From magnum. Creamy, large-scaled, and rich, with a bit of a white grape note that seems out of the place for the age and vintage. I liked this more than a fifth a few years ago, but this is a little less taut and electric than I would expect for a 2008 Champagne.
Not entirely convinced this was a totally sound bottle. There were some dirty notes that were TCA-adjacent for quite a while, and I lost track of this and missed coming back to it later in the evening. It's quite broad and oily and shows some apricot jam notes. Not at the level of my previous bottle seven years ago.
Brilliant stuff, with that waxy, funky character right at the forefront. There's a bit of salinity here, and despite the relative lack of fruit characteristics, the acidity on this feels really bright and fresh. No oxidative elements either, and despite that Rioja funk this does feel very clean (paradoxically?). Very good stuff; I wish I had bought these before the prices went to the moon.
Bottled August 12, 2021. Reasonably consistent with my previous bottle, though the apricot felt more pronounced on this bottle today. Of course, the typical high acidity of Cantillon, with just the right amount of natty funk. Delicious.
I honestly expected this to be a little more mature. It drinks very youthfully, and while there's a little more of a subdued, calm quality to this, the intense essence of pear is still on full display. Brilliant and consistently one of my favourite drinks.
Quite Schaefer in its opulence, and that is of course amped up a notch thanks to the vintage. This has the minerality of Domprobst, but to my palate, it's missing some of the acidic cut to brighten it up and balance out the sweetness (which is plentiful). A bit creamy on the palate as well, but certainly very delicious all the same.
Really like how this vintage worked out for Egon. It's clearly on the sweet side of their Spätlese, but coupled with the chewy minerality that is always attendant at the site, this works really well. It's crisp and sweet, but the fruit doesn't show the roasted quality of 2003 either.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Good, not great. Kind of disappointing given the pedigree of the dirt. Doesn't show reduction; the fruit is relatively yellow, which is surprising for 2013, and this doesn't have the weight and depth of a grand cru. Comes off a bit simplistic, even if it is a decent bottle of chardonnay.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
Unfortunately, I'm pretty certain that this bottle wasn't representative. It shows quite a bit of maturity, but on the palate, this empties out and becomes quite hollow. Par for the course for Lafon of this era, sadly.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
This has the bright red fruit of the vintage, but also lots of the typical Vogüé density and burliness. It's not a particularly elegant example of the wine, but the concentration and depth here is very clear. Stylistically very marked, it is a style that seems like it has fallen out of favour these days given the prices on the secondary market, but it's a style that once in a while I quite enjoy in Burgundy. Pinot noir for cabernet drinkers, which also means that this will probably be more interesting in 15-20 years.
A fine showing of this; a bit non-descript and creamy, but it does tick the chardonnay boxes. Starting to show some nascent hints of maturity as well, which is no bad thing of course.
From magnum. Stunning stuff, with a glorious, old-school California cabernet nose. So aromatic and perfumed, the nose on this was magnificent. The palate is a bit of a let-down in comparison to the nose, it's no slouch but it just doesn't reach the same heights. In general, this was a bit softer in structure versus the other cabernets, but there's no denying how good the nose was on this.
I quite liked this too -- it didn't have the expressive, effusive nose of the Mayacamas, but it had much more depth and potency on the palate. More leathery, with a darker complexion, but with tannins that are clearly resolved as well. Fancy that, a bottle of Dunn that is actually ready to drink.
This was another solid bottle of 1984 cabernet -- stylistically it's a bit lighter and a bit more green than the others, but overall the fruit profile here is brighter and lighter, and there is less of a tannic backbone here. Good acidity, with a mix of red and black fruit. Quite approachable now, this was probably the most ready of the four 1984s we had tonight.
Another solid 1984 cabernet showing with this wine. This has a bit of a herbal lift, and some pencil-shaving like qualities on the palate. Leaning towards black fruit here, but with mostly resolved tannins and a bit of a leathery quality as well. Good density and overall complexity here.
2008 Deutz Champagne Amour de Deutz Brut 90 Points
France, Champagne
From magnum. Creamy, large-scaled, and rich, with a bit of a white grape note that seems out of the place for the age and vintage. I liked this more than a fifth a few years ago, but this is a little less taut and electric than I would expect for a 2008 Champagne.
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1999 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
France, Alsace
Not entirely convinced this was a totally sound bottle. There were some dirty notes that were TCA-adjacent for quite a while, and I lost track of this and missed coming back to it later in the evening. It's quite broad and oily and shows some apricot jam notes. Not at the level of my previous bottle seven years ago.
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1996 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia 93 Points
Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
Brilliant stuff, with that waxy, funky character right at the forefront. There's a bit of salinity here, and despite the relative lack of fruit characteristics, the acidity on this feels really bright and fresh. No oxidative elements either, and despite that Rioja funk this does feel very clean (paradoxically?). Very good stuff; I wish I had bought these before the prices went to the moon.
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NV Cantillon Brewery Fou' Foune Lambic
Belgium, Brussels
Bottled August 12, 2021. Reasonably consistent with my previous bottle, though the apricot felt more pronounced on this bottle today. Of course, the typical high acidity of Cantillon, with just the right amount of natty funk. Delicious.
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2016 Eric Bordelet Poiré Granit
France, Normandy
I honestly expected this to be a little more mature. It drinks very youthfully, and while there's a little more of a subdued, calm quality to this, the intense essence of pear is still on full display. Brilliant and consistently one of my favourite drinks.
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2011 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese #10 90 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Quite Schaefer in its opulence, and that is of course amped up a notch thanks to the vintage. This has the minerality of Domprobst, but to my palate, it's missing some of the acidic cut to brighten it up and balance out the sweetness (which is plentiful). A bit creamy on the palate as well, but certainly very delicious all the same.
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2009 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese 95 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Really like how this vintage worked out for Egon. It's clearly on the sweet side of their Spätlese, but coupled with the chewy minerality that is always attendant at the site, this works really well. It's crisp and sweet, but the fruit doesn't show the roasted quality of 2003 either.
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2013 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Good, not great. Kind of disappointing given the pedigree of the dirt. Doesn't show reduction; the fruit is relatively yellow, which is surprising for 2013, and this doesn't have the weight and depth of a grand cru. Comes off a bit simplistic, even if it is a decent bottle of chardonnay.
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1999 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Charmes
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
Unfortunately, I'm pretty certain that this bottle wasn't representative. It shows quite a bit of maturity, but on the palate, this empties out and becomes quite hollow. Par for the course for Lafon of this era, sadly.
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1993 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
This has the bright red fruit of the vintage, but also lots of the typical Vogüé density and burliness. It's not a particularly elegant example of the wine, but the concentration and depth here is very clear. Stylistically very marked, it is a style that seems like it has fallen out of favour these days given the prices on the secondary market, but it's a style that once in a while I quite enjoy in Burgundy. Pinot noir for cabernet drinkers, which also means that this will probably be more interesting in 15-20 years.
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1971 Château Cheval Blanc Flawed
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Oxidized and corked!
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2004 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 90 Points
France, Champagne
A fine showing of this; a bit non-descript and creamy, but it does tick the chardonnay boxes. Starting to show some nascent hints of maturity as well, which is no bad thing of course.
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1984 Mayacamas Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 95 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
From magnum. Stunning stuff, with a glorious, old-school California cabernet nose. So aromatic and perfumed, the nose on this was magnificent. The palate is a bit of a let-down in comparison to the nose, it's no slouch but it just doesn't reach the same heights. In general, this was a bit softer in structure versus the other cabernets, but there's no denying how good the nose was on this.
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1984 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain
I quite liked this too -- it didn't have the expressive, effusive nose of the Mayacamas, but it had much more depth and potency on the palate. More leathery, with a darker complexion, but with tannins that are clearly resolved as well. Fancy that, a bottle of Dunn that is actually ready to drink.
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1984 Forman Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
This was another solid bottle of 1984 cabernet -- stylistically it's a bit lighter and a bit more green than the others, but overall the fruit profile here is brighter and lighter, and there is less of a tannic backbone here. Good acidity, with a mix of red and black fruit. Quite approachable now, this was probably the most ready of the four 1984s we had tonight.
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1984 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Another solid 1984 cabernet showing with this wine. This has a bit of a herbal lift, and some pencil-shaving like qualities on the palate. Leaning towards black fruit here, but with mostly resolved tannins and a bit of a leathery quality as well. Good density and overall complexity here.
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