A 65th Birthday Celebration, Slightly COVID Delayed
EL Ideas - Chicago IL
Tasted Sunday, May 30, 2021 by Burgundy Al with 164 views
Introduction
Our final wine dinner before the Coronavirus shutdown/ quarantine was with this group, at this restaurant, so here we are again, once again unmasked. So we got together to celebrate Jamie's 65th birthday...just on his 66th.
1989 Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut La Grande Dame 93 Points
France, Champagne
From 3L. Rich caramelized apple, yet still nicely fresh and bright with very good power. Even better than another 3L Jamie opened a few years back.
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2005 Camille Giroud Corton-Charlemagne Flawed
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Previous magnums were glorious, but tonight's was clearly too advanced.
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2012 Peter Michael Chardonnay Mon Plaisir
USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley
Small glass, brief note. Very rich and unmistakably New World, for better and worse. Lots of rich intensity, but lacking finesse or energy. Well made in its style, but not a style that thrills me.
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2015 Weingut Keller Hubacker Riesling Großes Gewächs 93 Points
Germany, Rheinhessen
Small glass, brief note. Rich and floral start with lemon, candied lemon, grapefruit, but also some baked apple and even tropical hints. Bone dry with allusions to sweetness, this is dense and powerful with impressive length and a crunchy ending. Very good with upside.
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2015 Domaine Bernard Moreau et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Small glass, brief note. Rich apple throughout with good balance now. Everything in place, the richness makesme think this best to enjoy young, now through 2025.
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1995 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Blanc des Millénaires 92 Points
France, Champagne
Small glass, brief note. Lemon, apple, toasted brioche with gingerbread, finishing with razor sharp, ultra bright, minerally textures. Probably disgorged later than the initial release, given its newer styled label.
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1955 Château Lascombes
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Lots of cigarbox and fully mature black cherry with at least much earth. Very tasty, charming and classic. yum.
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1975 Spring Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Flawed
USA, California, Napa Valley
Slightly corked
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1975 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 90 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Small glass, brief note. Great nose combines spice, tobacco, black truffles, and black plum. Mature aromas, but fully+ mature flavors are slightly less thrilling. 93 point nose, 87 point palate.
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1975 Château Cos d'Estournel 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Small glass from magnum, brief note. Clearly mature in all respects, but this is balanced and charming, with faint hints of power almost coming through.
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2005 Viña Almaviva S.A. Almaviva 90 Points
Chile, Maipo Valley, Puente Alto
Small glass, brief note. Charming spice with clear richness and good+ concentration. Black cherry and plum everywhere, but it get overtaken from the middle forward by firm tannins. I preferred this the last time tasted, in 2019. Upside? Others enjoyed this more.
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1955 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Small glass, brief note. From the rare 2.25 L (Marie Jeanne) bottle. In good condition with lots of cigarbox, earth and lingering fruit that refused to go away, all the way through to a long, earthy finish. Very enticing overall. Everybody liked this, but others were not as enthralled as I was.
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1985 Domaine Thomas-Moillard Clos Vougeot 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
Very mature red cherry with lots of earth, meaty spice and truffle hints. Seems lighter, but keeps going, with charming balance from start-to-finish. Very good.
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1995 Alois Kracher Grande Cuvée TBA #12 93 Points
Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
Small glass, brief note. Fresh and dried apricot with impressive density. So very sweet, but bright enough to come across as bright, lively and balanced through its long-ish finish. No hurry to drink up.
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1975 Château de Rayne-Vigneau 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Small glass, brief note. This had an intriguing sweet/ bitter combination going on that made this both enjoyable and interesting.
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2005 Dönnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Spätlese 90 Points
Germany, Nahe
Small glass from magnum, brief note. Once again, I find this a wine that doesn't quite work with savory nor with sweet. This seemed somsimilar, but slightly more savory than I recall from the magnum tasted at the last pre-COVID dinner.
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2005 Château d'Yquem
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Small glass, brief note. Lots here in terms of concentration and potential, but little complexity has emerged yet. What comes through is quite rich and harmonious, but not (yet) strutting with the swagger and nuance I what from d'Yquem.
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1995 Domaine Weinbach Pinot Gris Quintessence de Grains Noble Centenaire 95 Points
France, Alsace
500 ml bottle. Fresh and dried apricot with so much depth and spice. Intense concentration, very sweet and extremely bright at the same time, a tough feat to pull off.
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1975 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon York Creek Flawed
USA, California, North Coast, Napa County
Slightly corked
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1985 Forman Cabernet Sauvignon
USA, California, Napa Valley
Late night, small glass, brief note. Absolutely charming older styled Cali Cab, back in the day when Cali Cab was elegant and finessed and cellarworthy.
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1985 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Volcanic Hill
USA, California, Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain
Late night, small glass, brief note. Lots of black fruit but firm and slightly drying for me. Not particularly balanced.
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2005 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Volcanic Hill 90 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain
Late night, small taste, brief note. A big step up vs the 1985 tasted earlier. Even bigger black fruit, but structure in better proportion. Good+ depth.
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1985 Château Cos d'Estournel 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Late night, small glass, brief note. Dense, powerful and displaying good+ weight, but I found it slightly coarse. A wine that has never thrilled me.
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2005 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Black, red and brooding. I expected this to be more approachable given the vintage,, but still backward and just foreshadowing the wine's impressive potential, 2030 forward.
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2005 Antinori Solaia 88 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
Small glass, brief note. Enjoyable enough, but very modern styled and oaky to me, and maturing faster than I would hope/ expect.
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2005 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia 92 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Bolgheri, Bolgheri Superiore
Ripe black cherry and berry with a hint of cigarbox. This seems so modern and fleshy to start, but structure and refinement come through from the middle forward. Good length, finishing with lots of elegance. Good now, with upside.
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1975 Château La Tour Blanche Sauternes
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Late night, small glass, brief note. Baked apple and peach, all very fun with medium+ weight. Slightly dirty, but to the extent that it was a notable distraction, just providing more proof of age.
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2005 Pax Syrah Castelli-Knight Ranch 90 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Late night, small glass, brief note. Black plum and cherry with black pepper. Rich and dense, this is starting to show some age, and was better a few years back.
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1955 Château Ausone
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Late night, small glass, brief note. There were very differing opinions about this wine. Clearly there was some madeirized character here, but that did not particularly bother me. There was good intensity and enough vibrancy to encourage me to continue on, and i found enough intriguing nooks and crannies to find it enjoyable.
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1995 Château Léoville Las Cases 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
Opened two hours before serving. Very good density, but still slightly awkward. Lots of black cherry, some plum and cedar, background spice mostly on nose. Aromas > flavors for now, better 2025 forward.
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