Important Update From the Founder
Read message >
Acker "Paulee" Burgundy Dinner
The Fourth - New York NY
Tasted May 1, 2014 by Burgundy Al with 682 views
Introduction
Acker's upcoming Burgundy auction was a good reason for a Burgundy dinner for 30 or 40 people with great, deep cellars. Another great evening...through morning.
Flight 1 - Something Tasty as People Arrive (1 note)
Red
2000 Domaine Dujac Echezeaux
92 points
From large format (6L?). Lots of red berry and perfumed start. Everything forward, balanced and charming. At a great place. Lots of finesse and nuance, moderate power and length.
Flight 2 - Great Champagne (4 notes)
White - Sparkling
1973 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon
Mushroom, earth, toasted nut all work well with mature, advanced apple aromas and flavors. Moderate length. Very good, but not quite as fresh or tasty as a bottle of '73 Oenothèque I recently tried.
White - Sparkling
1975 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon
94 points
From magnum. Little bit of toasted brioche with baked apple, spice hints and sensational minerality. Incredibly fresh. Excellent.
White - Sparkling
1969 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon
Dark color. Plenty of mature fruit, advanced but charming. Very good length and power. I am not the biggest fan of older Champagne, so found this more interesting than delicious.
White - Sparkling
1979 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut
94 points
Small tasting. Sensational. Lots of citrus and some baked apple and toasted brioche. Bright and incredibly fresh for its age.
Flight 3 - Leflaive (4 notes)
White
1996 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet
Not very forthcoming tonight, but perhaps it just needed more time... which tonight's La Paulee style format really didn't allow. Quite a contrast to the Leflaive '96 Batard in the next glass, which was singin'.
White
1996 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet
93 points
Opulent aromas and flavors, but with great balance and grace. Fun, rich and approachable, while still very fresh. Quite the contrast to the Leflaive '96 Chevalier in the next glass, which wasn't showing off tonight.
White
2001 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet
93 points
Started off sightly backward, but opened up quickly. Peach, apricot and lemon curd with lots of charming baking spice and concentration.
White
1983 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet
From magnum. Quite advanced. Good density. This was more interesting than tasty to me.
Flight 4 - Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru les Beaux Monts (3 notes)
Red
1990 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts
Fill ~2.5cm, cork broke when extracted. I haven't had this wine in several years, but this was much less powerful and fresh than I recall from before. Still lots of good black fruit and great spice, but not as elegant or nuanced as before. Perhaps 91-92 points tonight. Will have to revisit again with a better looking bottle in the next year or so.
Red
1991 Maison Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts
flawed
I've never seen this wine before from any vintage. But it was corked. (Note: this is MAISON)
Red
1993 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts
95 points
Open ~45 minutes before serving, not decanted. Huge black and red cherry with flowers, baking spice, perfume. Long and powerful with lots of structural support through to long finish. Great wine.
Flight 5 - 1990 Emmanuel Rouget (2 notes)
Red
1990 Emmanuel Rouget Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux
93 points
Leaner styled black fruit, I wouldn't have thought 1990 if served blind. Great spice, very good textures. Not quite an dense or nuanced as I recall from a bottle several years ago at La Paulee. Served alongside Rouget 1990 Echezeaux, which I preferred tonight. Thanks, Patrick, for bringing both!
Red
1990 Emmanuel Rouget Echezeaux
95 points
Red and black cherry with some dark berries as well. Very ripe, dense and powerful with great balance. Really sensational in every way. I had forgotten that I had the opportunity to have a bottle of this wine 5 years ago (I think from the same person, so probably from the same case) and found it sensational to start, but less interesting a couple of hours later. So tonight's bottle was just perfect served La Paulee style.
Flight 6 - DRC 1990/1991 (3 notes)
Red
1991 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant
93 points
Red cherry and berry on nose and palate with good Asian five spice. Starting to show some signs of maturity. Fruit is slightly lean. I definitely preferred the 1990 vintage tonight, but others preferred this 1991 for its leaner, more classic style vs 1990's extravagance.
Red
1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant
94 points
Lots of very ripe red and black fruit. Lush and powerful with great spice, great density, great length. Certainly on the opulent side for Vosne Grand Cru, this is still a baby. I preferred this vs the 1991 vintage also tasted, but others disagreed tonight.
Red
1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands-Echezeaux
96 points
Lots of everything great with all cylinders firing tonight. Better than the DRC 1990 RSV tonight. My WOTN.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Flight 7 - Roumier Bonnes Mares (3 notes)
Red
1995 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Bonnes Mares
94 points
Black cherries and berries on nose and palate with some background spice and meaty intensity. Firmly tannic in the manner found in the best, most complex examples of Bonnes Mares, with intriguing minerality. Still a little backward, I expect this will still be getting better and better. I liked this more than most others tonight.
Red
1990 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Bonnes Mares
95 points
I don't recall ever having this wine before and it certainly didn't disappoint. All black fruit with cherry liqueur hints, dark chocolate and emerging mushroom character. Very long.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Flight 8 - Odds and Ends (13 notes)
Red
1998 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche
93 points
Small tasting pour. Huge spice and lots of mature red cherry and berry aromas and flavors. Very nicely balanced and elegant, this is in the heart of its peak drinking window.
Red
1988 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Cuvée William
90 points
Small tasting pour. This wine seems to be getting better through the years. Fruit seems to be picking up weight as it matures. Right now at a good balance of red fruit and earthy character.
Red
1995 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche
92 points
Small tasting pour from magnum. Very big red berry aromas with plenty of spice and perfumed character. Still firm from middle to finish, so I would think this has room to evolve into something even better.
Red
1999 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Clos Vougeot
91 points
Fresh red fruit, floral notes, good spice. Moderate weight, slightly shorter than I recall from previous bottles. Good now, upside from here.
Red
1980 Jacqueline Jayer Echezeaux
Small tasting our. Earthy aromas and flavors, faint fruit hints, not quite pristine.
Red
1971 Joseph Drouhin Grands-Echezeaux
Tasted late in the evening. Very enjoyable old Burgundy, even if it was all sous bois. I'd have liked a little more hints of fruit.
Red
1989 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts
Tasted late in the evening. Lots of mature black berry and cherry with great spice. I wouldn't expect this to get any better from here.
White
2007 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur
94 points
Tasted late in the evening. Sharp as nails with eye popping acidity, minerality along with lots of lemon and green apple. Not quite pleasurable yet, but great potential here.
White
2008 Etienne Sauzet Chevalier-Montrachet
95 points
From magnum. Ripe apple and pear with floral notes and great spice. Lots of power and concentration. Wow.
Red
1996 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze
92 points
Late, small tasting pour. Black cherry, some red cherry with good spice. Dense, needs more time, a little backward and one dimensional. I preferred the Rousseau '96 CSJ tasted next.
Red
1996 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques
93 points
Late, small tasting pour. Meaty, gamy with lots of black fruit, dark roast coffee and hints of cocoa. Long and dense. I preferred this to the Rousseau '96 Beze also just tasted.
Flight 9 - But Wait...There's More (2 notes)
Off to Pearl & Ash. An amazing wine list.
White
2011 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières
94 points
Lots of apple, lemon, lemon peel aromas and flavors. Great density and energy. Sensational now, but certainly better in 5+ years.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
1966 Maison Leroy Beaune 1er Cru
90 points
Lingering red fruit is well balanced with lots of spice and earth. Very charming and pleasurable.
Closing
There were many other fine wines through the evening. I wrote down several but without a note (e.g., Rousseau 1988 Chambertin) and others I just tasted in passing. Quite the evening.