August 7, 2022 - Perfectly balanced. Lite sherry flavors. Stone and wheat. Nothing out of place. Crisp acidity.. Great wine.
October 16, 2020 - Dark sauterne color, did not look good; some aged oxy notes on the nose but not strong, bubbles are gone, nutty pecan and roasted almond notes, slight sherry thing but in check; med. mouthfeel, good weight, with an incredible long tangy finish, sign of pedigree. This was really fun, at first not disappointed that it "was not horrible" based on the color and obvious signs of oxidation, but after sitting with this for 20 or so minutes, it really was lovely, full of character, with that nice finish, and slight caramel/sour apple notes. Sandy's old champagnes dinner.
December 4, 2018 - Wine Workshop: An evening with Cristal (Atera - 77 Worth Street in NYC): Very fun and nice to get to try a birth year wine again. This was well aged. Lots of caramel and some oxidation and served a bit cold so some of the flavors a touch muted and didn't have as much time to warm up as some of the others. Still, an enjoyable wine as they all were.
September 14, 2018 - Interestingly, this had lost all of its effervescence, but the underlying flat wine was moderately enjoyable.
March 30, 2018 - A Few Favorite Wines (Vaucluse): We all agreed this was basically a caramel apple crumble with a touch of cinnamon in the glass. Obviously a dry style, but there was a bit of sweetness to it. Started and ended the dinner with it. Out of a magnum. There was some concern that it was 'over the hill', but I like that aged champagne flavor. Interesting finish where the primary part ends a bit quickly, but there's this background flavor that just keeps going and going. Very much enjoyed. And who doesn't like birth year bubbles?
January 9, 2016 - Bye Bye Timmy (Convivial - Washington, D.C.): From magnum. Changed a lot over the course of the evening. At first I thought there was a hint of cork taint, but that seemed to blow off. Then I got the feeling I was dealing with an oxidized bottle as flavors of honey and butterscotch seemed to emerge. Sat the bottle aside, and about 2 hours later revisited it. Much cleaner, and fresher. Florals, pears, and minerals took center stage. Ended up really nice...good balance and depth. Just needed some air, I guess.
January 1, 2016 - A bit advanced. good but on its last leg.
July 4, 2015 - Orange golden color with fine bubbles. This bottle tasted a bit older than it should be, a bit plummy and nutty.
August 31, 2014 - Fathers 60th Birthday; 8/31/2014-9/1/2014: Unfortunately this had been stored improperly at room temperature for at least a decade. As we knew about this the expectations weren't great. Turned out to be less damaged than we had feared. The nose has a slight touch of madeira, dried fruit and dust. But there is nice buttery biscuits and stable hay. In the mouth the wine feels a lot more oxidized. Dried out fruit, a decent length and round acidity. This is a flawed wine, but we had not problem emptying the bottle.
August 6, 2014 - Had this alongside the '79 and in the end I'll give them a tie (I'll leave my note and score here because for some reason this one gets less love on CT). Both were great wines and remarkably fresh.