Ripple and Ridonculous Wines

Ripple - Cleveland Park - Washington, DC
Tasted Friday, April 24, 2015 by isaacjamesbaker with 1,157 views

Introduction

Good friends, new faces. The wines were firing. Chef Marjorie was on point, as usual, and the whole pig she cooked for us was beyond delicious. I tasted and scribbled as much as I could, but it was clear from the beginning that attempting to taste all the wines was impossible. Magnum-fueled mayhem.

Flight 1 - Champagne (6 Notes)

  • 1980 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Flawed

    France, Champagne

    Toffee colored. Very oxidized on the nose, caramel and toffee and almond cake. Tired on the palate, plenty of dried honey and candle wax notes, some bruised apple and toffee. Quite tired and beat, but still showing some Dom characteristics underneath. Fun regardless.

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  • 1998 Dom Pérignon Champagne P2 94 Points

    France, Champagne

    Lovely floral-chalky nose. Quite tight at first, powerful acid and richness. Quince, lime, white peach, laced with white flowers, toasted nuts, honey, crushed oyster shells. Opens up tremendously and, when re-tasted at the end of the evening, it was showing lots of caramel, candied orange peel, complex breadsticks and butter notes. So much time ahead it’s crazy, but amazing to taste this young.

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  • 1998 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Cuvée Creation 96 Points

    France, Champagne

    Rich and intense yet lively and bracing. Brioche, gorgeous minerals, spice and potpourri. Long, intense, such purity, a lovely Champagne. Wow. I have “wow” and “elegance” written down three times apiece. Absurdly good. From magnum.

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  • 2002 Egly-Ouriet Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé 91 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    Intense, brioche, white tea, lots of green and yellow apple, toasted almond. Youthful, bright, brisk, oceanic, holding its weight well with the intense acid and bracing minerals. Hesitant though, you can tell it has much more to show. From magnum.

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  • 1985 Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Signature Brut 94 Points

    France, Champagne

    So alive and bright, I can’t believe this is 30 years old. Notes of peanut oil, honey and dried pineapple, but it’s balanced with bright acid, rushing minerals and a salty complexity. Gorgeous stuff, so alive and unique. From magnum.

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  • 2002 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    Intense stuff, very young but powerful red apple peel, screaming minerals, toasted baguette and mixed nuts. Powerful yet pretty. A joy to taste.

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Flight 2 - Whites (9 Notes)

Flight 3 - Reds (14 Notes)

  • 1978 Charles Noellat Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaumonts 84 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

    Musty nose, a bit tired, blows off a bit. Palate much better. Tannic still, really earthy, full of mushrooms and dead roses, dried red apple peel and dried red currants, notes of dusty soil and pickle juice. Interesting, but a bit beaten down.

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  • 1983 Domaine de Montille Pommard 1er Cru Les Pèzerolles 87 Points

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

    Earthy and full of mushrooms. Sulfur at first, blows off to show more dried berry and dried flower. Pickles, wet moss, earthy, briny. Went well with the pig, but not exactly a wine to drink on its own. From magnum.

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  • 1985 Domaine de Montille Pommard 1er Cru Les Pèzerolles

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

    Very earthy, soot, manure, tilled soil on top tart currants and strawberries. Tart, still some red fruit but oh so earthy and sooty. From magnum.

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  • 1996 Domaine René Engel Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Brulées

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

    Didn’t take notes on this one, but remember this being very enjoyable and quite fresh and vibrant, tangy, earthy, very silky.

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  • 1988 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru

    Wow, still lots of tannin here, grippy yet showing some bright acid and tart red fruit. Complex anise, spice, charcoal, takes quite a lot of swirling and air to coax out the nuances, but worth sticking with. From magnum.

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  • 2003 Domaine Robert Jayer-Gilles Echezeaux du Dessus 89 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

    Berries and herbs on the nose. Bold palate, rich tannins, ripe currant, plum, berry paste, notes of smoke, cheese rind, grilled herbs and mineral. Long finish. A bit heavy-handed, could use some more time sideways, but very nice.

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  • 2000 Thierry Allemand Cornas 91 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

    Silky, refined, full of pepper, beef broth and bacon fat notes. Spice and pepper accent the red berry fruit, which takes a back seat to the earthy, briny aspects. Very smooth and elegant at this point and wonderful with the pork. From magnum.

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  • 2004 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie 92 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

    Black-olives, earth, granite mixes with tart currants and plums. Actually quite open and vibrant for 2004, still plenty of tannin structure, but an impressive display.

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  • 2001 Domaine Charvin Châteauneuf-du-Pape 93 Points

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

    Complex red currant fruit mixed in with olive brine, pepper and brothy notes. Bright and spicy palate, fine/dusty tannins, still doing well in terms of structure. Lots of complexity in here in addition to the delicious tart red fruit: moss, pickle, smoke, olives, leather. Great showing from a magnum, this bottle had plenty of time ahead.

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  • 2006 Conti Costanti Brunello di Montalcino

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    A bit heavy and young. Deep plums matched with cedar, tobacco, hints of olive, smoke and richly slathered oak. When surrounded by so much silkiness, this was a bit tough and tight, but clearly a lot packed in here.

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  • 2008 Podere Il Carnasciale Il Caberlot

    Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

    Napa-esque nose. Bold and bruising on the palate, a bit too toasty and oaky, but interesting spice, pepper and tobacco underneath. Just a bit too tough to contemplate at the moment. Not nearly as accessible as the other wines, so I moved on, probably deserves more time and attention

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  • 2000 Ridge Monte Bello 94 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    One of my favorites of the night. Gorgeous aromatic display, incrementally better after three hours. So pure and elegant on the palate. Perfect balance between tannins and acid. Bright, lively currants and dark cherries complemented by a seamless blend of olive, tobacco, anise, cigar smoke, pickling spices. So much non-fruit complexity combined with waves of gorgeous, pure fruit. I’d love to try this again in five years.

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  • 2012 Peay Vineyards Pinot Noir Scallop Shelf Estate 92 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Juicy and ripe yet so elegant. Roses and bright red fruit on the nose. Gorgeous cherries and candied red plums on the palate, impressive for its accessibility, one of the most open and silky 2012 Sonoma Pinots I’ve tasted, but surely this has a lot more complexity to develop. Crisp, clean, floral finish. Very impressed with this effort and I liked having some Sonoma Coast goodness in the mix.

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  • 2000 Seavey Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Bold and dark. Juicy, dark fruit and coffee. This stood out for its oak, but not much else. Deserves a more serious taste though, I’m sure. From magnum.

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Flight 4 - Dessert (2 Notes)

  • 1996 Régis Cruchet Vouvray Moelleux

    France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

    Notes of spiced apple cider, white tea and a tequila-like note. Lighter than I was expecting, lots of freshness, chalk and white tea to match the dried tropical fruit. Interesting spice and herbal notes. A fun wine to contemplate, but a bit strange, perhaps not in its best form.

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  • 1989 Château Climens 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

    Gorgeous stuff. Rich and honeyed but not heavy. Lovely orange marmalade, dried pineapple, vanilla candles, honeycomb. Long, rich, pure, lasting minerality on the finish.

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