Monthly Tasting Group: Old Reds 2008 and Earlier
Tilia, Mpls
Tasted Sunday, November 18, 2018 by rocknroller with 198 views
Introduction
We had a fun night with a couple of newcomers, Big Al and Dr. Dave A, coming into the fold. Seventeen made it, but we lost the Godfather to a sneaky virus. Still, we plowed through some excellent wine and always good food at Tilia.
2008 José Michel & Fils Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 91 Points
France, Champagne
Light gold color. Drank a glass over 30 minutes. Lots of green apple, subtle vanilla panna cotta, and yeast on the nose. The palate follows with tart green apple, apple peel, mineral, vanilla. 90+ to 91pts.
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NV A. R. Lenoble Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs 90 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Light medium gold color. Drank a small glass over 30 minutes. Pear, citrus, slightly oxidative, marzipan.
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2014 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne Domaine 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Light gold color. PNP, drank a glass over 45 minutes. This was an excellent young Corton-Charlemagne with a beautiful sea air nose that rises above the youthful oak with showing lemon and white flowers. The palate shows immense tension and crispness, lemon, citrus, bristling wet stones, oak, and a long energetic finish. Excellent, and as good as it is now, this will be even better as the oak integrates further.
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2012 Hartford / Hartford Court Chardonnay Seascape Vineyard 92 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Medium gold color. Drank a glass over 45 minutes. Lots of minerality on the nose, oak with a bold richness of mature fruit, lemon, lemon confit, marzipan. Bigger, full bodied, rich, mature plus on the palate, oak, lemon, lemon confit, tart apple and lots of spice on the back. This good, but I have the sense that it would have been better 2 years ago. 91+ to 92pts.
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2016 Domaine Lapandéry Vin de France Blanc 88 Points
France, Vin de France
Pale gold color. Followed a glass over 30 minutes. Sour lemon, lime, stone, straight forward. 87 to 88pts.
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1999 Bouchard Père et Fils Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
Medium dark red color. Drank a glass over an hour. Brooding nose that evolves to earthy and deep with damp earth, cedar, dark red fruits, black cherry, spice and mineral. This bottle was considerably more youthful than one just 11 days ago. This improved over the hour, but still seemed somewhat reclusive. These two bottles were considerably different, and I'm not entirely sure what to infer at this point. 90+pts.
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1999 Georges Noellat Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Boudots 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
Medium red color. PNP, drank a glass over an hour. Wow, just a gorgeously perfumed nose of rose petals, pretty red fruits, mushroom, a touch of funk and pencil. The palate is lifted and showing excellent poise and focus, the red berries are complimented by a distinct minerality with an iron focus. There's also a red cherry note on this deep and silky textured medium bodied gem. This has such purity along with the florals, it is simply mesmerizing. A pencil lead streak emerges about 30 minutes in to give even more complexity to the silky texture. This was a great bottle and clear WOTN. 94+ to 95pts.
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1989 Couly-Dutheil Chinon Clos de l'Olive 92 Points
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
Very dark almost purple/red color. Splash decanted. Same bottle as JCGuthrie. I think James captured the essence of this pretty well. Very earthy and vegetal, green pepper, lots of scorched earth; it is medium bodied, black cherry, plum, baked raspberry, dried earth and scorched earth palate. Remarkable for its age. I can only hope my bottle shows like this.
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2001 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape 92 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Very dark red color. PNP, drank a glass over 45 minutes. Scorched earth, cedar, blackberry, black plum, cassis, smoky, pepper and anise. Tasty with very dark fruits, big and fairly bold with a peppery finish. This may last forever.
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1995 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 88 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
This was one of the wines I was really looking forward to. Unfortunately, it was largely a disappointment to me, not bad mind you but just not what you hope for with older Dunn's. It came off somewhat green and austere with tart cassis, wood and a little sense of some alcohol. For me this was tired.
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1990 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 91 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Vino da Tavola
Dark red color. PNP, drank a glass over 45 minutes. A pretty wine, understated, but quite good. This starts out funky with dried red berries, dried herbs, wood, and graphite. The palate is medium plus bodied, austere, dried cherry, cherry vanilla, graphite, firm tannins. This got better in the glass over 30 minutes showing more finesse and complexity. The nose is better than the palate. I sense this is on the downward slope, so I'd be inclined to drink these relatively soon. A really fun bottle to try, thanks to Dave A. for sharing this.
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2007 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Grace Vineyard 91 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills
Dark red color. Drank a glass over an hour. Dry earth notes and dark fruit, spice, a little vanilla on the nose. The palate is very spicy, spiced black cherry, a touch green, sweet vanilla cream, fuller bodied and slightly coarse. This was improving through the evening. Good, but I don't find this nearly as compelling as the Evenstad Reserve in this vintage.
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1995 Château La Pointe 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Very dark red color. Splash double decanted I believe. Drank a glass over an hour. Scorched earth, mint, dark fruit, high toned, big, gravel, some heat. 88+pts.
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2007 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Drank the '07 and the '05 side by side. PNP on both. Note taking was gone at this point. But the '07 was a healthy step better than the '05 tonight. Both of these are pretty big with a core of dark fruits with typical CdP character. The '07 is starting to come around, but still needs significant air. The '05 is more high toned going to liqueurish fruits. Probably 92+ on the '07 and 91 on the '05.
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2007 Xavier Vignon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Anonyme 87 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Another forgettable bottle of this wine. It continues to be an oak laden, oversized example of what is wrong in the vintage. Oak, pepper, heat, very modern styled. I'm sure there are some who find this attractive though. To my knowledge none of us enjoyed it tonight.
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