An Afternoon in LI w/Friends (Champagne Reception, Syrah from Afar)

In what is becoming an almost annual pilgrimage we made a trip out to visit some friends on Long Island. Packed house with 10 of us there (include 2 flying in from Georgia!). As always great times were had and escapades (e.g. champagne gun duel, pool ball) were encountered.

Note I'm trying to add scores again but please do take with a grain of salt as still getting calibrated.

Starting the day off right with a few different bubbles. The V.O. really stood out here although no bad bottles.

• 2006 Pol Roger Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 91 Points

  France, Champagne

  Good solid standard champagne. It's toasty and nutty and a bit buttery. I didn't get the same oxidative notes that the previous note had. Some decent acidity. Have heard these don't age as well as you'd hope, but this seemed like it could do with a bit of time.

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• NV Jacques Selosse V.O. Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 95 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Disgorged in 2015 (unfortunately didn't record the exact date). Wow was this something. The champagne of the mini-tasting. This was just so very interesting. A bit oxidative, lots and lots of spices. This wonderful precision to it. The flavor profile is very different from the typical champagne styles I've seen. Really wonderful. Maybe as it opens a hint of toast. I went back to this one a few times.

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• 1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon 93 Points

  France, Champagne

  Tough coming on the heels of a Selosse V.O. which was just rocking. This was tasty, but didn't feel like quite the same level. Different than the last time we had the wine - this time it was mostly a nice aged caramel that I found quite nice. It was more like a 'standard champagne' style, but very well done.

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• NV Jacques Selosse Champagne Brut Rosé 93 Points

  France, Champagne

  What a very fun and interesting wine. At first this reminded me of pop rocks although less intense. As you sipped the line it literally seemed to melt in one's mouth. That plus a decent acidity almost gave the impression of gentle pop-rocking. Poured more of an orange color and that seemed to give the impression of some orange peel. Definitely a bit oxidative. Very interesting. Glad we have more.

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Drank these all single blind in 2.5 flights (1-5, 6-10, then pulled out two glasses for the last ones). Easier to pick favorites in a flight than across the flights since hard to compare across. Standouts though were '97 La Mouline, '90 La Turque, '78 Grange, and '98 Jamet.

• 2008 Grand Rêve Vintners Collaboration Series III Ciel du Cheval Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain

  In a really tough line-up of wines most of which were older and more mature than this one. Suspect might have enjoyed it a bit more in different circumstances. This came across a touch heavier. Very bright red fruits. unlike some of the other younger wines the alcohol was well integrated. This was a wine that seemed like it would be happiest with some red meat.

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• 1996 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 94 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Really good. This wine jumped out early compared to some of the others which needed more time to open up in the glass. There is clearly some age here. Some darker fruit notes. It started very bright and seemed to lose a bit of the fruits and become more leather over time.

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• 1997 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 97 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Excellent wine although I thought it took some time in the glass to open up. First impression was currants and red fruits and a bit of a medium age piece. It wasn't clearly young when first poured, but the more we sipped and swirled the more it kept changing. There's a nice elegance to it. A touch floral. One of my favorites of the first flight by the end.

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• 1978 Penfolds Grange 97 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  One of my favorites of the night. Eucalyptus jumps right out of the glass. It's actually quite young and vibrant tasting (amazing to imagine for a wine that is 40 years old). Some floral and violets and very well integrated. It's almost a pretty wine. Really tasty.

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• 1989 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Lots of fruit. A hint of alcohol on the nose. Lots of currant and other red fruits. A bit more muted. This jumped out for a lot of folks at the tasting, but I found myself perhaps a bit more persuaded by the '96 of this at this time (I think honestly this was still too young and perhaps not quite ready). We had opened and decanted right before starting the tasting and this was in the second flight so had some time to sit out, but not as much as some of the other wines.

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• 2014 Best's Great Western Shiraz Bin No 0 91 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Great Western

  Threw this into the line-up to see how it handled itself recognizing there are a number of wines that were many multiples of what this cost. Interesting split in the group. I got some fruit and alcohol and spice. I knew it was younger. I thought stood up well compared to some of the other young wines, but not really at the same level as some of the more aged gems.

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• 1981 Penfolds Grange 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  So odd. Meat and animal and eucalyptus and very pretty wine. I should prob have called it a Grange. It's one of those wines that is constantly changing and evolving in the glass. Really nice. Had decanted for prob 3 hours before pouring and it needed all of that time.

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• 1990 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque 96 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  This tastes incredibly young. I was actually pretty surprised when unveiled. It's got tons of spice notes. Lots of fruit. I didn't actually get the meat characters here which surprised me. Usually do get it with the La Turque (and funnily enough got some on the Grange right before). Overall a nice wine, but even with the 2+ hour decant it didn't seem anywhere near ready.

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• 2009 Paul Lato Syrah Cinematique Larner Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley

  Young and very new world. There's almost a sweetness to this wine. Some cinnamon notes. Towards the end of the day of drinking and in a very tough line-up.

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• 1988 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle Flawed

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Corked which was sad. Came across as sweet cardboard.

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• 1998 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie 96 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Wow is this really great. Lots of the meaty characteristics but also tons of black fruits. It's got that cleanness that you expect from Jamet. Had been decanted for prob 45 minutes. Just delicious wine. Jumped out of the glass at you.

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Wine wasn't too shabby either. In the Champagne flight the V.O. was easily the wine and one of the WOTD. Other top contenders for me were the '97 La Mouline, the '78 Grange, '90 La Turque, and the '98 Jamet. Really a privileged tasting (some might even call it a mini-Grange vertical!). Looking forward to the next one!