Bubbles and Burgs

I was in the DC area visiting tooch, so he contacted David to set up a tasting. Knowing that I'm a burg guy, a theme of bubbles and burgs was set up and we had a flight of bubbles, white burgs, and red burgs along with a variety of other wines that seemed to pop out of nowhere.

• 1986 Renaudin Champagne L'Espiégle Brut Rosé 92 Points

  France, Champagne

  nose: lovely and succulent nose of cherries, bread, bits of red fruits, floral tones and a touch of red apples. Very good layering and good depth with a refined sense to it as well
  
  taste: great suave medium feel with medium acidity and balanced tones of cherries, bread, nutty tones, cinnamon spice, bits of florals and red apples. There is a real roundness to the tones on the palate as well as a regal quality
  
  overall: This was out of magnum. While mature, this had a lot of life in it and was very balanced on both the nose and palate. There is good layering as well and a real suave quality that is very enjoyable

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• 1979 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs

  France, Champagne

  nose: real sexy and balanced nose of creme brulee', warm honey, hot wax, graham crackers and a good bit of nutty tones. With some more air, some oxidative tones emerge, though they aren't too much it is noticeable. Very good layering and there is a understated richness to the nose as well
  
  taste: great medium/full body with balanced and tasty tones of roasted nuts, creme brulee', warm honey, beeswax, and some bits of graham crackers. There is a good richness to the tones as well, but there is some noticeable oxidative tones that do poke through
  
  overall: A great experience, but hard to rate it. This wasn't a mind blowing champagne but a real treat. There was an oxidized quality to the wine, but there were very defined and mature tones on both the nose and palate. There weren't that many bubbles left in it either and it drank more like a well aged chardonnay

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• 1999 Gosset Champagne Brut Grand Millésime 91 Points

  France, Champagne

  nose: very fresh and lively nose of biscuits, white fruits, citrus tones, pears, and a touch of apples. Good depth and showing the youth of the wine, especially compared to the other two wines that were present
  
  taste: nice and smooth feel with good medium+ acidity as well as polished tones of biscuits, white fruits, pears, and tones of apples. Well balanced with a real class to the feel as well
  
  overall: the youngest of teh bubblies and it showed. It was much more lively than the other two, but still was extremely good with nice balance and a smoothness to it as well. Well polished, and though it was young, it was far from inaccessible and was very enjoyable

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• 2005 Domaine Lamy-Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  nose: fresh and airy nose of apples, white fruits, pears and bits of acacia flowers. Very classy with real good depth and fairly open right now at this young age
  
  taste: medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity and well balanced tones of apples, white fruits, pears, bits of warm butter and a touch of floral tones. Classy with real good definition already, but the acidity is a bit noticeable
  
  overall: this was surprisingly open right now. Obviously could use a few more years, but this doesn't feel like a long term white burg even without the premox threat. Well balanced on both the nose and palate with a real sense of class to it and a bit of baby fat shaved off

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• 2006 Verget Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 87 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  nose: a good dose of oak is knocking right off the bat with tones of tart green apples, smoke, toasty tones, and bits of pears. The oak and the oak influences are a bit much for me and covering up the chablis quality of it. There is grand cru depth on this and shows the more ripe side of the 06 vintage.
  
  taste: well balanced with a more mediuml feel and tones of toast, pears, oak, and bits of tart apples. Good medium+ acidity shows off the youth and it is a bit bigger of a chablis and has a ripeness to it
  
  overall: There would be zero way of guessing this to be a chablis. There wasn't much minerality and the feel on it was larger than one would normally expect from a chablis. It was bothersome and the toasty quality of it seemed to hide the fruit on it as well. It certainly has grand cru depth on both the nose and palate, but it tastes a bit more like a california chardonnay trying to be a white burg rather than a chablis

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• 1996 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  nose: real great class and depth with well balanced and regal tones of tart citrus', bits of smoke, green apples, pears and a touch of lemon peels and mineral tones. Great layering on the nose and though it starts off a bit smokey, it pulls back into real good and aged tones
  
  taste: medium/full body with medium+ acidity as well as deep tones of pears, green apples, bits of mineral and stone tones, tart citrus', and hints of smoke. Very well layered with a real suave feel on the palate that really shows off the wine
  
  overall: In retrospect this could've used some decent air time before drinking, but even with Leflaive, it's hard to fully predict what will happen to a 96 white burg. This had a lighter gold color to it and the acidity was showing itself off right now. In the world of no premox, I would say that this could still use another few years to really show off what it can do, but its up to people as to whether to roll the dice or not

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• 2000 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  nose: Real great depth and class that shows off its Grand Cru status with layered tones of warm oils, almonds, citrus tones, pears, white fruits, and bits of white florals. It shows off a good bit of complexity at this young time
  
  taste: medium/full bodied with medium/high acidity and well layered tones of peaches, pears, oils, almonds, white florals and bits of white fruits. Showing off its youth, but has the depth you would expect from a Grand Cru
  
  overall: A great young Corton Charlemagne. It looked a bit dark in the bottle, but all was relieved when it was poured and had a lighter golden color to it. This could've used a decant as it was wound tight at first, but as always, how does one predict where a burg is on the premox roulette. This can definitely go a good way and hasn't really started to get into that next level yet, but is showing great materials for that to happen

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• 2000 Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Perrières 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  nose: very well balanced and aromatic nose of white fruits, apples, minerals, bits of caramel, along with peaches and a touch of smoke. Good depth, but showing itself to be a bit more mature at this time
  
  taste: medium/full bodied with medium+ acidity and smooth tones of peach blossoms, white fruits, minerals, peaches, and caramel. Has a real class to the feel and the acidity is sticking out a bit right now as well
  
  overall: this was as gold as the leflaive. It seemed like it was drinking perfectly and doesn't really come off as a long term ager. Well balanced on both the nose and palate, this also had some nice layering on it with great tones as well

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• 1990 Domaine Thomas-Moillard Corton-Clos du Roi 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  nose: there is an interesting and sappy quality on the nose immediately with tones of brown spices, purple florals, dark red cherries, dark red fruits and a touch of earth tones. Very elegant and inviting nose with a perfumed quality to the tones
  
  taste: lithe and elegant medium feel with medium acidity as well as rounded tones of dark red cherries, bits of earth, brown spices, dark red fruits and some sappy tones as well behind them all. There is a nice and refined sense to the wine and is showing its maturity with the tones on the palate
  
  overall: This is in a perfect place right now. Has a dark ruby color in the glass with a bit of browning at the rim. There is an interesting sappyness to it that seems to lurk underneath, but there is a refined nature to the wine as well

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• 1990 Faiveley Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Fuées 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

  nose: was a bit tight and unforgiving at first, so with some swirling and letting it sit in my glass it then beautifully opened up to reveal lovely tones of red fruits, red cherries, bits of fresh picked berries, hi-toned red florals and a variety of perfumes. Very well balanced with a delicate style to it that is very chambolle and very inviting with good depth as well
  
  taste: a bit lighter on its feet with delicate and feminine tones of red fruits, red cherries, bits of mixed berries, red florals and a touch of perfumes on the back end. There are some gripping tannins that speak to an older styled faiveley as well as medium+ acidity that still is making itself known
  
  overall: this took a bit to get going and I made sure to put my glass off to the side so as to give it the biggest benefit. This had a nice lighter ruby color to it and when it opened up, it turned into a classic chambolle that made me just want to experience the wine. This is certainly an old school wine and was a bit grumpy at first, this could've benefited from some decent bottle air as it really blossomed with air

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• 1998 Louis Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Domaine Louis Jadot 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru

  nose: and now we are on a different level of wine with the nose. Lots of depth that one would expect from a CdB with some power behind it and tones of truffles, bits of dark spices, dark red fruits, dark red cherries, bits of raspberries as well as dark floral tones. Well layered, but youthful as it is holding back a slight bit, but this made you take notice almost right away
  
  taste: larger scaled on the palate then the previous red burgs, but that would be expected with this wine and a medium/full feel with good and gripping tannins as well as medium/high acidity showing its youth. Powerful and penetrating tones of dark red florals, dark spices, truffles, dark red cherries and some bits of raspberries. The youth of this wine is showing itself off, but it isn't completely inaccessible at this time on the palate
  
  overall: A great young Clos De Beze. This was given about an hour of bottle air and an hour in the decanter and it still was showing rather young. While not unexpected, it was still interesting to see and it seems like this hasn't even begun to really show what it can do. It was captivating and powerful at the same time, it demanded your attention with its complexity and structure. This should be a fun wine to revisit down the line and continues showing off the lovely 98 vintage for red burgs

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• 2002 Jean-Claude Boisset Volnay 1er Cru Les Brouillards 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  nose: shows off the sappyness that I generally get from 02s right now with tones of dark red fruits, dark red cherries, some earth and bits of mushrooms as well as various spice tones. Good depth, but holding back a bit right now and not fully showing off the terroir just yet
  
  taste: extremely young with some rough edges and gripping tannins as well as a good medium feel. Balanced, but holding back with tones of dark red fruits, some pine sap, earth tones and some spices as well with medium/high acidity that is also noticeable
  
  overall: As with many of the 02s that I've had recently, it just isn't ready for primetime just yet. There's a lot to like here, but this wasn't really showing for me and still needs to be smooth out with some sideways time. There is an attractive and delicious quality there that makes it very enjoyable, so it'd be nice to come back to this when it hits age 12 or so

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• 2006 Celler Escoda-Sanahuja Conca de Barberà Els Bassots

  Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Conca de Barberà

  nose: nice and smokey nose with tones of sweet citrus', pears and bits of apricots. Very interesting and intriguing nose that has me going back to it consistently
  
  taste: very tasty medium/full feel with good medium acidity and crisp tones of tree fruits, smokey tones, bits of citrus', pears and a touch of apricots. Well balanced with good weight, but not overbearing at all
  
  overall: a very nice wine used as a wind down after all of the burgs. Balanced with interesting tones on both the nose and palate, it'd be nice to spend time with a bottle of this wine and with some fish

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• 1996 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Demi-Sec

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  nose: lovely and inviting nose of honeydew melons, white fruits, bits of nutty tones and a good bit of green and red apples. Well balanced with real good depth on the nose and some good layering
  
  taste: delicious medium/full body with medium+ acidity that is showing itself off and tasty tones of pears, green and red apples, some bits of honey and a touch of nutty tones as well
  
  overall: A very interesting wine. Lots of life left on this as the wine just seems to be starting to really show itself. Well balanced with real good tones on both the nose and palate that bring a good bit of intrigue as well as being very tasty

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• 1997 Château Nairac 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

  nose: nice and distinct nose of sweet apricots, nectarines and some bits of pears along with a touch of caramel. Very good tones, but there is a simplicity to them and they don't really jump out of the glass
  
  taste: very good medium/full feel with medium acidity and balanced tones of pears, apricots, nectarines and a touch of warm caramel. Comes off as mature on the palate with the kind of round feel that one gets with older sauternes
  
  overall: this had a blood orange color to it and seemed as advanced as it will get. A nice and balanced sauternes that seems at its peak, but I'm used to sauternes of this age coming off as much younger and lighter in color. It was a pleasant and nice sauternes, but not much more

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• 2000 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Clos Windsbuhl 92 Points

  France, Alsace

  nose: real nice and fat nose of green apples, sweet citrus', bits of pears, white peaches and a touch of apricots. Well balanced with real good depth and a real sense of class as well
  
  taste: delicious medium/full feel with medium+ acidity and round tones of white peaches, pears, green apples, and a bit of apricots as well. Not cloying, but the residual sugar is there on the palate that adds a bit to this
  
  overall: Drinking a ZH always reminds me why they are so good. This was supremely balanced with great aromatics and a great feel as well as a classy side to it. Great depth as well, this was showing well right off the bat on pop n pour, though it probably could've benefited from some air

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What a great night for my first night in DC since I was a kid. All sorts of great wine and food, and most importantly great company as well. Cheers david and ali for putting together a great tasting and showing this out of towner a good time