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Cru Crew Wine dinner hosted by Brad England
Mara restaurant at the Four Seasons hotel in Minneapolis, MN.
Tasted April 29, 2024 by rnellans with 169 views
Introduction
Brad, a lover of white burgundy, especially Lafon, again puts on a tasting and dinner to die for. Six months ago, we had a tasting of Lafon Montrachet. So what better to do, than have a tasting and dinner featuring 19 vintages of Ramonet Montrachet with five 1961 Bordeaux first growths following. Also, some beautiful champagnes.
Flight 1 (1 note)
White - Sparkling
1995 Krug Champagne Clos d'Ambonnay
96 points
A real treat to taste this wine. First release of the d"Ambonnay. Beautiful mouth feel and texture. Full and rich. What's not to like, other than the price.
Flight 2 (3 notes)
White
1983 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
flawed
Served alongside the '82 and '84. Dark orange color..Obviously oxidized/flawed.
White
1984 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
94 points
Served alongside the '82 and '83. Not in the same league as the '82. Yellow-orange color. Slightly advanced. Somewhat complex aromas. Rich, Medium body. Some spice...a little out of balance with pronounce acidity on the short finish. Pleasant, not great for a wine of this caliber.
White
1982 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
96 points
Served alongside the '83 and '84. A real treat. I last had this wine in 2013 and at the time I wondered if it may have passed its apogee. Well, I answered that question. NO! This was a very good bottle. Dark yellow in color. Beautiful from the get go. Very rich, balanced with excellent mouthfeel. Some spice and a finish, somewhat sweet, that lingers. Perhaps lacking acidity, but not unexpected in a wine like this. A real treat.
Flight 3 (4 notes)
White
1992 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
96 points
Served alongside the '96, '00 and '07. My favorite of the flight. Beautiful nose of spice, honey. Excellent color. Rich, mature flavors. Soft texture. Some acidity and a nice long finish. Not as good as the '82 on the previous flight.
White
1996 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
flawed
Served alongside the '92, '00 and '07. Dark orange. Flat, obviously oxidized.
White
2000 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
93 points
Served alongside the '92, '96 and '07. Some honeysuckle and baked apple on the nose. Pleasant but lacks depth. Finish OK. Not as good as the other sound wines in the flight.
White
2007 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
95 points
Served alongside the '92, '96 and '00. Very good wine. Light straw color. Citrus, spice and minerality on the nose. Very good balanced mid palate. If any complaint, would be slight lack of freshness. Solid wine however.
Flight 4 (4 notes)
White
2008 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
98 points
Served alongside the '10, '11 and '12. I loved this wine. Light straw color. Lots of honeysuckle, spice on the nose. Beautiful lush, rich balanced mid palate with some tropical fruit notes. Sweet lingering finish. My favorite of the flight.
White
2010 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
97 points
Served alongside the '08, '11 and '12. Second imo to the '08, although others may disagree. Medium straw color. Spice and some tropical fruit notes similar to the '08. Palate not as rich and lush however giving the nod to the '08 imo.
White
2011 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
96 points
Served alongside the '08, '10 and '12. Yellow color. Spice, tropical fruit a and pineapple notes on the nose. Lush palate. Lacks the freshness of the '08 and '10 imo. Improved with time in the glass.
White
2012 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
95 points
Served alongside the '08, '10, '11. Excellent wine but in stiff competition. Some mint, spice in the nose. Less complex than others in the flight. It seemed somewhat 'closed up' and lacks the 'wow' factor that many wines had in this tasting. Excellent structure but likely just needs more time.
Flight 5 (4 notes)
White
2013 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet
97 points
Served alongside the '14, '15 and '16. Excellent flight of wines. Complex nose with spice, mineral, mint and citrus notes. Very fresh. Great mouthfeel and very well balanced. Long sweet finish. Love the wine!
White
2014 Jean-Claude Ramonet Montrachet
98 points
Served alongside the '13, '15 and '16. I thought this best of the flight, although others disagreed, putting the '13 ahead. Some spice and citrus on the nose. Huge mid palate that is memorable. Wow factor for me. Long fresh finish. Outstanding wine.
White
2015 Jean-Claude Ramonet Montrachet
96 points
Served alongside the '13, '14 and '16. Very good showing. Spice, honey on the nose. Very lush but perhaps lacks freshness of some of the others. Sweet lingering finish.
White
2016 Jean-Claude Ramonet Montrachet
95 points
My least favorite of the flight, but still very good. Some mint, lactic and spice on the nose. Creamy palate. Less complex than the others.
Flight 6 (4 notes)
White
2017 Jean-Claude Ramonet Montrachet
94 points
Served alongside the '18, '19 and 20. This flight is so young to evaluate, as all will likely improve a lot with time. This wine less complex than the others imo. Nice fruit on the palate, but lacks a bit in freshness. Nice sweet finish.
White
2018 Jean-Claude Ramonet Montrachet
96 points
Served alongside the '17, '19 and 20. Very nice wine. A step up from the '17. Some method, mint and spice on the nose. Big mid palate with nicer energy. Long finish. Outclassed my the '19 however imo.
White
2019 Jean-Claude Ramonet Montrachet
98 points
Served alongside the '17, '18, and 20. Another WOW wine to me. Complex aromas of honeysuckle, pear and spice. Superb. balance and texture. Quite rich, lush. Long lingering finish. My favorite of the flight.
White
2020 Jean-Claude Ramonet Montrachet
Served alongside the '17, '18, and '19. This wine was difficult for me to evaluate and to give a score. It seems to have so much potential, but just needs time to come out of its shell. It started to open with air as the tasting progressed. Very lush palate. I look forward to tasting this again in several years.
Flight 7 (5 notes)
Red
1961 Château Mouton Rothschild
95 points
Served alongside '61 Latour, Lafite, LaMissioin HB and Petrus in a tasting/dininer preceeded by 19 vintages of Ramonet Montrachet. Needless to say, my palate may not be 100% up to par. Although not bought on release this bottle has been in my cellar for more than 50 years. Dark fruited with leather, cedar, eucalyptus on the nose. Medium body and not as rich as the Latour. Finish ok, but not great.
Red
1961 Château Latour Grand Vin
98 points
Served alongside '61 Mouton Rothschild, Lafite, LaMissioin HB and Petrus in a tasting/dininer preceeded by 19 vintages of Ramonet Montrachet. Needless to say, my palate may not be 100% up to par. Although not bought on release this bottle is the last bottle of a case and has been in my cellar for more than 50 years. Wow wine to me. Tobacco, dark fruits on the nose. It shines on the palate with layers of rich fruit, soft tannins. Very long lingering finish. Best of the flight for me without question.
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Comments (1)
Red
1961 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
96 points
Served alongside '61 Latour, Lafite, Latour and Petrus in a tasting/dinner preceeded by 19 vintages of Ramonet Montrachet. Needless to say, my palate may not be 100% up to par. This wine seems different from previous bottles of this I have tasted. Very interesting nose and palate. I think that there may be a slight flaw in the wine, but certainly didn't detract from the enjoyment, but rather may have increased it. Dark fruit, tobacco, smoke with a 'sweet/sour' component to both the nose and palate. Long finish. Second in flight to the Latour imo.
Red
1961 Pétrus
94 points
Served alongside '61 Latour, Lafite, Mouton and Petrus in a tasting/dinner preceeded by 19 vintages of Ramonet Montrachet. Needless to say, my palate may not be 100% up to par. Dark fruit. Nose seemed muted. Velvety, soft palate. Nice, but not great imo.
Red
1961 Château Lafite Rothschild
93 points
Served alongside '61 Latour, Latour, LaMission HB and Petrus in a tasting/dinner preceeded by 19 vintages of Ramonet Montrachet. Needless to say, my palate may not be 100% up to par. This wine lacks somewhat in fruit . Medium-bodied, with light tannins. Lacks the power of the Latour and LaMission HB.
Flight 8 (2 notes)
White - Sparkling
1988 Jacques Selosse Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut Millésimé
95 points
Very nice. Nice bouquet of baked bread. Oxidative style. Very fresh.
White - Sparkling
1966 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon
96 points
I love this wine. Last tasted more than 10 years ago and my comments are very much the same. Timeless. My notes from 1/22/2014 -- A delicious mature bottle. Apricot, caramel, honey, fresh, mid-palate depth, rich and long, long." Nothing has changed!! I love older, mature champagne.
Closing
This was a spectacular dinner and tasting. Kudos to Brad for organizing! Outstanding wines and food. A WOW evening that will not be forgotten.