Roy Hersh retrns to Colorado, Champagne, lots of Burgs & sweet stuff

With Bro. Roy on a return visit, Mitch decided to host a small gathering of the local aficionados for a little Burgundy and merriment. This was a relaxed event with Chef Pete taking over the kitchen duties and trying to kill us with too much food. in Addition to the out of town dignitary, we had the company of Mike & Ellen, Jeb, Ben Weinberg, Paul Faraci and Steve Carpenter. We were blessed with a beautiful evening which we started on the fabulous deck admiring the great views and wildlife before adjourning to the dining room for the official Burgundy flights and a multi -course dinner which included pan fried snapper, seared scallops, Brined and roasted chicken and some melt in your mouth beef tenderloin. Baked peach for dessert.

There was an older Zind Humbrecht Herenweg Muscat when we arrived which was quite dry and seemed over the hill. The following were enjoyed on the deck with light appetizers

• 2002 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  After a bottle of this wine from the 1999 vintage was corked, this was a refreshing substitute. Ripe with nice tropical fruit notes this also exhibited a nice background note of vanilla wafers and had a good back bone of acidity Still young but very tasty this was a nice bottle to start the festivities on the deck.

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• 1988 Pol Roger Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 98 Points

  France, Champagne

  Might as well get the corked bottles out of the way -a 1990 Mag of Heidsieck was flawed so we moved on to this perennial favorite. I love this Champagne and this bottle dazzled in its youthfulness and nuances. Acacia flowers and lady finger biscuits with super delicate bubbles and a rich bewitching mouse a beautiful long and complex finish it surprised in it's lightens considering the hidden power it exhibited. It was hard to stay away from diving in, but patience was rewarded. Within 15 minutes as the wine really came to life i looked around and noticed everyone's glasses were drained. Heck they were half way into the Deutz.

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• 1993 Deutz Champagne Blanc de Blancs 92 Points

  France, Champagne

  It is hard to follow a Sir Winny with a BdB (which i am sure influenced my score) but onward we forged. Deutz is on a roll and I have been having a hard time keeping my hands off the 02's BdB's, so it was a treat to drink a slightly older one. I kept thinking how young this bottle still showed. Lots of verve says my note. Delicate Kafir lime with lots of acidity. There is a nice slightly earthy component here as well. Give this a good 5 more years, I think it has the stuffing to get better.

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The Burgundy flights were enjoyed in the dining room. Overall the flight of whites was superb and set a great opening for several hrs of leisurely tasting (non blind on all)

• 1996 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain 94 Points

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

  The aromas of ripe apples and garden sweet green peas with melted butter. Rich & very well balanced with notes of smoke at a great place in it's evolution. Stayed solid and didn't show any signs of fading

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• 1996 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot 96 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  I will probably get flamed for my score by the traditionalists as this had a lot of oak notes on it (for a white Burgundy that is) it ended up being the oakiest wine of the evening but the power, complexity and above all the smoothness of this wine stole the show. There was nothing else out of place, in fact for me, the oak aromatics did not detract. The finish was long and captivating and i just kept going back to sipping & enjoying. I just can't see this getting better and the very last sip started to slightly fade -time to drink.

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• 2002 Domaine Morey-Coffinet Bâtard-Montrachet 91 Points

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

  This ended up being the most controversial wine of the flight. First it was a little stinky with notes of sulfur (better than premox any day) this quickly blew off to show a nice delicate flowery aromatic profile which was charming but started softening relatively quickly. it was delicate and feminine but to me this wine was not a good representation of Batard. Could have used more acidity, and lacked punch. Not flabby, but soft.Call it Batard light.

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• 2002 Domaine François Mikulski Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  The preceding whites were so tasty overall that by the time the scallop dish came out there was almost no wine left. So Roy called for another Meursault. This fit the bill perfectly with a melange of peach dominated ripe tropical fruit. This had power and a great acidic backbone to counter the richness of the food. Still showing young I expect this to get even better within a few more years. An over achiever that showed well this evening.

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First flight of the Reds

• 1976 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Vosne-Romanée 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée

  For me this was a Wow wine. Old tertiary notes of garden herbs and antique leather and violets. If you like a good mature Barbaresco, chances are you would dig this wine. Mature sure, but this was not a wine for necrophiliacs. The aromatics were the best part of this wine. There was enough here to keep this together and enjoyable yet if the flavors and finish would match the aromatic complexity & charm this would have been a 95 + wine.

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• 1990 Maison Albert Bichot Clos Vougeot Domaine du Clos Frantin 97 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru

  Now we are talking. Everything you can ask from a money bottle. This wine was sexy. Full of mature rich fruit with great complexity and a long satisfying finish. One of the better clos Vougeot I have had in a long long time. this ended up being my WOTN by a small margin due to it's optimal drinking point and pure hedonistic pleasure.

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• 1996 Domaine René Leclerc Griotte-Chambertin 89 Points

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

  After a surprisingly good 1997 and reading positive professional reviews I had high hopes for this bottle. Alas this one was not meant to be. It reminded me of the old adage about no great wine only great bottles...The nose was pleasant with some nice notes of Asian spice yet the wine seemed to lack complexity or structure. It was very serviceable yet seemed rather boring especially after the previous 2 great bottles in this flight.

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• 1996 Dominique Laurent Echezeaux 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

  Nice nose of dark fruit on the attack yet this too seems to lack in mid palate. There is a lot of acidity in this particular bottle perhaps a bit too much. Lots of tannins as well which led to some comments about this perhaps being too young. I am not sure that this is the case, at least not based on this bottle. this was a clean bottle without the bret. components we experienced in the bottle this past June. I think some liked it better than me.

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2nd flight of the Reds

• 1996 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Clos de La Bussière 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru

  This overall was a pleasant wine but in tough competition this evening. The aromas were pleasing, at first impression the flavors were enjoyable, but overall lacking in complexity and extraction to make it truly great. Slight bitter notes on the finishing tannins and relatively high acidity detracted from the overall score.

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• 1996 Alain Hudelot-Noëllat Romanée St. Vivant 96 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru

  Another great bottle struts it's stuff. Rich fruit which is wrapped in wonderful earthy whiff of damp forest floor. The balance on this wine is impressive, everything is in place and if anything this is still not showing full maturity, so it may be even better with some more bottle age. The most impressive finish of this evening in both complexity and length WOTF and a close 2nd for me for red WOTN

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• 1996 Domaine Heresztyn/Heresztyn-Mazzini Clos St. Denis 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos St. Denis Grand Cru

  Another one of those wines were the nose was the best feature. The dark fruit has some interesting notes of old saddle leather and even some mint. Acidity is pronounced and this could use some more stuffing. A nice bottle on any night but tonight it run into some stiff competition.

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• 1999 Bruno Desaunay-Bissey Grands-Echezeaux Vieilles Vignes 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru

  The youngest red of this gathering and it shows the most exuberant fruit of the evening. There is a sweetens of fruit here that is beautiful - a powerful wine, with good sappiness not for those seeking delicacy or subtelty. A different style for sure but excellent juice, enjoyable and well balanced -it should be even better with more time.

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Dessert wines (to be added here soon)

A great night of superb wines and great company was capped with some Cubans around the fireplace on the deck. I'm glad I put in a nice bike ride earlier. A massive Thank You to Mitch for organizing this event and for Mitch and Karin for hosting and putting up with us. Always a pleasure to see Roy and I hope he will return to his old stomping grounds often.