France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Seriously ripe with charming floral notes to start. Lots of peach aromas and flavors and a unctuous, buttery character/ texture. Lots of pleasure today. Long and fat finish, and I'd err on the side of drinking these younger because of seemingly modest acidity.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
Rich and slightly opulent with ripe apple aromas and flavors and a toasty, nutty character with some baking spice hints. Very good now, this was the best bottle of this wine I can recall from 3-4 over the past few years.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Lots of ripe peach on nose and pallet. New oak seems to stand out more than I recall from prior bottles. Also seems more advanced vs prior bottles or what I would expect. Still very forward and enjoyable, perhaps "90 points" today, but less interesting vs the 4 or 5 times I've had this before.
Tasted from this bottle twice, 3-4 hours apart. First was a very small tasting. Incredibly bold and well described by Izzy as flamboyant, while still retaining its nutty Meursault character. At that point I thought it a "91 point" wine.
Several hours later it was still larger scale, but showed greater balance and textures. I was served this blind and thought it to be Grand Cru from a very good, ripe vintage and thought it much better than before.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru
Not nearly as good as prior bottles tried in the past year, more reserved or muted, but still ripe and slightly fleshy. Some thought it might be slightly flawed, but none of us could identify a specific flaw .
From magnum. A superbly impressive 1989, with lots of very ripe apple aromas and flavors (no surprise for the vintage) with lots of acidity and freshness (surprise!). Very long and texturally interesting through long finish.
From Jero. Sensational aromatic start with lots of cigarbox that made me think of a fine Cuban cigar. Well complemented with lingering black fruit and a very appealing barnyard element. Almost identical on palate, perhaps just ever-so-slightly less nuanced. Very long and elegant.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
Also tasted twice, several hours apart. Cross-section of apple aromas and flavors with great concentration and power. Bracing acidity was very assertive when first tasted, slightly more mellow a few hours later. Both tastes were incredibly long and well textured, the latter tasting more nuanced. Needs plenty of cellar time.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Open 2 hours before serving. Sensational spice driven aromatic start with more black fruit than earth. Very alluring. Similar on palate with some firming tannins, showing some red cherry hints as well. Big positive surprise with none of the bitterness sometimes found in 1988s.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
Exactly like I recall from prior tasting, this shows great sweet red and black fruit aromas and flavors with unmistakable Dujac spice. Very easy to enjoy now, I think it is probably best over the next 5 years (but I've been thinking that about the 2000s since approximately 2008).
Slightly floral start with charming red cherry and some licorice hints. God balance of earth and fruit on both nose and palate. Finishes with moderate intensity, but very good balance and persistence.
Very good sweet spice and anise along with red fruit starting to evolve. Very good balance with moderate intensity and nuance. Good now and probably for close to a other 2 decades.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
Open 2 hours before serving. More fruit than earth, but they are in very good balance appropriate for its age. Much cleaner, better than a bottle popped-n-poured a few weeks ago.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
Lots of black fruit aromas with a fresh, modern styled nose with some pronounced new oak. Better flavors for me, with red fruit coming through as well, nuanced layers and textures and good meaty spice on finish. Very well balanced. Far superior to a bottle from several years ago.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
Very typically Leroy aromas with very robust fruit and sensational baking spice, but the fruit itself is very black and powerful and Corton in character. Palate is also showing huge black fruit and slightly sweet spice, all with incredibly elegant structure start-to-finish. Long and incredibly textured. Thanks for sharing, John!
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru
Very good color, fill approx 4 cm. Musty and woodsy aromas that started as unappealing and only improved slightly with more air. Much more attractive flavors with plenty of sweet spice with mature black fruit and well reduced shiitake mushrooms. Moderate length and intensity. 84 points on nose; 94 on palate. Popped and poured, best when open 10-15 minutes, then held up for about an hour.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
Lots of baking spice aromas with advanced red fruit and rose petal hints. Flavors nicely juxtapose mature fruit and earthy, mushroomy elements. Everything is prototypically Vosne, but with moderate intensity, depth and length.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
A baffling wine that I think was most likely slightly damaged, probably corked, but certainly confusing. I tasted twice.
First was early afternoon, approx 2 hours after decanted. It was large and very firmly structured with backward red fruit aromas and flavors, far more rustic or coarse than I'd ever expect from Mugnier, even in a highly structure vintage such as 2005.
Second tasting was several hours later as I was leaving and the structure just overwhelmed everything else, with the large red fruit from before now muted or stripped. The trajectory of these two data points lead me to believe this bottle was slightly corked.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
Ultra ripe fruit with the most faint spice hints. Very pleasurable today, but in a simple one dimensional way, certainly not showing any Clos de la Roche character. In fact I could easily have thought this wasn't from Burgundy if served blind, but that's mostly the ripe 2003 character.
This was served to me blind and I was immediately wow'ed and thought 1959 Grand Cru Burgundy. Oops. Great dried herb aromas with some sweet brown spice and intense mushroom character as well as mature ripe fruit. With hindsight, I should have figured this out based on some background cigarbox notes.
Massively concentrated apricot, great intensity. Good acidity helping with balance and excellent textures. Sweetness is slightly subdued and not the most prominent component. Very long. Incredibly impressive this young, this should amazing in a decade+.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
Served to me blind as I was leaving the auction. What stood out included its freshness, ripe fruit, whole cluster, and lots of structure. So I immediately thought it from a great Vosne producer, probably from the late 90s, but then asked how long it was decanted (3+ hours), so realized it was younger. Enticing aromas, slightly more backward on palate, but long and regal. I think this the first time I have actually ever tasted this wine.
2004 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Seriously ripe with charming floral notes to start. Lots of peach aromas and flavors and a unctuous, buttery character/ texture. Lots of pleasure today. Long and fat finish, and I'd err on the side of drinking these younger because of seemingly modest acidity.
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2000 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
Rich and slightly opulent with ripe apple aromas and flavors and a toasty, nutty character with some baking spice hints. Very good now, this was the best bottle of this wine I can recall from 3-4 over the past few years.
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2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne Domaine
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Lots of ripe peach on nose and pallet. New oak seems to stand out more than I recall from prior bottles. Also seems more advanced vs prior bottles or what I would expect. Still very forward and enjoyable, perhaps "90 points" today, but less interesting vs the 4 or 5 times I've had this before.
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1999 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Rougeots 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
Tasted from this bottle twice, 3-4 hours apart. First was a very small tasting. Incredibly bold and well described by Izzy as flamboyant, while still retaining its nutty Meursault character. At that point I thought it a "91 point" wine.
Several hours later it was still larger scale, but showed greater balance and textures. I was served this blind and thought it to be Grand Cru from a very good, ripe vintage and thought it much better than before.
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2002 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru
Not nearly as good as prior bottles tried in the past year, more reserved or muted, but still ripe and slightly fleshy. Some thought it might be slightly flawed, but none of us could identify a specific flaw .
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1989 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut 94 Points
France, Champagne
From magnum. A superbly impressive 1989, with lots of very ripe apple aromas and flavors (no surprise for the vintage) with lots of acidity and freshness (surprise!). Very long and texturally interesting through long finish.
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1961 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
From Jero. Sensational aromatic start with lots of cigarbox that made me think of a fine Cuban cigar. Well complemented with lingering black fruit and a very appealing barnyard element. Almost identical on palate, perhaps just ever-so-slightly less nuanced. Very long and elegant.
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2011 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
Also tasted twice, several hours apart. Cross-section of apple aromas and flavors with great concentration and power. Bracing acidity was very assertive when first tasted, slightly more mellow a few hours later. Both tastes were incredibly long and well textured, the latter tasting more nuanced. Needs plenty of cellar time.
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1988 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Open 2 hours before serving. Sensational spice driven aromatic start with more black fruit than earth. Very alluring. Similar on palate with some firming tannins, showing some red cherry hints as well. Big positive surprise with none of the bitterness sometimes found in 1988s.
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2000 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
Exactly like I recall from prior tasting, this shows great sweet red and black fruit aromas and flavors with unmistakable Dujac spice. Very easy to enjoy now, I think it is probably best over the next 5 years (but I've been thinking that about the 2000s since approximately 2008).
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1967 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco 90 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Slightly floral start with charming red cherry and some licorice hints. God balance of earth and fruit on both nose and palate. Finishes with moderate intensity, but very good balance and persistence.
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1967 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo 89 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Ripe fruit, surprisingly fresh. Very pleasant, but slightly one dimensional with just subtle spice or floral elements.
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1998 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba 92 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Very good sweet spice and anise along with red fruit starting to evolve. Very good balance with moderate intensity and nuance. Good now and probably for close to a other 2 decades.
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1991 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Clos Vougeot 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
Open 2 hours before serving. More fruit than earth, but they are in very good balance appropriate for its age. Much cleaner, better than a bottle popped-n-poured a few weeks ago.
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1996 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Clos Vougeot 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
Lots of black fruit aromas with a fresh, modern styled nose with some pronounced new oak. Better flavors for me, with red fruit coming through as well, nuanced layers and textures and good meaty spice on finish. Very well balanced. Far superior to a bottle from several years ago.
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2002 Domaine Leroy Corton-Renardes 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
Very typically Leroy aromas with very robust fruit and sensational baking spice, but the fruit itself is very black and powerful and Corton in character. Palate is also showing huge black fruit and slightly sweet spice, all with incredibly elegant structure start-to-finish. Long and incredibly textured. Thanks for sharing, John!
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1971 Domaine Pierre Gelin Chambertin-Clos de Bèze 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru
Very good color, fill approx 4 cm. Musty and woodsy aromas that started as unappealing and only improved slightly with more air. Much more attractive flavors with plenty of sweet spice with mature black fruit and well reduced shiitake mushrooms. Moderate length and intensity. 84 points on nose; 94 on palate. Popped and poured, best when open 10-15 minutes, then held up for about an hour.
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1985 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
Lots of baking spice aromas with advanced red fruit and rose petal hints. Flavors nicely juxtapose mature fruit and earthy, mushroomy elements. Everything is prototypically Vosne, but with moderate intensity, depth and length.
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2005 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses Flawed
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
A baffling wine that I think was most likely slightly damaged, probably corked, but certainly confusing. I tasted twice.
First was early afternoon, approx 2 hours after decanted. It was large and very firmly structured with backward red fruit aromas and flavors, far more rustic or coarse than I'd ever expect from Mugnier, even in a highly structure vintage such as 2005.
Second tasting was several hours later as I was leaving and the structure just overwhelmed everything else, with the large red fruit from before now muted or stripped. The trajectory of these two data points lead me to believe this bottle was slightly corked.
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2003 Nicolas Potel Clos de la Roche 88 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
Ultra ripe fruit with the most faint spice hints. Very pleasurable today, but in a simple one dimensional way, certainly not showing any Clos de la Roche character. In fact I could easily have thought this wasn't from Burgundy if served blind, but that's mostly the ripe 2003 character.
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1949 Château Latour Grand Vin 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
This was served to me blind and I was immediately wow'ed and thought 1959 Grand Cru Burgundy. Oops. Great dried herb aromas with some sweet brown spice and intense mushroom character as well as mature ripe fruit. With hindsight, I should have figured this out based on some background cigarbox notes.
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2002 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Eiswein #18 95 Points
Germany, Nahe
Massively concentrated apricot, great intensity. Good acidity helping with balance and excellent textures. Sweetness is slightly subdued and not the most prominent component. Very long. Incredibly impressive this young, this should amazing in a decade+.
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2005 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
Served to me blind as I was leaving the auction. What stood out included its freshness, ripe fruit, whole cluster, and lots of structure. So I immediately thought it from a great Vosne producer, probably from the late 90s, but then asked how long it was decanted (3+ hours), so realized it was younger. Enticing aromas, slightly more backward on palate, but long and regal. I think this the first time I have actually ever tasted this wine.
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