This was pure and stony when I opened it at home but it lost some freshness by the time we drank it and Jay's guess of a white Lopez wasn't a bad one. Leftovers a little later were much better, gravelly and groovy.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Not the opulent powerhouse that (non-oxidized) bottles of the 1999 are. Very youthful and pure and at least three of us figured this for a 2004 Puligny 1er Cru. Eventually it expanded in scale but by the standards of the real estate this was a pretty soft and subtle Bienvenues. And not oxidized. Pretty stuff.
Victorian Bordeaux blend. My first guess was Cote-Rotie. Relatively rich bluish fruit but with really precise acidity and an intense gravelly minerality. When I saw the bottle shape I couldn't come up with the foggiest idea of what it might be and guessed 2001 Right Bank Bordeaux with a heavy dose of cab franc, with two others. This kept getting better and better over the evening and I resolved to buy some until Paul told us what it cost.
Jay said this was better when he first opened it, but it was pretty good. I guessed 1970 Bordeaux. But after that it seemed a little richer with more spiky acidity than I would expect from a 1970. Izzy came closest and guessed Les Forts de Latour and might have even nailed the vintage.
An utter beauty. I'm not sure there is any other Bordeaux, Left or Right Bank, as silky and lacey as a good Haut-Bailly, and this is it to the nth. Seamless integration to boot. As light in body as this is, it's amazingly fresh and most guesses had it twenty years younger. Built like the Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses of Bordeaux but with classic mature Graves flavors.
Interesting. When this was revealed it made perfect sense. Everything here seemed in such perfect proportion that you knew it didn't come from a second-tier vintage, but the flavors were more advanced than the structure suggested it should be. So it turns out to be a Mouton that's often called out as an underachiever. Maybe it won't be a 50-year-wine but as it sat in the glass it turned into what many Moutons are not - first-growth complexity. Last sip was packed with cigar smoke and graphite and sunk into the palate with a truly sophisticated grace.
Brought mainly as a joke to flaunt the "no Chateauneufs" rule. Icky nose of mint and sucking candy, and tastes icky-sweet too. 77% grenache, so what do you expect?
1992 Joseph Drouhin Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches Blanc 87 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
This was pure and stony when I opened it at home but it lost some freshness by the time we drank it and Jay's guess of a white Lopez wasn't a bad one. Leftovers a little later were much better, gravelly and groovy.
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2001 Paul Pernot et ses Fils Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet 89 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Not the opulent powerhouse that (non-oxidized) bottles of the 1999 are. Very youthful and pure and at least three of us figured this for a 2004 Puligny 1er Cru. Eventually it expanded in scale but by the standards of the real estate this was a pretty soft and subtle Bienvenues. And not oxidized. Pretty stuff.
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1999 Mount Mary Quintet 94 Points
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
Victorian Bordeaux blend. My first guess was Cote-Rotie. Relatively rich bluish fruit but with really precise acidity and an intense gravelly minerality. When I saw the bottle shape I couldn't come up with the foggiest idea of what it might be and guessed 2001 Right Bank Bordeaux with a heavy dose of cab franc, with two others. This kept getting better and better over the evening and I resolved to buy some until Paul told us what it cost.
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2000 Domaine de Trévallon 75 Points
France, Provence, Vin de Pays des Bouches-du-Rhône
I guessed a boring Bordeaux from 1996. Most others guessed nearabouts the same. Not undrinkable, but totally characterless and boring.
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1971 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 85 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Jay said this was better when he first opened it, but it was pretty good. I guessed 1970 Bordeaux. But after that it seemed a little richer with more spiky acidity than I would expect from a 1970. Izzy came closest and guessed Les Forts de Latour and might have even nailed the vintage.
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1966 Château Haut-Bailly 97 Points
France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
An utter beauty. I'm not sure there is any other Bordeaux, Left or Right Bank, as silky and lacey as a good Haut-Bailly, and this is it to the nth. Seamless integration to boot. As light in body as this is, it's amazingly fresh and most guesses had it twenty years younger. Built like the Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses of Bordeaux but with classic mature Graves flavors.
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1989 Château Mouton Rothschild 95 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Interesting. When this was revealed it made perfect sense. Everything here seemed in such perfect proportion that you knew it didn't come from a second-tier vintage, but the flavors were more advanced than the structure suggested it should be. So it turns out to be a Mouton that's often called out as an underachiever. Maybe it won't be a 50-year-wine but as it sat in the glass it turned into what many Moutons are not - first-growth complexity. Last sip was packed with cigar smoke and graphite and sunk into the palate with a truly sophisticated grace.
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1982 Château Branaire (Duluc-Ducru)
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
I've heard this wine can be awesome but I've never had a mint-condition bottle of it, and the streak continues. Most people dumped this.
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1991 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie 96 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Perfect Cote-Rotie, like equal parts syrah and pork broth.
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1985 Bonny Doon Vineyard Le Cigare Volant 68 Points
USA, California, Central Coast
Brought mainly as a joke to flaunt the "no Chateauneufs" rule. Icky nose of mint and sucking candy, and tastes icky-sweet too. 77% grenache, so what do you expect?
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