The Night of Three (Random) Verticals

PJH wanted to try the 14 and 15 Philippe Livera Gevrey Les Evocelles, so he brought those over and so I saw it as a great opp to grab two Drouhin WV Pinots with 13 years of bottle age difference, and two Prum Graacher Spatlese's with 10 years of difference. Liam brought the cheese (Mimolette discovery a revelation for me).

• 2005 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese #26 92 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Drank this next to the 2015 Graacher Himmelreich Spatlese.
  
  Light to medium gold. On the nose it shows some petrol, some nuttiness, some banana; a bit deeper and richer nose than the 2015. I get a mineral note on the entry, then more stone fruit comes out into the mid-palate and finish, and on the finish it has a slightly baked flavor at first. Re-visiting later, palate is all dried tangerine and peach, very tasty. More weight on this than the 2015. Nice bottle.

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• 2015 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese 90 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Drank this next to the 2005.
  
  Pale straw. Nose is more citrus, some candlewax. On the palate is is much more fruity than the 2005, with a blend of light orange citrus and lemon notes, along with stone fruit like a just getting ripe peach. 90 points with upside. Certainly preferred the 2005 tonight.

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• 2008 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir 92 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Drank this next to the 2021. Not a shocker, but two completely different bottles of wine.
  
  Medium garnet. Little stinky at first, some mushroom, some ash. Palate is fresh, light to medium in body. Still has fruit, little red rasberry, some tart red cherry. Healthy acidity. Lovely palate with tons of life. We'll see what some bottle air does to the nose over the next few hours.
  
  Night 3 update: Smells great. That funky PnP stuff is gone and it's showing some nice fruit and florals. Juicy dark cherry on the palate. Just keeps improving. 2 hours later, the last glass is the most well-knit.
  
  Nice bottle and based on this showing has plenty of gas left in the tank.

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• 2021 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Drank this next to the 2005. This was an unruly pre-teen next to the much more distinguished and full of wisdom 2005.
  
  Medium ruby with some purple. Nose is fruity with dusty reddish/black berries. Medium weight on the palate, very nice texture. Good balance here. Pure WV typicity. Night 3: Blue and black berries. Candied. Tons of primary fruit here. Give it some more years.

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• 2014 Philippe Livera Gevrey-Chambertin Les Evocelles Domaine des Tilleuls

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin

  Drank next to the 2015.
  
  Nose gives impression of cured meat and a little funk. It's an enjoyable nose to sniff. Mineral notes on the palate, medium+ in weight. What fruit there is here comes off as darker in profile to me.
  
  This was good, though preferred the 15.

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• 2015 Philippe Livera Gevrey-Chambertin Les Evocelles

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin

  Drank this next to the 2014.
  
  Everything about this is more amped up relative to the '14. Do get a bit of that gamey funk upon PnP, also dark cherry. Overall more well-knit and integrated than the 14 with everything turned up a bit. Had some on night 2 and better still. Fruit comes off as more "sticky" and red on the second night. My gut says give this 3-5 years.

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Fun night and great refresher / education into the difference between vintages, and what a wine evolves into after a bunch of years sleeping. Wasn't too surprised by my takeaways; enjoyed 15 Burg more than 14, and really found a lot more complexity in the 08 Drouhin Pinot relative to the 21, and same story for the 05 Prum relative to the 15.

Close call but my WOTN was the 2008 Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir. I think at a different point on its journey the 2015 Livera Gevrey could take that spot.