New Years Eve

Collingswood and Philadelphia
Tasted Thursday, December 31, 2009 by ews3 with 670 views

Introduction

What better way to end a year of great wine than with great wines, food, and company?

Flight 1 - Dinner 1, Collingswood (3 Notes)

A first dinner in Collingswood with old college roommates... The Kutch was great, but unfortunately the CDP was really badly corked. We had excellent Chili and hot dogs -- yum!

Flight 2 - Dinner 2, Lobster and Champagne (3 Notes)

We started out the evening with 3 grower champagnes as we tore through a pile of lobsters. The Marguet Brut was outstanding -- a real find.

  • 2002 Marguet Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé 91 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    really excellent value. nice, light toasty apple. very fine mousse. I am surprised that the blend on this is 70/30 -- it definitely showed much closer to a BdB style

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  • 2000 Corbon Champagne Grand Cru 83 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    There was something not quite right about this. It had a very dark character about it that made me think the pinot fruit in it had gone bad -- now i look and it doesn't have any pinot fruit. There was no clear flaw, it just did not have a right flavor profile for the wine. The mousse was ok, and there was an odd bitterness on the finish.

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  • NV Veuve Fourny & Fils Champagne Premier Cru Brut Rosé 88 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

    very nice mousse on this with a strawberry dominated palate. The strawberry exhibited a little bit of greenness that detracted from an otherwise really pleasant drink.

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Flight 3 - Tete du Cuvee Champagnes (3 Notes)

A great group of Champagnes that were put together to taste through and to toast the new year at midnight. The Salon stood above the others (my #2), but the Crissy was also incredible. At this point we knew we were in for an evening of great bottles.

  • 1996 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 97 Points

    France, Champagne

    really remarkable bottle. crisp green apple and a lovely yeastiness. very fine mousse tingles all over the palate like little miniature pinpricks. lovely med(+) finish sits on the midpalate. this ha extreme focus of the flavors and is remarkably youthful. amazing.

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  • 1995 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    slight oxidative character was offputting to some. red delicious apple, spice, and ginger notes. very sophisticated mouthfeel with a medium(+) body. I really liked the fullness on the palate.

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  • 2002 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut 95 Points

    France, Champagne

    really nice. amazing nuttiness on the tight palate. extremely young. nice mix of ripe green and red apple, asian pear, with a nice minerality. Very pleasant mousse, and a medium(+) finish. a notch behind the salon, but still an outstanding bottle.

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Flight 4 - Aged Reds (2 Notes)

Next we tried a couple aged reds. The Palmer was interesting to try -- the SQN was pure joy. My WOTN, and I think it may have been unanimous in the group.

  • 1970 Château Palmer 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    I dont have too much experience with Bordeaux of this age. The cork was not in good shape, having almost fallen into the bottle, but the wine seemed in good condition. very secondary, white black pepper, leather, and tobacco notes dominating. A little bit sour late on the midpalate, and a bitter finish.

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  • 1997 Sine Qua Non Impostor McCoy 97 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast

    delicious. The concentration on this was outstanding. The nose showed meat, clove, black pepper, but the palate brought on loads and loads of berry fruit. There was just a tiny touch of heat on the long, long finish. A remarkable syrah, and still a baby with a long life ahead.

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Flight 5 - Young Napa Cult Cabs (3 Notes)

We next moved into some of the cult cabs we had bought, but not yet tried... The Rudius, even though not the best wine of the group, was the real star here, since it is 1/3 of the price. The Ovid was delicious.

  • 2006 Rudius Cabernet Sauvignon 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    An extremely impressive debut. The nose showed a hint of heat, but it did not show at all on the palate, so it was a non-issue. Dark dark fruit, with dar berry, black cherry, and. medium(+) tannins sneak all over the mouth and give this a nice medium(+) body. Medium length finish was not up to the Ovid, but was nice. As a sign of how much I liked this, I just went and bought more!

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  • 2005 Seven Stones Cabernet Sauvignon 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

    Lots of blackberry fruit and black currant on the palate. Really nice tannic structure, so I think this will continue to develop quite nicely. Medium finish. A nice wine, but I did not find this to be worthy of the price tag, and it was outclassed in this group of wines.

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  • 2005 Ovid Red Wine 95 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    The class of the cabernets, this was a really delicious wine. tons of black berry fruit, with spicebox on the nose. a chocolately mouthfeel from really quite fine tannins that coat the entire inside of your mouth. The long finish disappears for a moment on the midpalate, but then fully returns and then some.

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Flight 6 - Dessert Wines (2 Notes)

We ended with a couple top dessert wines -- a full bottle of Yquem and a 63 Port -- Yquem always performs and was my #3 of the night.

  • 2003 Château d'Yquem 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    really nice. honey and peach dominated, with pure botrytis flavors coming through. this has so much more acidity than any of the other 03s that I have had, which are already a little cloying. This has the same intense sweetness, but has enough acidity to keep it fresh. Incredibly long finish, this has something special.

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  • 1963 Graham Porto Vintage 94 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    A little too much alcohol on the initial attack, but it quickly faded into a nice prune, fig, black currant, and caramel palate. medium finish isn't as concentrated as other vintage ports I've had.

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Closing

This binge put me over 1,000 CT tasting notes for the year -- I don't know if I will be able to match that in 2010, but here's hoping! I drank very well this year.

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