Important Update From the Founder
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Darryl’s birthday gathering at Art and Soul.
Art and Soul Restaurant - Washington DC
Tasted August 5, 2012 by dcwino with 857 views
Introduction
Darryl kindly emailed us on last Friday to organize a dinner to drink the 67 Bordeauxs he recently purchased at an AMC auction. Things developed rather quickly and eight of us met on Sunday night. We found out that it was Darryl’s birthday which made the dinner extra enjoyable. Thanks to David who took charge of the logistics, we had an excellent family style menu that went well with the wines.
My expectation for the 67s was minimal but Darrel informed that wines were from a Belgian cellar with one owner and they were incredibly fresh demonstrating the importance of ideal cellaring.
Flight 1 - Starters (4 notes)
White - Off-dry
2001 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese
92 points
Honey, yellow fruits, peach, granny smith, saline and only a small hint of limestone. Appealing silky and oily palate, medium sweetness and balancing acidity. Still quite youthful without a petrol note. Delicious.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée
94 points
Always consistent and since I like the style, this is a good thing. Fresh apple cider, fine mousse, lemon curd, yellow fruits and a hint of yeast. As usual round palate, a bit more steel/metal than usual and nicely layered fruits. A few more years of cellaring will bring more brioche.
White
1995 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Canet
90 points
One of the sought after producers of the 90s pushing riper and oakier expression which is not a good thing for aging especially considering the 95 vintage. Honey, white chocolate, lemon oil and toasted sesame. Fat palate and the palate clips short. Extremely shy fruits in the nose, too fat and no precision. My rating may be a bit generous as I love honey/butter scotch note in mature white Burgundies
White
2009 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard
92 points
I recognize that there are a lot of fans of Kevin H’s wine. I have been lucky enough to enjoy his wines as some of my friends are big fans. I read a number of TNs on CT and this wine is a great example of the power of persuasion. This is a very well made classic Californian chardonnay with ripe fruits. A hint of sesame, ie noticeable oak presence, intense yellow fruits, fat and a hint of underlying mineral components. Oily palate, fat and lacking acidity. Quite enjoyable but suggesting Burgundian?
Flight 2 - 67s (4 notes)
Red
1967 Château Pontet-Canet
flawed
The wine is madeirized but shows good concentration and sweet fruit considering the vintage. We had a backup bottle but decided not to open as we had plenty of wines.
Red
1967 Château Belair (Dubois-Challon)
83 points
The Chateau that Panos has mentioned a few times regarding the traditional wine making and long cellar potential. Earth, ash, a hint of truffle, cedar, plum and a hint of red fruits. Good concentration and still strong presence of tannins. This is too angular and harsh.
Red
1967 Vieux Château Certan
85 points
This and the last bottle were both less than optimal. Relatively simple fruit expression, earth and prune. Medium body and fully integrated tannins. Still drinkable but nothing remarkable. I had a couple good bottles that I rated in the low 90s in the past five years.
Red
1967 Château Ausone
93 points
This being my birth year wine, I used to buy them at auction for $20 to $30 per bottle in the late 90s. I rated them in the high 80s but thought nothing remarkable. This particular bottle however showed extremely well. Bright light red fruits, a hint of cherry, perfume, black truffle, cedar and stem. Light body and delicate yet pretty complex and energetic nose, quite Burgundian. Considering the vintage and the Ausone’s track record back then, this bottle demonstrates the importance of terroir and provenance.
Flight 3 - More Bordeaux (3 notes)
Red
1989 Château Le Gay Pomerol
92 points
Initially start tight but open up with air, truffle and dry leather that I associate with Le Gay, caramel, black fruits, plum and earth. I also noticed a hint of VA. A bit rustic compare to the Madame Pere-Verge era wines. Still displaying noticeable tannins. Perhaps still need five to ten more years to smoothen the palate but the nose will only improve slightly, IMO. I would serve with a fatty meat dish as our slowly cooked leg of lamb dish worked really well.
Red
1990 Château Gazin Pomerol
92 points
Surprisingly cool expression considering the vintage, bright red fruits, caramel and noticeably minty. Medium body wine with medium intensity, bright acidity and a hint of tannins at the end note. Drinking nicely with clean fresh palate.
Red
2004 Château La Mission Haut-Brion
94 points
According to David, opened at 8 in the morning. Beautiful floral nose, perfume, a hint of red fruits, lead pencil, cassis, jalapeno, earth and crushed blueberries towards the end. Medium concentration, bright acidity and nicely integrated tannins. It may be a label bias but this and the 67 Ausone seem noble, nicely layered fruit, complex, delicate with core energy. This classic claret/LMHB is still primary but very enjoyable. Highly recommend to decant at this stage.
Flight 4 - Stickies (4 notes)
White - Sweet/Dessert
1990 Château Suduiraut
91 points
A bit too much burnt sugar that masks the fruit expression and clips the finish. Burnt sugar, apricot, earl grey and a hint of red fruits. Delicate airy palate, good acidity but the finish gets clipped by excessive burnt sugar. Still enjoyable.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2004 Château de Fargues
91 points
A good clean not so botrytis driven Sauternes. Lemon candy, peach and ginger. Medium concentration and fresh palate. Pretty straightforward fruit expression but quite tasty. Not necessarily an exceptional Sauternes.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2001 Château Suduiraut
94 points
I love the 01 Sauternes for strong note of botrytis, banana and vanilla and this is no exception. Start with spicy botrytis note, banana, vanilla, perfectly ripe peach, apricot and honey. Excellent concentration, dense chewy palate, nice balancing acidity and long finish. Quite intense but not heavy, another beautiful characteristics of the 01. Lovely showing.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2005 Sine Qua Non Chardonnay Mr. K The Noble Man
95 points
Not a terribly complex wine, noticeable VA so one can argue that it is technically flawed but as whole, hedonistically delicious. Apricot, mango, ginger and a touch of va. Molasses like thickness but not heavy perhaps VA is helping. It has calm down compare to a few years back. Just darn tasty.
Closing
It was a fun night that clearly demonstrated the importance of cellaring.