Going to try to get a few proper notes on this as I’ve opened and drank a few lately without writing about them, and they really are terrific. Big brioche, yeasty, and leesy, nose with ripe golden pineapple, peach, and apple too. Fresh and energetic but with a ton of developed fall spice like clove and cinnamon. Whiffs of vanilla bean. Slightly oxidative in style, but only in positive ways. Dense creamy palate, rich Chardonnay fruit.
Immediately this nose is indicative of mature Dom with big yeasty brioche and pretzel dough. This is however initially very quiet and required a bit of time to open up and show more caramel, florals, and citrus fruit. Effervescence hasn't kept up and this is a little more like an old white burgundy, although no undue oxidization. The palate is light at first but adds weight and gains burnt caramel and ripe tropical fruit. Not as impressive an showing as the one other time I've had this, just lacking energy. There was sizeable improvement from opening to finishing. 93 - 94 territory.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Beautiful, rose petals and tea leaves, quite vibrant actually with bright red cherry. Discovering that ‘98 might be a bit of a value in that these wines are actually beautifully expressive right now. Coffee grounds. On the palate this is soft and elegant with very clean and pure red berry fruit. Palate is shorter than the ‘96 if critical, but impressive overall.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Initially comparable to the ‘98 but surprisingly quieter with less energy to the red cherry and more in the way of roses and teas. Scratch that - a few more swirls and this quickly surpasses the comparatively dark ‘98 with pretty and elegant red berry aromatics. Stemmy florals (although this is stemless) with huge perfume. Gorgeous. On the palate there is youthful and lush red cherry, juicy and long. Big acid but with so much fruit that it’s balanced and hedonistic. Tied with the 2001 for my favourite wine of the program.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Highly floral and elegant with expressive and soft red cherry, but something not prefect here, not quiet cork, but it was certainly discussed. Quiet. Definitely a bit of must clouding over this. Ripe red fruit, maybe a little out of balance. Cranberry. Mixed and tough to get a good a read on. One nose is intricate and detailed and the next is musty and leathery. It is perfumed and indicative of Musigny for sure, just not clean, pure, and precise like the younger Mugnier Musignies. Interesting to try, fine drinking.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Initially quiet and closed although not unduly woody. Not getting nearly as much expression or character out of this as either the ‘01 or ‘02. Coaxing gets you powerful red cherry. On the palate however this is quite beautiful and elegant in a way that the nose isn’t really suggesting yet. Very good, but given the blockbuster performance of the '01 and '02 I had higher expectations for this.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
A surprising brett hanging over this for a second at first, but blows off quickly into an expressive cherry cola and dark berry nose. Totally comparable to the bottle a month or so ago with a bold and energetic projection of pure cherry fruit. Once that bizarre whiff of barnyard is gone this nose is booming. Palate is vibrant and immediately delicious. Youthful and still mostly primary but so soft and elegant. Terrific.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Compared to the nose on the ‘01, which is booming, this is initially quiet but still has elegant florals and red cherry. Elegant and seductive and opens more with a little time. On the palate this is round and soft and surprisingly approachable. Elegant and delicious. Curve ball: second bottle at the end of dinner with five hours of decanting and this is absolutely gorgeous as well. The nose remains more or less the same, great, but the palate is further integrated and has developed coffee tone in addition to the cool red and blue berry fruit. Beautiful.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Hm, strikes me as an extreme departure from ‘01, ‘02, or ‘05 bracketing this, even considering the vintage. Intense ripeness and some volatility to the fruit. Although, the perfume is quite nice. Palate is far more approachable than the hot nose indicates and has berry fruit that is darker and cooler than expected. Round and still pretty. Handled the vintage well.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
This nose is the cliche example of iron fist in a velvet glove, tremendous intensity and dark fruit power wrapped in beautifully elegant florals. Such intricacy and detail. Have never had an ‘05 red Burg with this much expression in addition to brawn. The palate is round and approachable and straightforwardly delicious with a silky mouthfeel that sounds out even from this impressive line up. Obnoxiously good in that this fully delivers the hype of the 2005 vintage with a degree of expressiveness and elegance that many other top '05 don't show yet.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Big purple perfume, powerful and lush but without the same elegance and complexity that the ‘05 is already flaunting very well, although not really that far off. Plate is super lush with black cherry. Very pleasurable drinking right now.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
This nose was markedly different from even the other younger vintages in that there was massive reduction and a more carbonic edge. This manifested in amore developed or advanced character than the '06. Palate still delicious and totally in line with the other wines.
Fresh, clean, petrol and white rubber over white peach. Salmon berry, yellow raspberry. On the palate the sweetness is in the perfect place and only complements and drives the pear and peach flavors. Delicious stonefruit.
1990 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 95 Points
France, Champagne
Going to try to get a few proper notes on this as I’ve opened and drank a few lately without writing about them, and they really are terrific. Big brioche, yeasty, and leesy, nose with ripe golden pineapple, peach, and apple too. Fresh and energetic but with a ton of developed fall spice like clove and cinnamon. Whiffs of vanilla bean. Slightly oxidative in style, but only in positive ways. Dense creamy palate, rich Chardonnay fruit.
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1969 Dom Pérignon Champagne P3 94 Points
France, Champagne
Immediately this nose is indicative of mature Dom with big yeasty brioche and pretzel dough. This is however initially very quiet and required a bit of time to open up and show more caramel, florals, and citrus fruit. Effervescence hasn't kept up and this is a little more like an old white burgundy, although no undue oxidization. The palate is light at first but adds weight and gains burnt caramel and ripe tropical fruit. Not as impressive an showing as the one other time I've had this, just lacking energy. There was sizeable improvement from opening to finishing. 93 - 94 territory.
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1998 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Beautiful, rose petals and tea leaves, quite vibrant actually with bright red cherry. Discovering that ‘98 might be a bit of a value in that these wines are actually beautifully expressive right now. Coffee grounds. On the palate this is soft and elegant with very clean and pure red berry fruit. Palate is shorter than the ‘96 if critical, but impressive overall.
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1996 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny 96 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Initially comparable to the ‘98 but surprisingly quieter with less energy to the red cherry and more in the way of roses and teas. Scratch that - a few more swirls and this quickly surpasses the comparatively dark ‘98 with pretty and elegant red berry aromatics. Stemmy florals (although this is stemless) with huge perfume. Gorgeous. On the palate there is youthful and lush red cherry, juicy and long. Big acid but with so much fruit that it’s balanced and hedonistic. Tied with the 2001 for my favourite wine of the program.
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1990 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Highly floral and elegant with expressive and soft red cherry, but something not prefect here, not quiet cork, but it was certainly discussed. Quiet. Definitely a bit of must clouding over this. Ripe red fruit, maybe a little out of balance. Cranberry. Mixed and tough to get a good a read on. One nose is intricate and detailed and the next is musty and leathery. It is perfumed and indicative of Musigny for sure, just not clean, pure, and precise like the younger Mugnier Musignies. Interesting to try, fine drinking.
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1999 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Initially quiet and closed although not unduly woody. Not getting nearly as much expression or character out of this as either the ‘01 or ‘02. Coaxing gets you powerful red cherry. On the palate however this is quite beautiful and elegant in a way that the nose isn’t really suggesting yet. Very good, but given the blockbuster performance of the '01 and '02 I had higher expectations for this.
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2001 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
A surprising brett hanging over this for a second at first, but blows off quickly into an expressive cherry cola and dark berry nose. Totally comparable to the bottle a month or so ago with a bold and energetic projection of pure cherry fruit. Once that bizarre whiff of barnyard is gone this nose is booming. Palate is vibrant and immediately delicious. Youthful and still mostly primary but so soft and elegant. Terrific.
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2002 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Compared to the nose on the ‘01, which is booming, this is initially quiet but still has elegant florals and red cherry. Elegant and seductive and opens more with a little time. On the palate this is round and soft and surprisingly approachable. Elegant and delicious. Curve ball: second bottle at the end of dinner with five hours of decanting and this is absolutely gorgeous as well. The nose remains more or less the same, great, but the palate is further integrated and has developed coffee tone in addition to the cool red and blue berry fruit. Beautiful.
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2003 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Hm, strikes me as an extreme departure from ‘01, ‘02, or ‘05 bracketing this, even considering the vintage. Intense ripeness and some volatility to the fruit. Although, the perfume is quite nice. Palate is far more approachable than the hot nose indicates and has berry fruit that is darker and cooler than expected. Round and still pretty. Handled the vintage well.
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2005 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
This nose is the cliche example of iron fist in a velvet glove, tremendous intensity and dark fruit power wrapped in beautifully elegant florals. Such intricacy and detail. Have never had an ‘05 red Burg with this much expression in addition to brawn. The palate is round and approachable and straightforwardly delicious with a silky mouthfeel that sounds out even from this impressive line up. Obnoxiously good in that this fully delivers the hype of the 2005 vintage with a degree of expressiveness and elegance that many other top '05 don't show yet.
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2006 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Big purple perfume, powerful and lush but without the same elegance and complexity that the ‘05 is already flaunting very well, although not really that far off. Plate is super lush with black cherry. Very pleasurable drinking right now.
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2007 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
This nose was markedly different from even the other younger vintages in that there was massive reduction and a more carbonic edge. This manifested in amore developed or advanced character than the '06. Palate still delicious and totally in line with the other wines.
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1999 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Spätlese 92 Points
Germany, Nahe
Fresh, clean, petrol and white rubber over white peach. Salmon berry, yellow raspberry. On the palate the sweetness is in the perfect place and only complements and drives the pear and peach flavors. Delicious stonefruit.
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