At home
Tasted Saturday, September 19, 2020 by sirpat00 with 250 views
How better to celebrate the year you turn 40 than with having a second child? The answer of course is: With a big 1980 vintage tasting. To this end I procured a number of wines including 4 Bordeaux First Growths, Napa legends, champagne, other old world wines (Brunello, Burgundy, Rioja, CdP) and a sweet treat (Yquem) - in total 15 bottles. Wine of the night was Haut-Brion, but Yquem, Opus One and Pichon Lalande were not far behind. Lowlights vs my expectations were Heitz Martha's Vineyard (painful, financially), Insignia, Clos des Papes.
All red wines were double decanted prior to serving blind to a group of 8. To round off the event we popped a couple of mags in the end (Sanctus Sanctorum, Artadi El Pison).
In general I was positively surprised especially by the Bordeaux First Growths which all performed. The failure rate was also much lower than I feared with only 1 corked and 3 dead (or nearly dead).
My personal ranking was as follows:
Haut-Brion (96)
Opus One (95)
Yquem (95)
Pichon Lalande (95)
Lafite Rothschild (93)
Mouton Rothschild (93)
Dom Perignon (92)
Tondonia Gran Reserva (91)
Cappellano Barolo (90)
La Rioja Alta Metropol Extra (89)
Heitz Martha's Vineyard (87)
Phelps Insignia (84)
Bouchard Meursault 1er cru Sous le Dos dÂne (84)
Clos des Papes (80)
Col d'Orcia Brunello (corked)
2008 Dom Pérignon Champagne 94 Points
France, Champagne
From the Luminous bottle. Great and dense bubble structure with a good amount of freshness, but came across a little restrained. Otherwise full of mineral notes, a bit of toast and brioche and a fruit of freshly pressed lemon juice with just a hint of tropical banana. Worth storing longer, but no doubt very promising – even though lacking the linear precision of the Roederer Cristal 2008.
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1980 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon 92 Points
France, Champagne
This kicked off a 1980 vintage horizontal that I hosted for no bigger reason than this being my birth year and me not wanting to throw a party. Caramel, slightly nutty and even a bit of chocolate. Just enough bubbles left to spot the sparkling wine. But the sweet angle this had to it was great and the palate showed super harmonious. For the aged Champagne lovers in the group this was outstanding, for most however well past the peak with half the group scoring <90.
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