Not entirely sure that this bottle was correct. Given the source of the bottle, there was a high probability it was corked and while for a moment or two I thought I picked up the wet cardboard here, it never really seemed to materialize, and it also didn't get worse with air. Nonetheless, this just wasn't quite there; it seemed a little hollow and didn't have the concentration and complexity that I would have expected. The bright 1996 acids are there, as well as some bottle funk (not related to the imaginary TCA) and a slight bit of mushroom. Overall though, this just didn't really work. I hope it's an off-bottle even if I can't identify the flaw.
Absolutely stunning bottle of aged chenin. Peaches, apples, apricots on the nose and palate, this is a veritable fruit salad of midwest tree fruit. There's a lovely musk melon component on the nose here too. On top of that, there's a slightly wild, feral element that I just love. It's not over the top (perhaps it's a slightly domesticated?), and to make this even more layered and complex, there's a touch of herbs, brown sugar, and caramel. I'll also note that this was definitely a fair bit sweeter than I would have expected; the presence of so much sweetness gives me confidence to say that this bottle has a long life yet.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru
In general, I think that Burgundy producers are good for one colour only, but my overall sense is that Dujac is starting to really get into the serious white game. I've been generally pretty impressed with the single vineyard white wines that I've tasted in the last few years. This bottle is still a little spritzy, but there's really good material here. It's obviously young, with some pretty primary white fruit and an interesting spicy component. The acidity isn't screaming, and really serves to balance everything out here.
#07-95, 10% abv. I love the old label. Anyway, this is a fully mature edition, showing a slight hint of petrol but also a really intense minerality. The acidity is spot-on for 1994 and is clean, crisp, and very, very precise. The fruit on the palate is obviously secondary now, but it has aged really nicely, keeping so much of the freshness and purity, without getting muddled. Just another bottle of 1994 that cements in my mind the absolute greatness of the vintage. (Honestly, what other region did well in 1994?)
#15-04, 8.5% abv. From half-bottle. Yeah, this is the stuff. There's so much juicy fruit here, with a good mix of apples, peaches, and pears. It's not so much exotic as it is just layered and complex with simple, but well-delineated flavours. There's absolutely none of the roastedness of the vintage here, and in fact, there's also some acidity to cut through the otherwise super rich and sweet palate.
#21-91, 11% abv. Who ever heard of an 11% auslese? That HGS guy really knows what he's doing though. The nose for me is a little better than palate; showing a slight hint of petrol, but also a lovely mix of dried fruits ranging from apricots to figs. Not quite as complex on the palate, with a slight black tea tone here, coupled with some apricots. Correct acidity to balance the opulent sweetness. A slight bit of funk on the palate as well, but that's probably just an age thing.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru
Coming off of an absolutely insane 1990 Jadot Estournelles St. Jacques yesterday, this pales a bit in comparison, unfortunately. While it's not a domaine wine (I only buy Drouhin domaine wines now, after an absolutely horrid experience with their "Chambertin"), this is definitely still solid. The ripeness of the vintage shows, but the fruit isn't too muddied. There's a pretty prominent earthy vein, but the palate doesn't quite have the grand cru intensity. I'd happily drink this, but wouldn't go out of my way to find it.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru
Liked, but didn't love this. It's a solid wine with some really good red fruit, and none of the overdoneness that anecdotally plagues the 2009 vintage (honestly, I quite like the 2009 red burgundies -- I think now that they're starting to shed their fat, there's a lot of good material here). There's a lovely earthy tone here, with a slight iron note. Overall, this doesn't have the full complexity of a grand cru, and there's a touch of bitterness on the finish.
There's something Ponsot-like about the Lucien Le Moine wines that I just don't love. The fruit is pushed to a very ripe level, and then it doesn't age as well. This tasted a fair bit older than it ought to have, and it doesn't have as much of the elegant red fruit that I want in a 2010 red Burgundy. A nice spicy element on the nose, but this is a little too fat for my taste. I have some strong doubts about the ageability here.
Easy 100-point potential in this wine; it's just a question of letting it age some more. Is there any Côte-Rôtie these days that comes close? It'd be news to me. The nose is all olive brine, black fruit, and spice. I'd say it's a little surprising how much more black this is than red, especially given the vintage. Incredibly perfumed and aromatic, with pretty much the same kaleidoscope of classic syrah flavours on the palate. The tannins are very sneaky; you don't pick them up until much later on the briny finish. Amazing potential; probably going to have to rule of 15 the next bottle.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
I wouldn't age this any more. It's in a perfect spot. While 1997 is a pretty poor Tuscan vintage (yeah, I'll say it), this bottle shows the ripeness of the vintage in a very restrained way. The nose is herbal in the best way that Tuscan wines can be, coupled with a slight touch of earth. The fruit is ripe and on the verge of turning to the aged, muddied character that I dislike, so catch this while it's still fresh.
#15-06, 8.5% abv. From half-bottle. Lights out delicious. This is so exotic, with Thai herbs and a kaleidoscope of fruit. So much complexity and extract here, there's an almost tannic sensation on the palate because of all the stuffing in this wine. Nonetheless, there's just a beautiful lift here that removes all sense of cloyingness here -- the acidity is so racy here. The roundness of that acidity, though, will keep you from thinking Mosel.
1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Flawed
France, Champagne
Not entirely sure that this bottle was correct. Given the source of the bottle, there was a high probability it was corked and while for a moment or two I thought I picked up the wet cardboard here, it never really seemed to materialize, and it also didn't get worse with air. Nonetheless, this just wasn't quite there; it seemed a little hollow and didn't have the concentration and complexity that I would have expected. The bright 1996 acids are there, as well as some bottle funk (not related to the imaginary TCA) and a slight bit of mushroom. Overall though, this just didn't really work. I hope it's an off-bottle even if I can't identify the flaw.
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1971 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg 95 Points
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
Absolutely stunning bottle of aged chenin. Peaches, apples, apricots on the nose and palate, this is a veritable fruit salad of midwest tree fruit. There's a lovely musk melon component on the nose here too. On top of that, there's a slightly wild, feral element that I just love. It's not over the top (perhaps it's a slightly domesticated?), and to make this even more layered and complex, there's a touch of herbs, brown sugar, and caramel. I'll also note that this was definitely a fair bit sweeter than I would have expected; the presence of so much sweetness gives me confidence to say that this bottle has a long life yet.
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2017 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Monts-Luisants Blanc 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru
In general, I think that Burgundy producers are good for one colour only, but my overall sense is that Dujac is starting to really get into the serious white game. I've been generally pretty impressed with the single vineyard white wines that I've tasted in the last few years. This bottle is still a little spritzy, but there's really good material here. It's obviously young, with some pretty primary white fruit and an interesting spicy component. The acidity isn't screaming, and really serves to balance everything out here.
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1994 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Spätlese 93 Points
Germany, Nahe
#07-95, 10% abv. I love the old label. Anyway, this is a fully mature edition, showing a slight hint of petrol but also a really intense minerality. The acidity is spot-on for 1994 and is clean, crisp, and very, very precise. The fruit on the palate is obviously secondary now, but it has aged really nicely, keeping so much of the freshness and purity, without getting muddled. Just another bottle of 1994 that cements in my mind the absolute greatness of the vintage. (Honestly, what other region did well in 1994?)
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2003 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese Flawed
Germany, Nahe
#12-04, 8% abv. Corked.
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2003 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 95 Points
Germany, Nahe
#15-04, 8.5% abv. From half-bottle. Yeah, this is the stuff. There's so much juicy fruit here, with a good mix of apples, peaches, and pears. It's not so much exotic as it is just layered and complex with simple, but well-delineated flavours. There's absolutely none of the roastedness of the vintage here, and in fact, there's also some acidity to cut through the otherwise super rich and sweet palate.
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1990 Müller-Catoir Mußbacher Eselshaut Riesling Auslese 93 Points
Germany, Pfalz
#21-91, 11% abv. Who ever heard of an 11% auslese? That HGS guy really knows what he's doing though. The nose for me is a little better than palate; showing a slight hint of petrol, but also a lovely mix of dried fruits ranging from apricots to figs. Not quite as complex on the palate, with a slight black tea tone here, coupled with some apricots. Correct acidity to balance the opulent sweetness. A slight bit of funk on the palate as well, but that's probably just an age thing.
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1990 Joseph Drouhin Mazis-Chambertin 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru
Coming off of an absolutely insane 1990 Jadot Estournelles St. Jacques yesterday, this pales a bit in comparison, unfortunately. While it's not a domaine wine (I only buy Drouhin domaine wines now, after an absolutely horrid experience with their "Chambertin"), this is definitely still solid. The ripeness of the vintage shows, but the fruit isn't too muddied. There's a pretty prominent earthy vein, but the palate doesn't quite have the grand cru intensity. I'd happily drink this, but wouldn't go out of my way to find it.
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2009 Frederic Esmonin Mazy-Chambertin 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru
Liked, but didn't love this. It's a solid wine with some really good red fruit, and none of the overdoneness that anecdotally plagues the 2009 vintage (honestly, I quite like the 2009 red burgundies -- I think now that they're starting to shed their fat, there's a lot of good material here). There's a lovely earthy tone here, with a slight iron note. Overall, this doesn't have the full complexity of a grand cru, and there's a touch of bitterness on the finish.
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2010 Lucien Le Moine Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
There's something Ponsot-like about the Lucien Le Moine wines that I just don't love. The fruit is pushed to a very ripe level, and then it doesn't age as well. This tasted a fair bit older than it ought to have, and it doesn't have as much of the elegant red fruit that I want in a 2010 red Burgundy. A nice spicy element on the nose, but this is a little too fat for my taste. I have some strong doubts about the ageability here.
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2010 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie 98 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Easy 100-point potential in this wine; it's just a question of letting it age some more. Is there any Côte-Rôtie these days that comes close? It'd be news to me. The nose is all olive brine, black fruit, and spice. I'd say it's a little surprising how much more black this is than red, especially given the vintage. Incredibly perfumed and aromatic, with pretty much the same kaleidoscope of classic syrah flavours on the palate. The tannins are very sneaky; you don't pick them up until much later on the briny finish. Amazing potential; probably going to have to rule of 15 the next bottle.
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1997 Fattoria Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino 93 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
I wouldn't age this any more. It's in a perfect spot. While 1997 is a pretty poor Tuscan vintage (yeah, I'll say it), this bottle shows the ripeness of the vintage in a very restrained way. The nose is herbal in the best way that Tuscan wines can be, coupled with a slight touch of earth. The fruit is ripe and on the verge of turning to the aged, muddied character that I dislike, so catch this while it's still fresh.
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2005 Emrich-Schönleber Monzinger Frühlingsplätzchen Riesling Beerenauslese 98 Points
Germany, Nahe
#15-06, 8.5% abv. From half-bottle. Lights out delicious. This is so exotic, with Thai herbs and a kaleidoscope of fruit. So much complexity and extract here, there's an almost tannic sensation on the palate because of all the stuffing in this wine. Nonetheless, there's just a beautiful lift here that removes all sense of cloyingness here -- the acidity is so racy here. The roundness of that acidity, though, will keep you from thinking Mosel.
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