Important Update From the Founder
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Spring comes to Minneapolis.
Tasted April 5, 2008 by BradE with 1,184 views
Introduction
We ushered in spring today in Minneapolis. Sixty five degrees, deck chairs out for the first time, and a nice burgundy lunch.
Flight 1 - ...its five oclock somewhere... (4 notes)
White - Sparkling
1985 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut
Perfect bottle - really like this champagne. Beautiful nose, great on the palate.
White - Sparkling
1996 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut
Its really all been said on this wine - great juice with a long life ahead. Thought we'd bought a lifetime supply, but Lady Di has adopted it as her house champagne, so I think I'm in trouble.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Jacques Picard Champagne Brut Sélection
I moved on to burgundy, so didn't get a chance to try this.
Flight 2 - ...1pm - is it burg time yet?... (13 notes)
Red
2000 Domaine Leroy Clos Vougeot
To me this was an off bottle. We put it aside, and others tried it hours later, but it was a dead soldier.
Red
Red
1996 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche
Decanted for 5 hours. Good showing for this wine - beautiful nuanced fruit, gorgeous nose. Not sure I'd actually pick it out as La Tache blind, but a really good drink even this young.
Red
1996 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes
A great wine, with a great life ahead of it. Sit on them if you have some.
Red
1966 Maison Leroy Chapelle-Chambertin
A typically good showing from a delightful wine. Bravo as usual.
Red
2004 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée
While the 04 bourgogne is closing up, the Vosne Romanee is still a fun young drink. Good stuff.
Red
1998 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux
Exceeded expectations. This bottle was very approachable. Fruit forward, not too reserved. Very enjoyable.
Red
2001 Domaine Dujac Clos St. Denis
Gorgeous wine, drinking amazingly well now. Wish I had this in my cellar - if you do, be glad.
Red
Red
1980 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares
Another great performance for the burg class of 1980. This was a strong contender for WOTN.
Red
1996 Maison Leroy Côte de Beaune Villages
Used as cooking wine, and discovered about 5 hours later. Cooking was its best use.
Flight 3 - ...and we thought this was the end... (2 notes)
White - Sweet/Dessert
1949 Château d'Yquem
I've had this a few times, and its a good but not great d'Yquem. Classic d'Yquem profile, but not as appealing as other older vintages.
White - Fortified
Flight 4 - ...well it was sixty five degrees out... (7 notes)
Red
1982 Château Ausone
From magnum. This was "Diane's bottle", as she still suffers from BDX fever in the face of too much burgundy. The mag was in fine shape quality-wise, and its a nice wine, not a great one.
Red
1982 Château Haut-Brion
Very controversial bottle. I thought it was sub-par, but essentially everyone else thought is wonderful (and it was from a perfectly good case that's been drinking well). Maybe it was the prior 25 bottles this afternoon dulling my senses?
Red
1982 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste
I bought a lot of this wine when it was relatively inexpensive, and I'm still not sure what to think about it. Is it still just too young? Will it come around and be substantially better over time? The jury is still out for me.
Red
1982 Château Cos d'Estournel
I ran upstairs for a quick change of clothes before heading out to dinner, and 10 minutes later I'm back down and the bottle is empty. Diane says it was "excellent".
Red
1979 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
To the extent there is an "everyday drinker" of la la's, the 79's are it. Fun to drink, and very enjoyable.
Closing
It was now 7:30pm, having started at noon, and we had to head out to a 16 wine Marcassin dinner we had organized for tonight. On tap: 96/97/98/99/00/01/02/03 Marcassin Vineyard Chardonnay and 96/97/98/99/00/01/02/03 Marcassin Vineyard Pinot Noir. I don't have the energy to put up notes on these, hopefully one of the other folks will.