Ringing in the New Year

This ended up being spread across three days between my place and leather palate's. New year's was at leather palate's, new year's night was at mine, and the second was at leather palate's to celebrate an 11-5 Bears season

• 1996 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Brand 93 Points

  France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

  (12/31/2010)

  nose: real classy and fat nose of honeysuckle, lanolin, pears, nectarines, and bits of creamed apples. Great layering on the nose with great depth as well and very expressive
  
  taste: full bodied with deep tones of honeysuckle, pears, creamed apples and a touch of warm honey. Extremely well balanced with medium acidity supporting it
  
  overall: This ZH is right in its pomp. Beautiful and succulent on both the nose and palate with great depth and layering. Classy and elegant, this is a ton of fun to drink and shows off everything that I enjoy from ZH

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• 1993 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir The Beaux Frères Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, Oregon, Yamhill County

  (12/31/2010)

  nose: very pungent and effusive nose with all sorts of perfumes providing a beautiful base along with tones of sour cherries, plums, mineral rich earth tones, all sorts of wild spice tones as well as a touch of roses. beautiful layering on the nose as it wafts out of the glass
  
  taste: very pretty medium/full feel with medium+ acidity and layered tones of dark red fruits, sour red cherries, roses, and a good bit of wild spices. There is a nice feminine style to it on the palate as well as a lengthy floral finish
  
  overall: this was served blind to me. While I was able to guess it as oregon pinot, the age wasn't even close as I thought this was more like a 00. This is a real lovely wine that will certainly be able to go a lot further but is extremely enjoyable right now. This grew as the night went on and really took on more elegance and purity

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• 2004 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d'Or 93 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  (12/31/2010)

  nose: pristine and delicious nose of white fruits, fresh cut lemons, loads of mineral tones, peach blossoms, and tart citrusy tones as well. Very classy and elegant on the nose as well with a good amount of depth
  
  taste: absolutely lovely medium/full feel with deep tones of minerals, white fruits, peach blossoms, and citrus tones. Great balance on the palate with medium/high acidity that shows off the youth a bit
  
  overall: this is a wonderful champagne right now, but it can be much better. Very classy and elegant with excellent depth on both the nose and palate, this should round out well with another 3 years or so

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• 1989 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva 95 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  (1/1/2011)

  nose: intoxicating, perfumed, and utterly beautiful nose with tones of tar, roses, cherries, perfumes, red berries, and bits of earthen tones. Very feminine with great layering and depth that draws you in gorgeously
  
  taste: gorgeous and satiny medium feel with good supporting tannins as well as medium+ acidity. Beautifully balanced with silky tones of tar, roses, red cherries, bits of earth and a touch of roasted herbs
  
  overall: this was decanted for about 3 1/2 hours. The fill level was perfect and was a library release from borgogno with the color being a lovely medium ruby red with a bit of bricking. This was a real treat and was beautiful in almost every way manageable

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• 1985 Camille Giroud Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes 93 Points

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

  (1/1/2011)

  nose: pungent and ethereal nose of mushrooms, dark red fruits, bits of earth tones, spices and a touch of dried leaves. Well layered and with a lot of polish and class to it
  
  taste: feminine medium feel with medium acidity that still shows itself well along with pretty and silky tones of dark red fruits, earth tones, dried leaves, spices and some bits of purple florals as well
  
  overall: this got about 3 hours of bottle air and showed great. The fill on this was near perfect and the wine had a vibrant lighter red color. The aromatics alone on this really captivated you only like burgundy can. This seems like it has a very long way to go, but is a real delight right now as well

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• NV Marc Hébrart Champagne Premier Cru Brut Rosé 91 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  (1/1/2011)

  nose: pretty and balanced nose of strawberries, fresh picked citrus tones, berries, and a good amount of mineral tones forming a nice base on the nose and a slight touch of biscuity tones
  
  taste: lovely and polished medium feel with crisp medium/high acidity along with fresh tones of berries, citrus', lots of mineral tones and a touch of biscuits
  
  overall: this is L. 458. A real tasty grower rose at a great price. Well balanced and fresh on both the nose and palate

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• 1997 Giovanni Corino Barolo Vigneto Rocche 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  (1/1/2011)

  nose: there is a bit of wood that shows itself right away but starts to pull back and reveal dark tones of dark red cherries, spices, black licorice, and tones of roasted fennel
  
  taste: the oak shows a bit at first, but more turns into plush tones of dark red cherries, roasted fennel and herbs, black licorice and a touch of spices and berries with a medium/full feel and medium+ acidity
  
  overall: there was a very nice dark ruby color to the wine. Well balanced and starting to show itself well. This has a good way to go and the tannins are more on the silky side rather then chewy

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• 1995 Gosset Champagne Célebris 94 Points

  France, Champagne

  (1/2/2011)

  nose: lush and deep nose filled with tones of bread, warm honey, navel oranges, fresh picked citrus tones, sliced lemons, mineral tones, bits of roasted kernals, and nougat. Very complex, but still fairly distinct on the nose as well as it fills up the glass
  
  taste: creamy medium/full feel and medium+ acidity along with very well balanced tones of brioche, warm honey, fresh picked citrus', mineral tones and a touch of nougat. The acidity is still kicking a bit
  
  overall: a great bubbly. Secondary tones are starting to show while there is still some freshness of fruit as well. This is one that will have to be revisited as much as possible over the next 10 years

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• 1998 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  (1/2/2011)

  nose: plush and polished nose filled with tones of roasted herbs, dark red fruits, spices, tar, red cherries and a touch of perfume. There is an underlying sweetness and roasted take on the tones with very good depth
  
  taste: silky and smooth medium/full feel with good tannins and medium+ acidity with lush tones of roasted herbs, dark red fruits, spices, perfumes and a touch of red cherries. Well balanced, but lacking a slight bit on the mid-palate
  
  overall: this wine was vacu-vin'd for two days and put in a fridge as we didn't get to it on new year's. This showed itself off very well considering how long it had been open and didn't really show any signs of oxidation

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A great way to end the year and a great way to start the year. Hopefully this leads to a fun year