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Birthday Celebration

Abigail's American Bistro - Highland Park IL

Tasted June 24, 2014 by Burgundy Al with 590 views

Introduction

A few friends have birthdays within days of each other in late June, so once again we opened a few good bottles over a nice dinner.

Flight 1 (16 notes)

White
2012 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
93 points
From magnum. Absolutely identical to this same wine from 750 a few days ago. A bit of spritz to start, which was gone in 15-20 minutes, then increasing degrees of concentrated, ripe fruit with lots of intensity. Good now, better in a year or three.
White - Sparkling
1995 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut France, Champagne
90 points
Lemon, lime fruit and zest. Lots of minerality and acidity with bready character from middle to finish, but there was slightly more acidity than I'd prefer for the level of flavor here.
White
2007 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
87 points
Lots of acidity and minerality, just far more than the level of fruit can balance. Got quickly less interesting in the 15-20 minutes in glass.
1 person found this helpful Comment
White
2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet La Cabotte France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru
flawed
Far more advanced than a 2005 should be today. Seemingly very low energy when served at the right temp, around 50F, brighter and easier when chilled down to around 40F.
Red
2010 J. Rochioli Pinot Noir West Block USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Blueberry compote to me with lots of sweet baking spice. Fun in its own way, just not something I would seek out. Others liked this quite a bit tonight, but they like wine stylistically different from what I mostly prefer.
Red
1964 Domaine Jean Grivot Clos Vougeot France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
94 points
Popped and poured. Deep color, fill approx 1 cm. Started slightly musty, but all good in 5 minutes. Combination of shockingly robust black fruit with good spice and lots of mushroom and earthy character. Very nuanced and interesting from start-to-finish. Even people generally not liking old Burgundy found this enjoyable.
Red
1953 Domaine de Courcel Pommard 1er Cru Grand Clos des Épenots France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru
Fill level was ~6-7 cm, so low expectations. Not much forthcoming on palate or nose - either good or really bad. A bit of pine needle in background, but that's certainly not noteworthy.
Red
1976 Domaine Jacques Prieur Chambertin France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru
89 points
Popped and poured. Black fruit in background with good mushroom. Overall good balance, somewhat simple with moderate nuance or character.
Red
1974 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero
94 points
From magnum, with cork slightly protruding. Popped and poured, but I kept my glass for well over an hour and it kept improving. Dense black fruit but slightly compact to start, we all enjoyed it but it seemed flat. With an hour in glass, there was dark chocolate, espresso, baking spice and the fruit became longer while retaining its density. Still just a baby.
Red
1979 Joseph Drouhin Musigny France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
96 points
Popped and poured. Color and fill were perfect, ullage <1/4 cm. Started subtle with red fruit, good spice, subdued forest floor. More of everything emerged from middle to finish, and even further with more air, with power coming through at the end. classic Musigny in terms of its "iron fist in a velvet glove" character. My 2nd favorite wine tonight (after 1986 Mouton), but in many ways the most thrilling and unique.
Red
1998 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
94 points
Open approx an hour before being poured. Ripe combination of red and black berry aromas and flavors with dark chocolate and braised meat character. Showed some of the same aromatic character of the Drouhin 1979 Musigny served earlier. Long, meaty and powerful.
Red
1998 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
flawed
Very sad...very corked.
Red
1964 Château Haut-Brion France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
84 points
Popped and poured. Bottle looked in good shape, but this bottle came across as tired with flat-lined fruit. Kevin said another bottle from the same case was very good a few weeks ago.
Red
1964 Pétrus France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
92 points
I rarely get the opportunity to taste Petrus, so this was a treat. Ripe black fruit with liqueur hints, that just over the edge towards seeming slightly roasted. Lots of sweet spice throughout kept it nuanced and interesting.
Red
1986 Château Mouton Rothschild France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
96 points
Open and decanted an hour+ before serving. Black plum and currant with liqueur, cigarbox and intense savory spice. Long minute+ finish with extreme concentration. Keot getting better and better in the hour in glass. My WOTN in a close, 4-horse race.
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Red
1990 Château Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse) France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
94 points
Incredibly ripe black fruit but with so much structure and concentration that it retains incredible charm, density and persistence. Perhaps not the most complicated wine of the evening, but certainly as fun and hedonistic as good wine gets.

Closing

We had a few more wines including an Araujo 1995 Eisele, Beringer 1994 Howell Mountain Cabernet and a 1971 Auslese, but the evening was getting too late, the dining room too warm and my ability to write too scratchy to decipher after the fact.

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