A small gathering at Bryan's

Four of us got together to drink a few nice bottles. It was a seafood centric potluck dinner but the piece de resistance was the tarajin with white truffle.

This was the greatest shwoing of the 96 DP.

• 1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon 99 Points

  France, Champagne

  Incredibly perfumed nose displaying unbelievably youthful pure white fruit with a hint of yellow, white peach, pear, granny smith, lemon curd, spearmint, white pepper, honeysuckle and limestone. Perfect balance and precision, beautifully layered pure white fruit, very fresh and energetic, very fine generous mousse, perfect amount of acidity and mineral and a seamless long generous pure white fruit driven finish with honeysuckle and spearmint at the end. The best example of the 96 DP in my life. Based on the last two examples, I dare say that the 96 DP is starting to surpass the 96 Salon. The fruit of DP remains white where the 96 Salon is more yellow at this point.

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The 85 Lafon was still drinking well. The 05 MdT was riper than the 03 Vaillong.

• 2003 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  The color is paler than the 05 Raveneau MdT. Slightly lean fruit and feels thin initially. With air, it opens up and gains weight. Expressive nose displaying subtle yellow fruit, lemon curd, apple, lemon oil, honey, a hint of petrol, lanolin, saline, sweet spices and wet stone. Very good concentration, generous coiled ripe yellow fruit, rich and oily but also cool and nicely balanced, bright acidity, wet stone mineral, and a medium to long subtle yellow fruit driven finish with a hint of petrol and saline at the end. If tasted blind, I wouldn't have correctly guessed the vintage.

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• 2005 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  The color is darker than the 03 Butteaux. Expressive nose displaying very rich yellow fruit, slightly unripe yellow peach, Clementine, crème brulee, honey, a hint of petrol, oyster shell, sweet spices and medium mineral. Excellent concentration, dense ripe yellow fruit, oily and deeply tone, medium acidity and medium mineral, and a long ripe yellow fruit driven finish with honey and dry orange peel at the end. This is surprisingly richer and riper than the 03 Butteaux.

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• 2007 Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Perrières 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Adam who brought the wine is relieved that the color is beautiful pale, i.e. not premoxed. Expressive nose displaying youthful mostly yellow citrus fruit with a hint of white, lemon curd, apple, spicy spices and limestone. Very good concentration, nicely layered perfectly ripe yellow fruit, dense but also fresh and precise, bright acidity and mineral, and a long concentrated yellow fruit driven finish. It lacks the fluid texture of the top GCs. It is an excellent 1er cru White Burgundy that can easily improve for a decade or more. Really enjoyable.

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• 1985 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  The color looks a bit dark in the bottle but the Lafon bottle has a hint of brown tint. Beautiful golden color. Expressive nose displaying sumptuous sweet yellow fruit, peach, peach pie, a hint of pineapple, crème brulee, sweet spice and subtle mineral. Fully mature palate, layers upon layers of mature sweet yellow fruit, rich but showing excellent balance, bright acidity, medium mineral and a long sweet yellow fruit driven finish with crème brulee at the end. It showed beautifully but need to be drunk up. If you like your white Burgundy young, your scores will be a few points lower.

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• 1978 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

  Excellent fill but the cork fell in as I was trying to examine the bottle. Opened immediately. Decadent fruit but there is a hint of oxidative note that subdue the fruit expression. Incredibly sweet and shows excellent concentration. Raspberry preserve, sous bois, grilled cep and soy. Not much Vosne spice. This could have been a beautiful wine.

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The 69 showed a lot of VA. The 78 Barolo was exceptional and so was the 82 Cheval.

• 1969 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino Speciale Flawed

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  From an excellent source. Beautiful clear red color. Unfortunately, there is too much VA via nail polish. Generous sweet fruit, strawberry, maraschino cherries, dry orange, tea and caramel. There isn’t much iron. Fully mature palate, sweet red fruit, very fluid, bright acidity, low mineral, and a long sweet red fruit driven finish with VA at the end. VA is too strong. I have feeling that this may be a correct bottle based on the other tasting notes. Caveat emptor.

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• 1978 Podere Rocche dei Manzoni Barolo Riserva 96 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  I was really impressed when I had it ten years ago. Beautiful clear color. Expressive nose displaying sweet and warm red fruit, candied strawberry and cherry, a hint of dry cherry, strong licorice and cinnamon, caramel, rose, grilled porcini and iron mineral. With air, iron becomes very strong. Perfectly mature palate, very finely layered sweet red fruit, round and sweet, perfect amount of acidity, strong iron mineral, still noticeable tannins and a long candied red fruit driven finish with iron at the end. With air, it becomes more complex. The iron expression reminds me the 78 Giacosa Collina Rionda. The perfect match for tajarin wtih copious white truffle. Excellent showing.

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• 1982 Château Cheval Blanc 97 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Perfectly mature nose displaying warm sweet red fruit, strawberry and raspberry jams, plum, a hint of sous bois, rose, light caramel, cep, cedar, sweet spices and earth. Fully integrated beautiful palate, very finely layered subtle yet decadent red fruit, silky, fluid and harmonious, perfect amount of acidity and mineral, fully integrated tannins, and a long sweet red fruit driven finish with cedar at the end. This is now fully mature. The next stage of the development is to become mostly tertiary, gaining more mushroom, truffle and sous bois.

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A great time was had by all.