Lunch Worth Flying Over For

Plus the Egon TBA from the night before! Not bad for a weekend trip.

• NV Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Heritage (1921-2010) 94 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  OWC. Third time is, unfortunately, only half the charm. Overt acidity, more integrated than a few years back, the old wine hue and freshness coming together rather nicely. Apparently large bottle variations in these. 94+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2014 Alain Hudelot-Noëllat Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots 93 Points

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

  Interlude while the others wake up. Super freshness with charming Vosne spice and translucent jungle berries. 93

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1937 Heritiers Cosson Clos des Lambrays 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru

  Reconditioned bottle with fill to the top. Cherry acidity, lifted aromatics, forest floor, damp sandalwood, salt, primrose, earth, exotic fruit. Somewhat lost in Burgundy glass, so we switched to the smaller universal glass, which showed much better concentration. Charming despite the top-up. 95

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1997 Emmanuel Rouget Vosne-Romanée 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée

  Next to 97 CP, both opened three hours before lunch. Minty, exotic spice, cool lifted blue fruit, ripe berries, salt and rose. Riper than I remembered. Lifted acidity in so many inter-layered dimensions. Much more accessible than the CP and a crowd favorite today. 95+

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1997 Emmanuel Rouget Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux 97 Points

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

  Next to 97 VR, both opened three hours before lunch. Much finer, backward and more detailed, yet understandably much shyer. Such long delineation. Grippy with a universe of firm spice. Cool magnificent beast. 97-100

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1961 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 100 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Insane, and insanely young. Sotheby's provenance, likely not reconditioned or reconditioned a long time ago, so I was afraid to open in advance. When popped, it seemed ready, then as the lunch progresses it shut down further, so we ultimately decanted and waited. Exorbitant amount of stuff that somehow works in its own order, differentiating from the rest of great wines which almost always seem "too much" at some point of their magnificence. Minty, inky, linear alcohol, cedars, soft sour cherries, animalistic, leather, peppery, fine herbs, sweet green pepper, exotic, gamey. Further are tart plums in focused acidity, cacao, hot chocolate, roasted meat, mocha, minerals, graphite. Beyond my mind how full-ranged the amount of flavors there are. Soft, toned, linear, deep, spicy, large, full, forever. Not sure how to describe here. This is, by far, the most complicated and alive wine I have ever drunk. There is no beginning and no end—no traces of when the wine, quite literally, captured me. Complete in the sense that every sip is everything. Breathing as it keeps changing itself whenever one makes encounter. Now I doubt if I will ever have another wine that matches this experience. 100++

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No