red cherry fruit. Plenty of Echezeaux spice mixed in with the whole clustered stalkiness. The details of the floral stems had faded and this was comparable to the 1995 Echezeaux in terms of its straightforwardness. I think I liked this more than others at the dinner, but may have a mild bias because I brought it, but then again, I'm usually harder on my wines. This didn't have the striking expression and projection, or even elegance of most '85 DRCs, but I still thought it was pretty good.
Candied citrus. Dusty brioche. Developed and mature. Somewhat reminiscent of an '83 I had a few months ago, although this is a little heavy tonight. Cotton candy was called across the table as a tasting note. A little more advanced and caramel than the best bottle I've tasted, but still pretty good. A lot of that cinnamon and spicy and grainy pear texture that makes these wines distinctly pleasurable.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru
Consistent to 9/27/17. Initially dark and brooding and rich earth nuance just manages to get past a mix of dark red and blue berry fruit. Clearly very high breed and a solid piece of work, but more expressive results forthcoming.
Comparable impression to a 1991 I once shared with the BurgHound, although with this bottle there was no-one around to ruthlessly pick it apart. Opulent blue and red berry fruit, very lush. The earth development is more mineral, especially complementing the round texture. Stylistically lush, and a fresher example than the '91 a year or so back.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
Gorgeous nose, rose petals, soft red cherry and strawberry, chai teas, brown spice, and mild soily earth character. Palate is integrated, approachable, and delicious. Classic DRC stemmy and stalky texture with La Tâche levels of complex aromas and flavours. I am generally fonder of the '00 red Burgundy vintage than most, and I find that this is standing out even in an overwhelming environment and context. There is also nothing like the aromatic flirtatiousness and wide spectrum of La Tâche...
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
Beautifully expressive and nicely mature nose of leathery red cherry and soily earth character. The fruit is bright but developed and there is a lot of energy and characteristically ‘93 aromatic playfulness here. Distinctively whole-clustered, spices, and stemmy, which is hard not to love. Good example of the Dujac style, good example of Echezeaux terroir. This was a fresher bottle than the example last May.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru
Sensational and intriguing nose right off the open. Cool, dark red and blue berry fruit, damp earth, damp leather, cool spice. The overall impression is youthful in that the developed and complex harmony of earth, fruit, and spice is incredibly fresh and pure. Some rusticity to the character, but overall this is a highly refined, elegant, and clean wine of immense beauty. Spend time with your nose in this and pick out all the details of toasted nuts and espresso. Very fine indeed.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru
Dark, stern, big spice. I am finding this completely closed and quiet, much like a '99 Beaux Monts I opened a few weeks ago. On the palate this is similarly tight and very tart. ‘99 indeed seems to be a curve ball at this domaine, which I usually really enjoy. '00, '01, and '02 iterations of this come across as fresher, having more energy, and lighter red berry fruit.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
Aromatically highly expressive, but still youthful and polished in terms of dark red and black cherry fruit. Wood spices, but of very high breed and already integrating nicely into the red and black berry fruit and dark earth influence on the palate. A marquee bottle courtesy of JK which produced a split decision amounts the group against the '99 Dujac Bonnes Mares which I found more expressive and forward.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
This is actually edging out the Roumier tonight with its greater aromatic expression and complexity. More soil and terroir influence to the bright red and blue fruit. New leathers, damp earth, and black cherry. Silky and beautiful on the palate though. A marquee bottle courtesy of JK which produced a split decision against the '99 Roumier Bonnes Mares in the next glass, which was also excellent to be sure.
This nose has smoke, salted caramel, praline, vanilla bean, chalk, lemon curd, and a buttery pretzel dough. On the palate this is resolved and developed with mature yellow fruited flavours and good chalky effervescence. Great acid balance though and this is still fresh and pleasantly zippy. One of the greatest champagnes I've ever had, no two ways around it. This was a particularly pristine bottle.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
This is interesting because it is extremely youthful, even infantile, but it is also totally accessible and soft. Red berry delicious baby fat on the nose. Palate is ripe and round with with a nice depth and richness. Huge aromatics if a little primary on the palate. This was totally comparable to an '01 in February, but with less development on it.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Quiet nose with a little black and red fruit coming off it, but not especially expressive. Flat on the nose. Palate has brighter and punchier blackberry fruit. A controversial bottle at the party and yielding a variety of responses, and unfortunately I am not getting much here tonight. (Came back to a full glass of this after 90-minutes and there was a very intriguing campfire character coming out)
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
A beautiful purple perfume wth great spice. Stalky and expressive. A little bit of nice sauvage in this too, although this is on the cleaner side overall. Pretty straight forward, I’m not getting as much detail or complexity out of this as I’d expect. Good not great, this was a pretty down the middle and plain vanilla example of DRC's iteration of Echezeaux.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Considerably darker than the '95 Clos des Ruchottes in the next glass and with more soily character. A little more sauvage than I usually find in Rousseau, especially Clos St. Jacques. Detailed chai spice. Sweeter red berry fruit on the palate, nicely textured with mineral rich soil complementing the cherry fruit, which is lighter on the palate than the nose. While the '95 Ruchottes was certainly more forward and initially more expressive, I actually preferred this by the end for its stronger character, although it was a close call as the Ruchottes was pretty delicious.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Ruchottes-Chambertin Grand Cru
Bright, red and blue fruit, expressive, some pleasant sauvage, light rusticity and spice. Bright and energetic palate. Friendly, accessible, delicious. This was a very different wine from the '95 Clos St. Jacques in the next glass which was comparatively dark and stormy. This was immediately forward and delicious. Interesting comparison.
[Magnum] Beautiful golden colour, high acid, high citrus, some vanilla bean, and nice brioche on the nose. Rich density and tension on this. Palate has ripe yellow fruit and citrus. Creamy texture. Some mocha and coffee notes come out too. Complex and engaging, delicious and irresistible. What and opening bottle for this marathon line up of all star wines.
1992 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Perfect pale gold colour in the glass. This was served right out of the fridge so the bouquet took a bit of time to really open up but soon produced wilting white and yellow flowers, some icing sugar, cantaloupe and green melon, minor lemon citrus, and only trace Leflaive sulphur. The palate was round and opulent and the fruit was still bright yellow and fresh. This was held intact with decent acid and mineral. The second or third last wine of a marathon line up, so notes are falling unfairly short on this special bottle.
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1989 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
[Magnum] Pale gold in colour. Opened and poured right out of the fridge so the bouquet took a bit of time to open up and show where it was at. This was the second or third final wine out of a marathon line up, so it is hard to say for sure, but I don't think this quite matched the aromatic expression and degree of complexity coming off of the 1992 Batard. This seemed to have more of a straightforward and tiring cantaloupe and melon character without much citrus pep and was shorter on the white Burgundian spice and Leflaive smoke. The palate here, while bright and fresh, was lower on acid resulting in a more flabby and tired feel notwithstanding the remarkably light colour. Good but a little 'dumb'. This good looking magnum was from the November 2017 Bill Graves Acker consignment.
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1973 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Flawed
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Thank you Kemo Sabe for adding this rare surprise to the line up. Unfortunately this was sour chocolate milk from the get go.
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1991 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 95 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
A particularly fresh and youthful bottle. This showing had more in the way of robust red and black berry fruit than smoked meat and earth (although as Kemo Sabe points out this could be due to the comparison to his '79 in the next glass), although these classic aromas were present to be sure. Whiffs of red rose petals. Youthful and intense but so much aromatic expression and complexity. Consistently great every time but have to imagine there is still sizeable upside on good bottles of this.
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1979 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 94 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
This detailed nose of big projection is singing out all the classic secondary and tertiary Northern Rhone notes of scorched earth, bacon fat, gamey meat, and duck in addition to ripe red berry fruit with pretty florals intermittent. On the palate there is still sound structure and deep flavour, but imagine this is at about peak performance. Renders the '91 in the next glass, which is superb, quiet.
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1979 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 94 Points
France, Champagne
Although blanc and not rosé this still has a lot of fresh strawberries with powered sugar, also a creamy butterscotch, peach, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Mature and savoury but alive and delicious. Grainy texture, like a pear pastry. I think the bread house style is evident in both this and the '96 magnum tonight.
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1996 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba 91 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
A quick taste tonight. Leathery red cherry cut with bright acid. This is the sole Italian, brought as a surprise, to a massive Burgundy dinner and is accordingly a little hard to place, although I'd say comparable to my last tasting.
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1985 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands-Echezeaux 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru
Initially there was an air of volatile acidity over this, which blew off quickly enough. The nose then had a good bit of damp earth and farmy soil over developed red cherry fruit. Plenty of Echezeaux spice mixed in with the whole clustered stalkiness. The details of the floral stems had faded and this was comparable to the 1995 Echezeaux in terms of its straightforwardness. I think I liked this more than others at the dinner, but may have a mild bias because I brought it, but then again, I'm usually harder on my wines. This didn't have the striking expression and projection, or even elegance of most '85 DRCs, but I still thought it was pretty good.
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1982 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 93 Points
France, Champagne
Candied citrus. Dusty brioche. Developed and mature. Somewhat reminiscent of an '83 I had a few months ago, although this is a little heavy tonight. Cotton candy was called across the table as a tasting note. A little more advanced and caramel than the best bottle I've tasted, but still pretty good. A lot of that cinnamon and spicy and grainy pear texture that makes these wines distinctly pleasurable.
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2002 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru
Consistent to 9/27/17. Initially dark and brooding and rich earth nuance just manages to get past a mix of dark red and blue berry fruit. Clearly very high breed and a solid piece of work, but more expressive results forthcoming.
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1990 Domaine Leroy Pommard Les Vignots 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard
Comparable impression to a 1991 I once shared with the BurgHound, although with this bottle there was no-one around to ruthlessly pick it apart. Opulent blue and red berry fruit, very lush. The earth development is more mineral, especially complementing the round texture. Stylistically lush, and a fresher example than the '91 a year or so back.
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2000 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
Gorgeous nose, rose petals, soft red cherry and strawberry, chai teas, brown spice, and mild soily earth character. Palate is integrated, approachable, and delicious. Classic DRC stemmy and stalky texture with La Tâche levels of complex aromas and flavours. I am generally fonder of the '00 red Burgundy vintage than most, and I find that this is standing out even in an overwhelming environment and context. There is also nothing like the aromatic flirtatiousness and wide spectrum of La Tâche...
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1993 Domaine Dujac Echezeaux 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
Beautifully expressive and nicely mature nose of leathery red cherry and soily earth character. The fruit is bright but developed and there is a lot of energy and characteristically ‘93 aromatic playfulness here. Distinctively whole-clustered, spices, and stemmy, which is hard not to love. Good example of the Dujac style, good example of Echezeaux terroir. This was a fresher bottle than the example last May.
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1991 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin 98 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru
Sensational and intriguing nose right off the open. Cool, dark red and blue berry fruit, damp earth, damp leather, cool spice. The overall impression is youthful in that the developed and complex harmony of earth, fruit, and spice is incredibly fresh and pure. Some rusticity to the character, but overall this is a highly refined, elegant, and clean wine of immense beauty. Spend time with your nose in this and pick out all the details of toasted nuts and espresso. Very fine indeed.
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1999 Domaine Jean Grivot Richebourg 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru
Dark, stern, big spice. I am finding this completely closed and quiet, much like a '99 Beaux Monts I opened a few weeks ago. On the palate this is similarly tight and very tart. ‘99 indeed seems to be a curve ball at this domaine, which I usually really enjoy. '00, '01, and '02 iterations of this come across as fresher, having more energy, and lighter red berry fruit.
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1999 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Bonnes Mares 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
Aromatically highly expressive, but still youthful and polished in terms of dark red and black cherry fruit. Wood spices, but of very high breed and already integrating nicely into the red and black berry fruit and dark earth influence on the palate. A marquee bottle courtesy of JK which produced a split decision amounts the group against the '99 Dujac Bonnes Mares which I found more expressive and forward.
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1999 Domaine Dujac Bonnes Mares 96 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
This is actually edging out the Roumier tonight with its greater aromatic expression and complexity. More soil and terroir influence to the bright red and blue fruit. New leathers, damp earth, and black cherry. Silky and beautiful on the palate though. A marquee bottle courtesy of JK which produced a split decision against the '99 Roumier Bonnes Mares in the next glass, which was also excellent to be sure.
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1985 Krug Champagne Clos du Mesnil 97 Points
France, Champagne
This nose has smoke, salted caramel, praline, vanilla bean, chalk, lemon curd, and a buttery pretzel dough. On the palate this is resolved and developed with mature yellow fruited flavours and good chalky effervescence. Great acid balance though and this is still fresh and pleasantly zippy. One of the greatest champagnes I've ever had, no two ways around it. This was a particularly pristine bottle.
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2002 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
This is interesting because it is extremely youthful, even infantile, but it is also totally accessible and soft. Red berry delicious baby fat on the nose. Palate is ripe and round with with a nice depth and richness. Huge aromatics if a little primary on the palate. This was totally comparable to an '01 in February, but with less development on it.
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1993 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Quiet nose with a little black and red fruit coming off it, but not especially expressive. Flat on the nose. Palate has brighter and punchier blackberry fruit. A controversial bottle at the party and yielding a variety of responses, and unfortunately I am not getting much here tonight. (Came back to a full glass of this after 90-minutes and there was a very intriguing campfire character coming out)
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1995 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
A beautiful purple perfume wth great spice. Stalky and expressive. A little bit of nice sauvage in this too, although this is on the cleaner side overall. Pretty straight forward, I’m not getting as much detail or complexity out of this as I’d expect. Good not great, this was a pretty down the middle and plain vanilla example of DRC's iteration of Echezeaux.
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1995 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Considerably darker than the '95 Clos des Ruchottes in the next glass and with more soily character. A little more sauvage than I usually find in Rousseau, especially Clos St. Jacques. Detailed chai spice. Sweeter red berry fruit on the palate, nicely textured with mineral rich soil complementing the cherry fruit, which is lighter on the palate than the nose. While the '95 Ruchottes was certainly more forward and initially more expressive, I actually preferred this by the end for its stronger character, although it was a close call as the Ruchottes was pretty delicious.
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1995 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Ruchottes-Chambertin Grand Cru
Bright, red and blue fruit, expressive, some pleasant sauvage, light rusticity and spice. Bright and energetic palate. Friendly, accessible, delicious. This was a very different wine from the '95 Clos St. Jacques in the next glass which was comparatively dark and stormy. This was immediately forward and delicious. Interesting comparison.
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1996 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 96 Points
France, Champagne
[Magnum] Beautiful golden colour, high acid, high citrus, some vanilla bean, and nice brioche on the nose. Rich density and tension on this. Palate has ripe yellow fruit and citrus. Creamy texture. Some mocha and coffee notes come out too. Complex and engaging, delicious and irresistible. What and opening bottle for this marathon line up of all star wines.
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