Spring comes to Minneapolis.

We ushered in spring today in Minneapolis. Sixty five degrees, deck chairs out for the first time, and a nice burgundy lunch.

• 1985 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut

  France, Champagne

  Perfect bottle - really like this champagne. Beautiful nose, great on the palate.

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• 1996 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut

  France, Champagne

  Its really all been said on this wine - great juice with a long life ahead. Thought we'd bought a lifetime supply, but Lady Di has adopted it as her house champagne, so I think I'm in trouble.

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• 1996 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut

  France, Champagne

  Bottle #2 today. Beautiful.

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• NV Jacques Picard Champagne Brut Sélection

  France, Champagne

  I moved on to burgundy, so didn't get a chance to try this.

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• 2000 Domaine Leroy Clos Vougeot

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru

  To me this was an off bottle. We put it aside, and others tried it hours later, but it was a dead soldier.

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• 2001 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée Les Genaivrières

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée

  Nice bottle, very forward, classic. Liked it.

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• 1996 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru

  Decanted for 5 hours. Good showing for this wine - beautiful nuanced fruit, gorgeous nose. Not sure I'd actually pick it out as La Tache blind, but a really good drink even this young.

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• 1996 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  A great wine, with a great life ahead of it. Sit on them if you have some.

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• 1966 Maison Leroy Chapelle-Chambertin

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru

  A typically good showing from a delightful wine. Bravo as usual.

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• 2004 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée

  While the 04 bourgogne is closing up, the Vosne Romanee is still a fun young drink. Good stuff.

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• 1997 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru

  My memory is failing me on this bottle.

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• 1998 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

  Exceeded expectations. This bottle was very approachable. Fruit forward, not too reserved. Very enjoyable.

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• 2001 Domaine Dujac Clos St. Denis

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos St. Denis Grand Cru

  Gorgeous wine, drinking amazingly well now. Wish I had this in my cellar - if you do, be glad.

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• 1997 Domaine Leroy Pommard Les Vignots

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard

  Decent - more balanced than some of the 97's I've had.

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• 1996 Domaine Marius Delarche Corton-Renardes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  From magnum. Exceeded expectations for me.

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• 1980 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

  Another great performance for the burg class of 1980. This was a strong contender for WOTN.

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• 1996 Maison Leroy Côte de Beaune Villages

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Côte de Beaune Villages

  Used as cooking wine, and discovered about 5 hours later. Cooking was its best use.

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• 1949 Château d'Yquem

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  I've had this a few times, and its a good but not great d'Yquem. Classic d'Yquem profile, but not as appealing as other older vintages.

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• 1905 D'Oliveiras Madeira Verdelho Reserva

  Portugal, Madeira

  Loved this bottle - slowly becoming addicted to Madeira.

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• 1982 Château Ausone

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  From magnum. This was "Diane's bottle", as she still suffers from BDX fever in the face of too much burgundy. The mag was in fine shape quality-wise, and its a nice wine, not a great one.

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• 1982 Château Haut-Brion

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Very controversial bottle. I thought it was sub-par, but essentially everyone else thought is wonderful (and it was from a perfectly good case that's been drinking well). Maybe it was the prior 25 bottles this afternoon dulling my senses?

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• 1982 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  I bought a lot of this wine when it was relatively inexpensive, and I'm still not sure what to think about it. Is it still just too young? Will it come around and be substantially better over time? The jury is still out for me.

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• 1982 Château Cos d'Estournel

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  I ran upstairs for a quick change of clothes before heading out to dinner, and 10 minutes later I'm back down and the bottle is empty. Diane says it was "excellent".

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• 1979 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  To the extent there is an "everyday drinker" of la la's, the 79's are it. Fun to drink, and very enjoyable.

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• 1947 Château Lafite Rothschild

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  From a 375ml. DOA - too bad.

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• 1945 Château La Mission Haut-Brion

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Soft (or as I say fleshy), great fruit.

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It was now 7:30pm, having started at noon, and we had to head out to a 16 wine Marcassin dinner we had organized for tonight. On tap: 96/97/98/99/00/01/02/03 Marcassin Vineyard Chardonnay and 96/97/98/99/00/01/02/03 Marcassin Vineyard Pinot Noir. I don't have the energy to put up notes on these, hopefully one of the other folks will.