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Wine Dinner Extravaganza
David Burke's Primehouse - Chicago IL
Tasted May 20, 2016 by Burgundy Al with 578 views
Introduction
A mostly DC/Chicago group of friends getting together to drink some good wine, accompanied by very good food. A few disappointments, but those were offset by so many highlights that there were no complaints...until the next morning.
Flight 1 - Some Champagne to Start (3 notes)
Rosé - Sparkling
2002 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Brut Rosé
94 points
Lots of apple and quince with lots of floral character, some strawberry hints. Very powerful, very long, with a minerally texture I really enjoy.
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White - Sparkling
1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut
94 points
Rich and opulent apple with some toasted brioche. Very powerful throughout. Best bottle of this wine I have had in several years.
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White - Sparkling
1996 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut
96 points
Incredibly bright and energetic apple and lemon. Long and slightly lean but with excellent concentration. Some preferred the Krug 1996, but this was my favorite Champagne tonight.
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Flight 2 - 2000 Chevalier-Montrachet (4 notes)
White
2000 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet
93 points
Rich stone fruit and ripe apple aromas with sweet spice. Intense concentration. Consistent with other recent bottles, I preferred this wine a few years back when slightly brighter and fresher.
White
2000 Louis Jadot Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot
91 points
Intense, rich and ripe apple with sweet spice, certainly very tasty but this has started the back nine.
White
2000 Marc Colin et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet
91 points
Nicely mature apple with good balance, but slightly more simple than I recall from before. Overall balance is the highlight here, with textures that helped this show better with food than on its own.
Flight 3 - La Tâche 1972 on its own (1 note)
Red
1972 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche
Ullage approx 6 cm, very good color. Open 20 minutes before serving. Much better than expected. Dried rose petal and nicely mature red fruit aromas with lots of forest floor and savory spice hints. Good intensity and persistence. Prototypically and beautifully Vosne. Amazingly good given age, vintage and ullage.
Flight 4 - 1999 Red Burgundy (3 notes)
Red
1999 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Richebourg
96 points
Ripe red berry and cherry aromas and flavors with intense Asian five spice. Still youthful, with lots of upside, the fruit comes across as so youthful and vibrant that is almost comes across as a trace jammy right now, but there is so much supporting structure that maintains harmony.
Red
1999 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze
98 points
This wine just keeps getting better with more time. Black cherry, berry aromas and flavors with roasted meat, licorice and great depth with near-perfect balance. Great today, this was consensus WOTN, with lots of upside.
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Flight 5 - DRC 2008 Romanée St. Vivant with Wagyu Sashimi (1 note)
Red
2008 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant
94 points
Open 3 hours before serving, with one hour in decanter. Lots of whole cluster stem spice on nose and palate with bright red fruit. Lots of everything in good proportion, but still barely evolved. Good now, I'd expect this will really start to shine in 5 years, then drink great for a couple of decades+.
Flight 6 - California Cabernet with 55 Day Aged Prime Ribeye (3 notes)
Red
2009 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon
96 points
Open and decanted approx 3 hours before serving. Black cherry, plum and berry with anise, espresso and bitter chocolate. Superbly balanced tart-to-finish. Even improved in glass, getting texturally more complex. Certainly on the best California Cabernets I have ever tasted.
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Red
2007 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
From magnum. Massively ripe and concentrated, but with enough structure to retain balance (as opposed to the 2005 in next glass). Black plum, currant and baking spice with chocolate, vanilla, baking spice and plenty of liqueur. Not really my style of wine. For me, 91 points, but I can understand others thinking this 95+ points, even if I don't agree.
Red
2005 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Not for me. Ultra extraction gives this an off-center balance. I would have believed if you told me this was 20% alcohol. Even tonight's fruit whores didn't love this wine.
Flight 7 - ...Then More Cali Cab (3 notes)
Red
2009 Bryant Family Vineyard Bettina
Ripe and very concentrated black fruit that comes across slightly too sweet with too more dark chocolate and too much liqueur. Also not a wine in a style I enjoy. Others enjoyed this more.
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Red
2010 Dana Estates Cabernet Sauvignon Lotus Vineyard
93 points
Black currant, nicely floral, savory spice and some cassis hints. While fruit is very ripe and concentrated, it comes across as more balanced and persistent vs most of tonight's Cabernets and blends. Very good now through the next few years.
Red
2012 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
90 points
Open several hours before tasting. Not nearly as interesting another bottle from same source tasted late last year. Great fruit with impressive density and concentration, just slightly one dimensional in a way that makes it seem like tasty liquid candy. Others liked this more than I did.
Flight 8 - Sine qua Non (4 notes)
Red
1997 Sine Qua Non Impostor McCoy
94 points
Open one hour before serving. Ripe and concentrated black berries with savory spice and elegant tannins with charming overall balance. Nicely mature, but much fresher vs another bottle from the same source from one year ago.
Red
2004 Sine Qua Non Syrah Ode to E
Open 3-4 hours before serving. Ripe black fruit with an exceptional cross-section from the global spicebox. Excellent balance and length. Best i can ever recall for this wine.
Red
2006 Sine Qua Non Syrah Raven Series
91 points
Open several hours before serving. All black fruit with modest spice. Evolving nicely, but overall less nuance and complexity than I typically find from SQN at this age. Less exciting than previous bottles.
Red
2010 Sine Qua Non Grenache Stockholm Syndrome Eleven Confessions Vineyard
94 points
Open 3-4 hours before serving. Intense fruit is clearly very ripe, but the excellent supporting cast brings complexity and nuance.Spice, acidity, tannins are work together very nicely. Very long, very powerful. I don't plan to open my bottles for at least 2-3 more years.
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Flight 9 - With Cheese (2 notes)
Red - Fortified
1970 Graham Porto Vintage
93 points
Black berries with cinnamon, allspice, cloves and hints of sweet piquillo pepper. Less concentrated vs last time tried 2 years ago, but very long and elegant. I still think this has upside from here.
Red - Sweet/Dessert
1997 Romano Dal Forno Recioto della Valpolicella
95 points
Dark cherry liqueur aromas with balsamic vinegar and baked figs on nose and palate. Extremely concentrated with an intense finish.
Flight 10 - With Dessert (1 note)
White - Sweet/Dessert
1967 Château d'Yquem
96 points
Brief late night note. Dried apricot aromas and flavors with intense concentration. I don't recall how long this was open before serving, but it seemed to get better with more air, showing more nuance and greater length.