Leaving DC Dinner

Ripple - Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C.
Tasted Friday, October 28, 2011 by tooch with 1,263 views

Introduction

I'm leaving DC at the end of November so I wanted to assemble a group of friends together to share wine and have one last (major) dinner. We drank and ate well at Ripple. Logan prepared some incredible dishes, and service was beautifully orchestrated by Mo. Ripple continues to impress!

It was a bittersweet dinner for me as I'll miss all these people tremendously - not sure what I'll do without all of these great people! Thanks to everyone for coming along and bringing such a wonderful selection of wines.

Flight 1 - Champagnes (4 Notes)

We started off with a large selections of champagnes. I only got to try 4 of them, but there must have been 3-5 others floating around that I didn't get to try.

Flight 2 - "Oddball" Whites (3 Notes)

We had some oddball whites show up...but all were stunning! The rieslings were beautiful and elegant and the Chevalier showcased how exotic Bordeaux Blancs can be.

  • 1996 S.A. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 91 Points

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    I enjoyed the vivid tones of tropical fruit, crushed rocks and lanolin on the nose. While the palate isn't incredibly energetic, it remains fresh and lacy with complex tones of peach, apricot, lychee and fresh linen. Good minerality and acidity on the finish.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 1989 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese 91 Points

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    Beautiful tones of lychee, apricot and peach on the nose with subtle hints of petrol. The palate remains fresh and elegant with layered tones of fresh linen, white peach, lychee, and smoked minerals. The finish had nice acidity and good length.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 1987 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Potentially the most interesting/exciting wine of the night. It started off with strange aromas of sweaty socks, smoked meats and herbs. I should have just let this sit in my glass, as others did, but instead guzzled it down. Luckily, there was some left at the end of the night for me to retaste. By then, it had taken on an incredibly exotic pineapple tone that I would almost equate to d'Yquem. The palate shared the bouquets exoticism and displayed beautiful smoked minerals, pineapples, mangos and vanilla.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 3 - White Burgundy Flight (3 Notes)

The white burgundies hit the spot. While the Les Lys was a slight disappointment, I enjoyed having another Genevrieres from Jobard and trying the Les Clos from Moreau for the first time.

  • 2008 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys 86 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

    I had never heard of this 1er parcel in Chablis, so I was excited to try it. Much like the Moreau Les Clos drank alongside it, I was a bit let down. While it had nice minerality and floral tones, it didn't display as much complexity as I had hoped. Refreshing Chablis, but not something I'd seek out.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2008 Domaine Louis Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

    I didn't get much on the nose at first but tones of seashells, lemons and herbs did build with time. Its palate was energetic and youthful with vivid citrus, mineral and white floral tones. Somewhat disappointed in how this showed as I've come to expect more complexity from Les Clos.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2007 Domaine Rémi Jobard Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières

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

    Another enjoyable Genevrieres from Jobard. It had nice flinty notes on the nose with white florals and peach. The palate was weighty but not overly dense with enjoyable floral, white peach and smoked mineral tones. Genevrieres continues to be a favorite of mine from Meursault!

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 4 - Red Burgundy Flight (3 Notes)

The red burgundies were very interesting to me. The 1999 vintage continues to impress and both of these were far darker, denser and meatier than I expected.

  • 1976 Domaine Trapet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Petite Chapelle

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

    This was over-the-hill, but fun to try. Coming from a hot vintage in Burgundy this had raisin tones (didn't seem defective) with florals and plums.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 1999 Nicolas Potel Volnay 1er Cru Pitures 90 Points

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

    Darker and denser than I usually expect from Volnay. In addition to some really nice florals, this had cured meat, sour cherry and roasted herbs on the palate. Enjoyed its layers of flavor with its pleasantly acidic finish. Thought this was drinking well, but had a long-life ahead of it.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 1999 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

    I don't have much experience with this part of Gevrey, but found this incredibly dark and meaty. Not sure if this is a traditional note found here, but it was intense and complex. The palate had spicy dark fruit, oak, mushrooms, and cured meats. This is still young with some angular tones on the palate, but overall I was impressed with its complex meatiness.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 5 - 1994 Beaucastel Horizontal Flight (3 Notes)

I haven't drank a lot of Beaucastel lately, so with Fall weather back in the DC area thought it would be fun to do a horizontal from what I consider to be an incredibly exciting vintage from Beau. All of the wines showed well, but I think everyone admitted that the the CdP and the Hommage should have been opened hours earlier than they were.

  • 1994 Château de Beaucastel Côtes du Rhône Coudoulet de Beaucastel 91 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône

    I can't say that I had ever had an early 1990s Cotes-du-Rhone before, so what a wonderful surprise this was! This had a very spicy red fruited nose with forest tones, leather and cedar. The palate was silky and elegant with spicy red fruit, dried red florals and a lithe tobacco note. Very fond of this wine which stood up well against the 1994 Hommage and 1994 CdP.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 1994 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 91 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Had a nice roasted herb component to the nose with florals, underbrush and smoked meats. The palate had nice weight and an obvious freshness to it with subtle coffee, smoked meats, herbs, mushrooms, florals and underbrush. Wasn't as impressive as the bottle of this I had about a year ago, but still an outstanding bottle of medium-aged Beaucastel.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 1994 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin 93 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    This was drank alongside the 1994 Coudoulet and the 1994 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. It's color was much darker than the other two 1994s, but it took a long time for the aromatics to really wake up. I had decanted this for 45 minutes, and I wish I had opened it hours earlier. It wasn't until the end of the night that its bouquet began displaying rich florals, sweet cranberry, underbrush, earth, and meat. It was a beautiful nose, but certainly took some coaxing! The palate was silky and more feminine than I expected. It displayed integrated flavors of red fruit, leather, tobacco and earth. Great bottle, but I'm still kicking myself for not opening it earlier!

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 6 - "Oddball" Rhone Flight (2 Notes)

We had a couple other Southern Rhones that we put together in a small little flight. The 1999 Hommage was sadly corked, but the 2001 Pegau showed well and reminded me how exotic they can be.

Flight 7 - Three Decades of Margaux (3 Notes)

By chance, three Margaux wines showed up all from different decades. It was an incredible flight that showcased some beautiful wines.

  • 1959 Château Rauzan-Gassies 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Loved the nose. Had sweet red fruit and delicate floral perfume that were lithe and elegant. The palate was complex with layers of dried floral, cranberry, leather, and forest tones. Just beautifully mature, yet incredibly fresh, displaying the elegance of Margaux.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 1966 Château Malescot St. Exupéry 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Beautiful red color with subtle bricking. Nose had incredible weight and dense smoked meat tones - not something I was expecting from a 45 year old Margaux! In addition to the meat, this had a lovely dried floral and cedar tone to it. Much like the nose, the palate had more weight to it than I expected with dark floral tones, pepperoni, pipe tobacco, and cedar. Thought this showed very well.

    Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 1978 Château Palmer 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Intense nose of graphite, cranberry, dried red florals and cedar. With most Palmer's I've had, I could have kept my nose in the glass all night. The palate was fresh with lively violet, cedar, mushroom, leather and sour cherry tones. Incredibly elegant and refined I was blown away by this.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

×
×