Tasting at Le Cheri

No theme for this, but we ended up with a nice selection of wines that rounded out a great meal

By chance, we had two Puligny which showed a wider gap in maturity than you would expect from the four years.

• 2002 Louis Latour Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Sous le Puits 93 Points

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

  In a really good place and an interesting contrast against an 06 Sauzet Puligny Combettes. Developing nose shows smoke, toffee, and bruised red apple. Well balanced on palate, finishes a touch thin.

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• 2006 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes 93 Points

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

  Much bigger and much younger than the 02 latour puligny sous le puits. Prominent oak here, with smoke and toast sitting on top of some lingering primary fruit flavors of green apple and lemon. Big, broad mouthfeel leads into a long finish. This has a ways to go.

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Paired with a venison terrine

• 2002 Louis Latour Chambertin Cuvée Héritiers Latour 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  Tasted side by side with an 05 Jadot Latricieres, which again showed a great contrast despite just three years of age difference. This showed a developing nose of forest floor, truffles, red cherry, and a little raspberry. The development notes made this interesting, but still a bit simple for Chambertin. Lovely long finish.

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• 2005 Louis Jadot Latricières-Chambertin 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Tasted side by side with an 02 Latour Chambertin. This was so much more youthful, just packed with lots of tasty red fruit, and a menthol note sitting on top of the fruit. Some earthiness. Much more forward and youthful with great presence and balance. Med(+) finish is a little shorter than the Latour.

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Paired with a venison loin

• 1986 Château Talbot 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  This was a great bottle -- tasted side by side with an 07 Verite Le Joie, obviously a sharp contrast. This has a fully developed nose, with pencil lead, eucalyptus, and cedar most prominent. Acidity on the midpalate and finish make this really quite refreshing, and the finish lingers pleasantly.

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• 2007 Vérité La Joie 93 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  Tasted side by side with an 86 Talbot. Obviously, quite youthful by comparison, this was much more refined and less forward than you would expect in such a side by side. Dark fruit notes of blackberry and black cherry sit underneath some really lovely herbaceous notes. Full bodied, this is well balanced and has a very nice texture to the tannins. Medium+ finish has a touch of astringency.

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Paired with a selection of cheeses

• 1993 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  drank with cheese plate. in a nice place right now. fully developed, with flavors of black olive tapenade, herbs de provence, and a meaty undercurrent. beautiful acid profile keeps this from being at all heavy. medium+ finish.

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Paired with a selection of ice creams - Calvados and Brown Sugar

• 2003 Domaine Huet Vouvray Cuvée Constance 94 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  i was worried this might be heavy because of the hot summer in 03, but this is really well balanced. marmalade, apricot, red apple, quince, tropical (mango) -- this packs a lot in and is still very youthful at nearly 15 years of age. well balanced acids and sugar, this is sweet but not perceived as cloying. medium finish doesnt meet expectations.

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• 1980 Mas Amiel Maury Vintage 90 Points

  France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Maury

  strawberry, red cherry, red plum with some interesting herbal/tobacco notes on the finish. a bit thin. unbelievable how bright the fruit is on this given the 37 years of age. very different than my notes from the last bottle. a great end to the night.

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Every wine showed well, and there was no clear wine of the night. Very surprising to have all of these aged bottles perform well, but we were lucky tonight!