5th Annual Big Bottle Party

Jeff's House, Warren, NJ
Tasted Saturday, February 13, 2010 by JJL with 847 views

Introduction

This was my first time attending the Big Bottle Party and it was a blast.

Flight 1 (3 Notes)

The Champers
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Flight 1

Flight 2 (2 Notes)

Flight 2

  • 1998 Bacio Divino 88 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    From Imperial - this was better than I expected. Rich, sweet dark fruit on nose and palate. Bit short on the finish and a touch thin on the body. Stood out as the new world wine in the group.

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  • 1975 Château Mouton Rothschild Flawed

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    From Imperial - unfortunately we were too late for this bottle. Fill was into the shoulder, lots of vinegar on the nose when decanted and sour vinegar on the palate.

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Flight 3 (2 Notes)

Flight 3 - Ian Holding his '95 Beaucastel

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Flight 4 (2 Notes)

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Flight 4 - David Pouring his '86 Gruaud

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  • 1988 Château Haut-Brion 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    From DM - When decanted there was a beautiful smell of fresh rose petals on nose. The palate was really tight but good balance. When served quite a few hours later the nose was still going strong and the palate had opened more to reveal dark fruits and some tar. Still young and could have used more air time.

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  • 1986 Château Gruaud Larose 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

    From DM - This was the best bottle of '86 Gruaud that I have had in a long time. Just a tad of the Cordier funk on the nose, plus some cedar. On the palate good cherry fruit, cedar, big tannins up front, but the acidity is nice on the back end. Nice long finish.

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Flight 5 (2 Notes)

Flight 5 - The wine we were all waiting for (at least I was)

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  • 1982 Château Léoville Las Cases 97 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

    From Jero - We double decanted this about 7 hours before serving and thankfully so. The cork was covered in black mold and broke in 2 when removed. The smell of sweet '82 juice was very prominent right out of the bottle. We gave a quick taste after decanting and it was in great shape - what a relief, lots of cherry fruit on nose, more body than fruit on the palate, great balance. About 2 hours before serving, Keith noted that the wine was too cold as we had put the bottle back in the cellar after double decanting, so we poured the wine back in the decanter to try to warm/wake it up. It was still a bit cold at serving time, but it warmed up quickly in the glass. The body was still great, the palate showed leather, tar, blackberry, licorice, plum. Finish was long and dark. Better than any 750 of this wine that I have had. The wine is the bottle had plenty of years ahead of it, could have gone at least another 10. Clearly benefited from the format and lack of miles. I will never by another 750 of this again. In retrospect, I think we should have pulled it out of the cellar a week before and decanted it the day before. I think it could have been a 99 or 100 pointer had we done so. In any event, it was still the WOTN.

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  • 1982 Château Talbot 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

    From DM - This was similar to the 750 I had recently at Vintry except that is was a tad more closed. Cigar box, spice on nose, leather, black fruits on palate, great acidity.

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Closing

Thanks to Jeff for graciously opening his house for the event (and for making us pasta at 1am) and to Jay for organizing it. Looking forward to the next one.

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