Disgorged in 2006. Quite oxidative, rich with some honey notes. This reminded me of the 96 Henriot that I tried previously so I went for the same ballpark of late 90s / early 2000s. Sharp acidity on the finish, his champagnes tend to be a little disjointed for me.

Heavily extracted with dark purple fruit, unintegrated oak with a huge dose of vanilla on the nose. Absolutely zero finesse in this wine. 8/8.

Very sweet and ripe nose but more restrained and elegant on the palate with red cherry fruit. No depth to this however. Unmistakably new world, guessed Aussie. 6/8.

Strong menthol note on the nose, plummy fruit. Ripe fruit that seemed disjointed and lacked energy. Guessed Aussie Shiraz from mid-90s. 7/8.

Nose was slightly off-putting, was a brett bomb that thankfully blew off with air. Not the cleanest wine but had that old-school character in spades. Classic and restrained, thought this was the Heitz which wasn’t a bad guess on hindsight. Others didn’t like this as much as me. 3/7.

Everyone was convinced this was the Heitz on the basis that it was their favourite but I was quite sure this was an Aussie since it reminded me a lot of the Diana Cullen that I tried previously. Lots of pyrazines and mint on the nose, sweet attractive fruit but thought it lacked a little precision and structure. Thought this was good but I didn’t like this as much as the others. Nevertheless, thankful to have tried a birth year wine. 4/8.

Thought this was the ringer Bordeaux. Presented itself like a pedigreed right bank with tremendous elegance and restrained, dark red fruit. I think I enjoyed this because this had the most acid out of the wines tonight. A very complete and classically proportioned Cab in just the right spot for drinking. 1/8.

My contribution. Very similar to the Dominus with a little mint on the nose, and more eucalyptus. Much cleaner on the palate but was rather understated so it didn’t stand out. Like this style of wine personally so I ranked it higher than the others. Drinking very well for a 1991. 2/8.

I thought the Diamond Creek or this was the ringer but the somm at the restaurant nailed that this was a Bordeaux right away. Rather advanced for the age with slightly oxidised notes, given that 98 right banks should be in their prime now. Not the strongest period for the estate apparently. Some liked this but I wasn’t a fan. 5/8.