France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
All about the sulphur at this point. Thought the egg shells would blow off with some time, but they never really left. I gave this about 4 hours of air before dinner, but it could have used far more. Will 2004 Leflaive’s ever resolve themselves?
to me, this was somewhat shut down. The nose had some fresh bready notes, but was kinda quiet. The palate had a dense lime and lemon note, with nice acidity and cream. I think this needs a helluva lot more time to flesh out the complexity that’s (most likely0 buried underneath.
served blind. Nose had Austrian notes of lychee, vanilla, and citrus. The palate was fleshy and powerful, but I thought it was much younger than a 1998. I guessed it was a Singerriedel, so I wasn’t too far off. Drinking very nicely with a lot of life left on it.
beautiful nose of rose petals, sous bois, tobacco, and cranberries. The palate was lean and bright with a hefty dose of acidity and cranberries. It seemed to build out its floral notes with time and a bit of cedar/tobacco/earthiness developed with air. LLC has been such a disappointment for me over the years…so it was fun to finally open a bottle that was terrific.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
took some time, but this turned into a really beautiful bottle of wine. Super sexy nose of roses, earth, and a touch of balsamic. The power on the palate built with time, too. This matured from a featherweight to more of a welterweight with time.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
poured a tomato juice color, but the nose was really earthy, and I loved its complexity. The plate oscillated from tones of mushroom to more floral notes. This wasn’t a powerhouse…but had all the things I wanted in burgundy.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
this needed time. Thank god for matt’s amazing decanter (you NEED to see it). After about 90 minutes in the decanter, the dark berries and spice notes really built up and fleshed out. The palate had this awesome grip to it, too…a real presence. Loved how the spice notes built up with time…I can only imagine how wonderful this will become with patience.
slow ox’d (is that possible with madeira???) for about 27 hours prior to dinner, and wish I had opened it earlier. Had some nickel tones on the nose with lots of dried florals and plums. Definitely a heat note on the nose too, but luckily that didn’t translate to the palate at all. Loved the raisin, sweet plum, and acidity on the palate. You would think that you were in store for a vicious desert wine, but this just flowed together nicely. Tons of life left (obviously), but I thought this showed well tonight.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
had a really nice density to it. Batard is a powerful grand cru, and this really fit the bill with lots of seashell, sweet lemon, flint, and smoke. While this was drinking well tonight, I think there’s a HUGE upside to this bottle. Pernot produces some of the most underrated/undervalued white burgundies.
beautiful nose of dirt, violets, minerals, and rust. Glad matt opened this so early today, because the glass I poured for myself was just beautiful. The tannis were there, but sweet and faint. This was all about the earthy/rose/plum/mineral tones that were intertwined on the palate. Drinking in a great place.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru
Seemed a bit simplistic and overly acidic to me (and I LOVE acidic pinot). This did have really nice floral notes, but never seemed to reach the levels of the other Maison Ilan’s.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
Served blind. Definitely a powerful wine. Dark nose with some rose and lilac tones. Had a nice meaty edge to it, too. Palate was already drinking really well…will get better, but jeez, it’s already a winner.
I liked this a hair more than the Chaffots as it seemed to have more of a fleshed out floral note. I’ve always loved the floral complexity of Volnays, so maybe that’s where it’s coming from. The palate was delicious, but a bit simplistic. Interested to see where this goes with time
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazoyères-Chambertin Grand Cru
Served blind. Very impressive wine. Aromas of dark fruits, lots of steaminess, and flora notes. This was a powerful wine but seemed to have a lightness on the palate to it. This is really good.
2004 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
All about the sulphur at this point. Thought the egg shells would blow off with some time, but they never really left. I gave this about 4 hours of air before dinner, but it could have used far more. Will 2004 Leflaive’s ever resolve themselves?
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1999 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut
France, Champagne
to me, this was somewhat shut down. The nose had some fresh bready notes, but was kinda quiet. The palate had a dense lime and lemon note, with nice acidity and cream. I think this needs a helluva lot more time to flesh out the complexity that’s (most likely0 buried underneath.
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1998 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Smaragd Hochrain 91 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
served blind. Nose had Austrian notes of lychee, vanilla, and citrus. The palate was fleshy and powerful, but I thought it was much younger than a 1998. I guessed it was a Singerriedel, so I wasn’t too far off. Drinking very nicely with a lot of life left on it.
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1961 Château Léoville Las Cases 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
beautiful nose of rose petals, sous bois, tobacco, and cranberries. The palate was lean and bright with a hefty dose of acidity and cranberries. It seemed to build out its floral notes with time and a bit of cedar/tobacco/earthiness developed with air. LLC has been such a disappointment for me over the years…so it was fun to finally open a bottle that was terrific.
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1995 Domaine Denis Bachelet Charmes-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
took some time, but this turned into a really beautiful bottle of wine. Super sexy nose of roses, earth, and a touch of balsamic. The power on the palate built with time, too. This matured from a featherweight to more of a welterweight with time.
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1986 Domaine Dujac Charmes-Chambertin 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
poured a tomato juice color, but the nose was really earthy, and I loved its complexity. The plate oscillated from tones of mushroom to more floral notes. This wasn’t a powerhouse…but had all the things I wanted in burgundy.
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2001 Domaine Dujac Echezeaux 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
this needed time. Thank god for matt’s amazing decanter (you NEED to see it). After about 90 minutes in the decanter, the dark berries and spice notes really built up and fleshed out. The palate had this awesome grip to it, too…a real presence. Loved how the spice notes built up with time…I can only imagine how wonderful this will become with patience.
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1966 Blandy's Madeira Sercial 93 Points
Portugal, Madeira
slow ox’d (is that possible with madeira???) for about 27 hours prior to dinner, and wish I had opened it earlier. Had some nickel tones on the nose with lots of dried florals and plums. Definitely a heat note on the nose too, but luckily that didn’t translate to the palate at all. Loved the raisin, sweet plum, and acidity on the palate. You would think that you were in store for a vicious desert wine, but this just flowed together nicely. Tons of life left (obviously), but I thought this showed well tonight.
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2001 Paul Pernot et ses Fils Bâtard-Montrachet 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
had a really nice density to it. Batard is a powerful grand cru, and this really fit the bill with lots of seashell, sweet lemon, flint, and smoke. While this was drinking well tonight, I think there’s a HUGE upside to this bottle. Pernot produces some of the most underrated/undervalued white burgundies.
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1947 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
beautiful nose of dirt, violets, minerals, and rust. Glad matt opened this so early today, because the glass I poured for myself was just beautiful. The tannis were there, but sweet and faint. This was all about the earthy/rose/plum/mineral tones that were intertwined on the palate. Drinking in a great place.
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2011 Maison Ilan Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Les Chaffots 87 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru
Seemed a bit simplistic and overly acidic to me (and I LOVE acidic pinot). This did have really nice floral notes, but never seemed to reach the levels of the other Maison Ilan’s.
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2011 Jean-Jacques Confuron Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
Served blind. Definitely a powerful wine. Dark nose with some rose and lilac tones. Had a nice meaty edge to it, too. Palate was already drinking really well…will get better, but jeez, it’s already a winner.
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2011 Maison Ilan Volnay 1er Cru Les Robardelles 88 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
I liked this a hair more than the Chaffots as it seemed to have more of a fleshed out floral note. I’ve always loved the floral complexity of Volnays, so maybe that’s where it’s coming from. The palate was delicious, but a bit simplistic. Interested to see where this goes with time
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2011 Maison Ilan Mazoyères-Chambertin 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazoyères-Chambertin Grand Cru
Served blind. Very impressive wine. Aromas of dark fruits, lots of steaminess, and flora notes. This was a powerful wine but seemed to have a lightness on the palate to it. This is really good.
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