119004. Very solid bottle of Krug, probably in the middle of the pack as far as the relatively recent releases have gone. Very Krug-like with its bready, brioche qualities, as well as some baked apple. If I don't sound excited about this, that's just in the context of Krug -- every bottle of Krug is exciting by default.

The 2004 Krug just keeps getting better each time I taste it. It may well be reaching some sort of local peak. Spectacular intensity with generous white fruit and some scintillating acidity. At the same time, there still is plenty of the requisite breadth. An exciting bottle to the point where I may pull a few for near-future consumption.

Not a bad wine per se, but getting a little long in the tooth and tiring out. Lacks the racy acidity that I like, though there is lots of formerly fat but now browning fruit (from both the vintage and the village).

An outstanding bottle of Ramonet. Very 2015, and really exemplifies why I'm bullish on the vintage. This was both racy and fat at the same time. A good dose of oak here, and not that much reduction. I didn't pick up any of that Ramonet mint (nor the egg custard that I commonly find in Ramonet's wines) today. On the palate, despite the breadth of the fruit here the acidity keeps this very fresh.

Done in by a loose cork.

Not the highest hopes for this bottle given its age, though I had acquired it as a curiosity because honestly, how often do you see Hermitage with some real age on it? Incredible density and black fruit that is still somewhat fresh and not desiccated. Very meaty and somewhat smoky; this does lack some of the elegance that I prefer in my syrah, but it is quite stereotypically Hermitage.

So my last note on this said that this bottle didn't suffer from the vagaries of the vintage. Well today it seems like that this bottle did. A little dirty with some rot here. A slightly off nose that presented like chlorine? It didn't seem corked to me though. Fat and honeyed. I just don't get Dauvissat.

This was another flyer that I bought based on its sheer rarity. I didn't like this when it was opened, as it felt a little stinky and the palate was thin and acidic. But this just got better as the night wore on (despite, or in spite of, my whingeing that this wasn't a very good bottle). The fruit was fully on the red side of the spectrum, with just a hint of olive (though I would have liked more). Fully resolved with high acidity on the palate, but also no overt danger signs of decline.

This bottle was far better than my last one; I'm glad that indeed the previous bottle was just off. Very dark complexioned, with just a little hint of VA that isn't too distracting. For my palate, I would have wished the fruit showed a little less stewy/old and fresher. It's possible that I got to these a few years too late as far as the fruit is concerned, but this is still quite brooding and tannic on the finish.

The rumour, I believe, is that this is one of the last Jayer wines at Méo-Camuzet. In any case, this is a wine that feels very true to the vintage. Red fruit (still moderately fresh) with some modest spice notes as well. The midpalate and finish are a little disappointing after the sweet fruit, because it thins out and there is too much tannin and acidity for the actual flavour that remains.

From magnum. Brilliant wine -- silky and svelte nebbiolo in a way that only Sandrone can do (seriously, I've never had any other "modernist" nebbiolo that I enjoy save for Sandrone's). An incredibly smooth wine with no rough edges. Perhaps lacks some of the cerebral enjoyment that I get from nebbiolo, but makes up for it in the form of visceral enjoyment.

Not too keen on this bottle; others I believe liked it more (and it did get a little better with more air later in the evening). Relatively dark fruit for nebbiolo on the nose, with a slight leathery quality. The palate is heavy but feels tired despite this bottle's relative youth. Perhaps poor storage?

#5991. Finally, a bottle of this that I feel is truly correct. The nose is striking in its crystalline purity of red fruit (though someone quipped that there were some woodsy notes that evoked a "freshly cleaned gerbil cage"). The palate fulfills the promise of the nose perfectly; it's essentially the same crystalline red fruits with bright acidity and semi-resolved tannins. Complex and layered but never heavy or plodding, this is archetypal nebbiolo.

A little too stinky and dirty on the nose for me. The palate though is significantly better, with so much fruit on it that I would have guessed this was two or three decades younger. It's hard to imagine that this wasn't topped off or something along the way because of just how young this feels on the palate. There are even still some tannins here! At the end of the day, perhaps more a curiosity than a wine I'd truly want to drink -- there were some other more compelling nebbiolos at the table this evening.

The stemmy element I noted in the previous bottle of this I tasted isn't quite as pronounced on this bottle, but that olive/herbal lift is still clearly in this wine. This is the sort of old nebbiolo with that wonderful lightness without feeling dilute. The fruit is also still sweet; there are no signs that the palate is deteriorating at all here.

This spent about 7 hours in a decanter before dinner. While most at the table preferred the Burlotto for its beautiful perfume and lightness, I preferred the Conterno more for its weight and raw power. This is a hefty wine still showing ample concentration and lots of sweet fruit, though admittedly the fruit is starting to show some brown on the edges.

Hah - my last note on this said that this was the best bottle of Clape I remember having. Well, I'm going to revise that and say this bottle was. An absolutely explosive nose with a wealth of black fruit followed by all the things that you want in syrah with the olive tapenade being at the forefront. The palate is just the right balance of rustic, backwards winemaking and ripe fruit. This did get brettier towards the end, but those glorious initial moments with this wine more than make up for it.

This is before Cordier took over, and maybe it's just me, but this definitely has some of that dirty Cordier flavour already. Some pyrazines here, but also the barnyard/bretty things. There is some black fruit, but not quite enough. The palate's pretty consistent; this indeed reminds me of my other experiences with the Cordier wines. Those aren't experiences I generally care for.

Bottled in 1989, #771. This is my first experience with a Marsala proper (the stuff you use for cooking doesn't count). Drinks like a fully dry, lighter-style Madeira but with more of a rounded texture on the palate and less alcohol and acidity. Fully dry, this would have been absolutely brilliant with a few dried figs and a handful of almonds. Mesmerizing.

#16-77. Initially I didn't quite like this because it had a bit of a bottle stink to it, but once that dissipated, it revealed a modestly sweet wine with tons of apricot/peach. Clearly some botrytis influence with the spice notes, and the residual sugar gives this a relatively unctuous texture. Given this is from the Rheingau (apparently there are other producers besides Weil!) the relative lack of acidity is not surprising, though I wouldn't say in the context of this wine that the acidity is missed too much.