Officina - Wasington, DC
Tasted Friday, October 18, 2019 by Burgundy Al with 190 views
DC / Chicago semi-annual wine dinner with good food, better wine.
Powerful apple aromas and flavors with a way richness and good concentration. More "2009" to me than classically Chablis, this was good but slightly lacking the nuanced complexity of great Grand Cru Chablis. Similar to another bottle from last year, neither of which were as good as bottles from when this wine was younger.
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Popped-and-poured, then revisited multiple times over 3 hours. This was reductive to start, clearly lots of concentration and the reduced SO2 character never fully dissipated. Tough to enjoy.
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Popped-and-poured, then tasted and revisited over 3 hours. Somewhat reduced to start but lush fruit with brightening energy. This got bigger with more air, but also stayed bright and lithe.
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First bottle was clearly past its peak.
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Second bottle was drinkable, but advanced with earthy notes, seemingly flabby and short of breath. Similar on nose and palate. Sauzet 2005 Grand Crus have occasionally been great, but more often disappointing.
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Nicely floral and spiced, perhaps a trace of pronounced new oak. Apple and apple pie character that is ripe and sweet with a hint of botrytis on finish I find enhancing the overall experience. Nicely complex with good+ weight and length.
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Rich and complex orchard fruit with sweet and savory spice. Persistent from start-to-finish, with moderate power but a sneaky, long finish. Much better than another bottle from earlier this year, tonight's bottle lived up to expectations from the previous 4 or 5 times I have had this great wine.
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Lots of red fruit that comes across as nearly jammy right now, but that's just youthful exuberance. Lots of sweet and savory spice with good weight t start and finish, perhaps just slightly lacking in the middle, giving it below average depth for Grand Cru. But there is still so much here, and I fully expect this will harmonize better as it ages. So easy to enjoy now, but I wouldn't revisit for another decade, and think it will be even better 2035 or later.
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Very disappointing, slightly stewed, seemingly heat damaged.
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From magnum. Almost all red fruit aromas, followed by both red and black berry flavors. Great fruit is the star here, but spice is just behind it, even if not as expressive as the greatest vintages of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg. Clearly ripe and fleshy, yet also balanced. Just a bit of earth is started to emerge, so while this is so charming and enjoyable, I am confident this has upside from here as more nuance emerges and unfolds.
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This is a tough wine to assess. So much here to enjoy, but if served blind, I do not think I would have thought it Burgundy. Black fruit, raw and roasted meat with ultra, extreme concentration. A wine that is more easy for me to admire and respect than to enjoy, at least right now. My first time having this wine from this vintage, and I will want to try this again some time between 2025 and 2030 because I think it has 93-94 point potential, but a lot has to happen to get there.
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In 1991 single blind La La horizontal...which I got 100% correct! Spicy and floral with both red and black fruit and very impressive concentration. Cherry, black pepper, anise, roasted game, and enough floral notes to indicate there was some Viognier here. Best I can ever recall for this wine.
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In 1991 single blind La La horizontal...which I got 100% correct! Alluring aromas made me think there was the most Viognier influence here, which led me to think this La Mouline. Complex array of red black fruit with red cherry hints and even more complex spice. So much here with good+ power, very good length and exceptional finesse. My favorite of the horizontal. My wine of the night.
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In 1991 single blind La La horizontal...which I got 100% correct! The easiest of three to identify since this seemed clearly 100% Syrah. Massive, all black fruit,this is so muscular and even still backward. Great concentration, just less finesse or nuance vs the other two in the flight.
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Next up...spring in Chicago. See you at Smyth and the Loyalist.
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1983 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut 91 Points
France, Champagne
From magnum. Dried apricot, caramel apple, honeycomb with very good richness and weight, just slightly lacking energy and effervescence. I liked this, others liked it more.
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2008 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut 96 Points
France, Champagne
Bright lemon with yellow and green apple with so much power, yet so much finesse. Lean, precise and very long. Better now vs when last tasted a year ago, and this will certainly be even better five years from now. One of the guys at dinner owns 500 bottles of this wine. I can almost understand.
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1996 Dom Pérignon Champagne Oenothèque 95 Points
France, Champagne
I've had a mixed bag of experiences with this wine, but tonight's was one of the best ever. Lots of orchard fruit throughout, somewhat bready, slightly leesy, but still so clean and bright. Rich, powerful and very dense, while also refined and elegant. So good now.
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