Dinner with the wine group

Our yearly high end dinner.

• 2008 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut 95 Points

  France, Champagne

  High intensity aromatics, delicate, elegant mousse, slight brioche but pretty fresh; palate is absolutely searing acidity, but also a wonderful density and complexity to the fruit which holds its own, green apple, delicate mousse, flavors persist through the midpalate; finish is clean, mouthwatering tart lime acidity, immediately freshens the mouth for another sip. This is incredible for such a young wine, great intensity. Once it develops more maturity and complexity it will still improve. 95-96++
  2 hours later: just as exciting if not a bit kore stuffing and complexity. Vibrant and ridiculous.

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• 2008 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée 95 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  Lovely richness on the nose and palate, brioche, yeast; palate is lemon-lime, citrus, medium-plus to high acidity, balanced; long finish. Seems a bit more integrated than the Cristal today, though both are excellent. I like the richness and brioche in this, though the Cristal may be more precise. 94-96
  2 hours in: complex, balanced, absolutely lively wine. Ready to go but will age.

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• 2012 Joseph Drouhin Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Moderately aromatic, peach, tropical fruit, pineapple; palate is full bodied, richly textured but not at all heavy, tropical pineapple, good length. This is very nice, but very expensive for what it’s showing. 92
  With 30 minutes air, this starts to open up and develop a bit more complexity. Pretty nice. 92-93
  2 hours air: continues to improve and improve. Richness with lightness. 93-94

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• 2012 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Some minerals, white fruit, stony; palate is medium bodied, crisp saline minerality, great freshness, still a bit closed; finish is long. 93
  2 hours later: improving, showing more and more.

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• 2001 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots 94 Points

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

  Superb aromatics, vosne spice, red fruit; palate is light to medium bodied, some prominent tannins for Pinot but very approachable, excellent balance, medium-plus acid; finish is medium-plus to long. Really lovely red burgundy, with all the vosne character I expect. 93-95
  Grows a bit with an hour of air in the glass. Lovely. 94-95

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• 1996 Château Léoville Las Cases 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Double decanted 8 hours prior to dinner. Deep ruby, still youthful color; aromatic, blackcurrant, slight tea leaves, slight tobacco, some capsicum; palate is full bodied, tannins still present but approachable, medium-plus fresh acidity throughout, good remaining black fruits for its age, a touch of bell pepper, not a ton of secondary or tertiary complexity yet; finish is medium-plus length and quite clean/precise with a bit of minerality. Right now this seems like a youthful but approachable classically made bordeaux, still with good fruit but not a ton of mature complexity. Nose>palate right now. I'm hoping this will fill out a bit with some air, but it's still a nice bordeaux now. 92-93
  Really needs at least 7-10 years more age to develop more.
  Day 2: Shows a bit more fine complexity on the nose, a bit more polish and smoothness on the palate as the tannins have integrated more, and overall doesn't really show any significant oxidation that I might expect with so much air. This definitely has a lot of time left before my next bottle.

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• 1995 Château Margaux 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  High intensity aromatics, black fruits, slight spice, forest floor, slight bell pepper; palate is full bodied, still plenty of black fruits, medium-plus acidity throughout; medium-long finish. Very nice Bordeaux, still actually seems a bit youthful, though slightly further along than the '96 LLC. 93-94

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• 1989 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 99 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Double decanted 8 hours. Absolutely intense olive, probably the most intense olive that I’ve ever smelled, black pepper, incredible depth, meaty; palate is light-medium bodied, elegant, really stellar medium-plus acidity, black fruits that seem almost young, gamey but just barely and not at all overwhelming, incredible balance; finish is long. This is absolutely stellar, one of the best northern Rhône wines that I’ve had, and honestly the most interesting thing is how drinkable it is for such a complex wine. Elegant, not brawny, but still powerful. 99
  2 hours into dinner, this started to fade just a touch. Though it had a lot of air at this point given that it was double decanted in the morning. Fresh bottles could go for many more years to 1-2 more decades.

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