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Pre-Paulee Warm-up Dinner
House of Nanda - Chicago IL
Tasted March 1, 2023 by Burgundy Al with 137 views
Introduction
Dinner with friends from Chicago and Morey St Denis
Flight 1 - Champagne to Start (2 notes)
White - Sparkling
2008 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut
97 points
Amazing and impressive. Such concentration with a seamless elegance, this shows such a broad array of orchard fruit and berries everywhere with spice and brioche hints.
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White - Sparkling
2008 Dom Pérignon Champagne
95 points
Ripe apple and baked apple with good richness start-to-finish, despite a faint reticence on its long finish. Upside from here.
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Flight 2 - Top Dry Riesling (3 notes)
White
2012 Weingut Keller Kirchspiel Riesling Großes Gewächs
93 points
In great 2012 Riesling flight. Opulent citrus and citrus peel with very good richness, just less complexity vs the Donnhoff or Trimbach. Still really wonderful, with further upside.
White
2012 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune
94 points
In great 2012 Riesling flight. The star of the flight, this is aromatically enchanting with so much apple, pear, melon, and mint with incredible depth.
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White
2012 Dönnhoff Hermannshöhle Riesling Großes Gewächs
94 points
In great 2012 Riesling flight. Citrus and floral notes with some emerging mature notes coming through. The most "ready" of the trio and possibly the most harmonious, but the Clos St Hune is just slightly more exciting.
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Flight 3 - Laguiche Montrachet (3 notes)
White
2017 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet
95 points
In vertical. Charming and elegant with plump orchard fruit. Seamless already, I will nit pick and say I was hoping for greater concentration, but expect that might increase with cellar time.
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Comments (3)
White
2013 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet
96 points
Highlight of the vertical. Layered and complex with sweet and tart notes throughout, this kept unfolding and changing before our eyes. This has the substance to age well.
White
2004 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet
92 points
In vertical. Reductive start did not fully dissipate for several hours, so this never came across nearly as complete as the younger wines. Still very tasty tonight.
Flight 4 - Soldera (2 notes)
Red
1999 Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva
99/04 paired. I was not thrilled with either. Lots here, but the structure of this 1999 overshadowed the fruit, and I found this less pristine than I'd prefer, too.
Red
2004 Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva
91 points
99/04 paired. I was not thrilled with either, but I preferred this 2004. Also slightly dirty, but lots of red cherry and berry front-and-center, maturing gracefully. Long-ish, persistent finish.
Flight 5 - Spanish Stars (4 notes)
Red
1976 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Bosconia
94 points
Alongside the '76 Tondonia Gran Reserva. Fully mature red cherry with lots of earth, yet sparkly clean and so spiced. More layers kept emerging with more air. Really great, just not as great as the Tondonia, this wine was probably better a few years ago.
Red
1976 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia
98 points
Alongside the '76 Bosconia Gran Reserva. Complex array of red and black cherry with slowly cooked mushroom, braised meat spice and lots of concentration. Much better vs last time opened at a dinner in 2012, this was sensational today, easily overshadowing the beautiful Bosconia. Wine of the Night.
Red
1989 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único
Alongside 1990. All black fruited, lots here, but clearly still brooding. Impressive weight and density tells me how great this wine can/will be, but tonight it was slightly less expressive than previous bottles, even with some decanter time. 93 points tonight, 94-95 points in the future.
Red
1990 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único
flawed
Alongside 1989. Brilliant to start, but started slowly fading in glass. One diner drinking from Zalto stems identified cork taint. So sad.
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Flight 6 - Mid Aged Bordeaux (4 notes)
Red
1989 Château Cheval Blanc
94 points
Very rich, slightly more mature than I expected/ hoped. Great spice and roasted meat notes. Lots here.
Red
1989 Château Lafite Rothschild
90 points
Fun but seemingly mature for a 1989. Good depth, just slightly flat. I haven't had this wine in 15+ years, and my expectations were not met.
Red
1990 Château Lafite Rothschild
flawed
First bottle was corked, but no worries, there was a backup....
Red
1990 Château Lafite Rothschild
flawed
...and the replacement bottle for the corked 1990 Château Lafite Rothschild was also corked
Flight 7 - Grange (2 notes)
Red
1991 Penfolds Grange
92 points
Alongside 1989. Splash decanted 5 hours in advance. Ripe and brawny, lots here, but the powerful fruit still really dominates. Needs more time/ air to unfold its full greatness.
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Red
1989 Penfolds Grange
92 points
Alongside 1991. Both splash decanted 5 hours in advance. Also rich and powerful, this was also still too backward, but had a leg up for being more texturally interesting. Lots here, upside from here.
Flight 8 - d'Yquem (1 note)
White - Sweet/Dessert
1975 Château d'Yquem
95 points
Concentrated fresh and dried apricot with some honeycomb. Good+ weight, great length and balance.
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