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My 40th Birthday Weekend
Tasted February 17, 2017 - February 20, 2017 by doctornoah with 684 views
Introduction
A great time was had by all. Honeysuckle, in the former Vidalia space, just opened two weeks ago and Chez Hamilton Johnson did a wonderful dinner for us with a truffle theme to complement a rather vast array of wines.
Flight 1 - Champagnes, white, roses... (5 notes)
White - Sparkling
2002 Henri Goutorbe Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé
93 points
On the modern side, lovely citrus and autolyzed notes, almost brown buttery. Drinking well. No match for the 1999 Salon, but one wouldn't expect it to be. Great way to start the night.
White - Sparkling
1999 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut
96 points
Lemon and lemon curd, slight dusty caramel note. Exquisite texture. Everything it's cracked up to be.
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White
2009 Sine Qua Non On The Lam
91 points
A bit hot to my tastes, but a jam-packed and big wine. This wine will take you to Flavortown.
White
2011 Jean-François Ganevat Côtes du Jura Marnes Bleues Les Chalasses
95 points
The white of the night to be sure. From magnum. Topped up Savagnin. Effortless wafting nose of citrus and rocks. Perfect balance of weight and acidity. Not as geeky as many a Ganevat, so wide appeal to the whole table. Went with every dish and enhanced it - like your favorite belt.
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Rosé
2014 Domaine de l'Anglore Tavel
92 points
Dark rose, with classic carbonic notes and a red candy and fruit nose that belies the ample acidity and light-but-substantial body. Great stuff. Out of magnum.
Flight 2 - Reds (19 notes)
This was actually broken down into about a half dozen small flights including a flight of the 1977's.
Red
1986 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
93 points
Cherry, tobacco, aging dark fruits and a bit of spice. A lovely aged Bordeaux and still in prime drinking window. More secondary than tertiary and not a lot of funk/earth going on.
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Red
1995 Château Giscours
92 points
Still youthful and with an ample spine yet to bend with age. Dark fruited and a nice counterpoint to the 86 Ducru.
Red
1999 Chateau Musar
89 points
Even with a few hours decant this was not ready. Another bottle a few months ago seemed better out of the gate. Classic Musar notes of Rioja-like red fruit and tobacco with some brett and VA.
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Red
1996 Couly-Dutheil Chinon La Baronnie Madeleine
94 points
From magnum. This improved and improved over two nights, starting a bit woody and angular and picking up weight and roundness until it was almost Right Bank-y. Loire cab franc ain't for the pyrazine-shy. Dark fruit and toeing the line between sweet and savory aromatics.
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Red
2002 Faiveley Corton-Clos des Cortons Faiveley
92 points
This will be great when it matures - lots of tannic spine to shed.
Red
1993 Domaine Thenard Grands-Echezeaux
88 points
Meh. Couldn't hang with its competition tonight. Looks great on paper but a little smaller in stature when you get up close.
Red
1993 Domaine Ponsot Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Cuvée des Alouettes
92 points
One of the best burgs of the night - despite getting trashed by Burghound back in the day. This had ample red fruit and a soft and light spine. Moderately perfumed with a touch of baking spice.
Red
1996 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Bonnes Mares
92 points
From magnum. Drouhin-Laroze gets dinged for being a bit foursquare and wood-heavy. This was very nice and balanced, with a clean profile of red fruits, subtle candied notes, and bit of fading baking spice. I would never have been able to guess Bonnes Mares blind. But a solid and pretty wine in a great place.
Red
1996 Domaine Trapet Chapelle-Chambertin
90 points
Thoroughly lovely and ready-to-go Burg that got lost for me among a sea of other 82-96 burgs.
Red
1993 Dominique Laurent Charmes-Chambertin
91 points
One of the better Burgundy showings. Fully mature and a lovely combination of light weight, earth and floral aromatics and overall balance. A little short on the finish perhaps.
Red
1994 Cameron Rouge Clos Electrique
97 points
WOTN for me, with a crowded field. From magnum. This was everything a new world pinot could be, to a bunch of burg lovers. A bit of funk that seamlessly enhanced the deep red fruit and baking spice that was just beginning a long road towards tertiary development. Ample acidity and light on its feet. The only wine I kept going back to over and over.
Red
1977 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford
84 points
On the very down part of that downslope. Bricked. Old wine. Still drinkable, but perhaps the second worst after the 77 MB.
Red
1977 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Napa / Sonoma
93 points
The surprise of the night. Great old bottle plus low expectations equals happy. Still with a combination of aged black and red fruits, medium weight but lithe on the tongue. Tertiary in a lovely way, not in a musty cellar way. Every bit as good as the 77 Ridge York Creek, 86 Ducru and 95 Giscours.
Red
1977 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon York Creek
92 points
Wonderful old claret with a medium body, fully resolved tannins, a little spice left over from that American oak, and lovely berry and earth aromatic profile, with touches of tobacco and ash.
Red
1977 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello
flawed
This was just over the hill, despite a traced-back-to-the-winery provenance, and was DOA.
Red
1991 Ridge Monte Bello
96 points
Spectacular. My #2 WOTN behind the Cameron, but it's not a fair comparison - this is always amazing and one of the great vintages of Monte Bello. Lithe body, still full of fruit with that almost Rioja-like spice note from the American oak that has now settled into one of many background notes that combine into a seamless whole.
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Red
2000 Ridge Monte Bello
93 points
This continues to drink beautifully, elegantly and a bit before its counterparts. A more burgundian MB maybe, and not as bad a year in Santa Cruz as in Napa. Or, more importantly, there has never been a bad year for Paul Draper..
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Red
2002 BOND St. Eden
94 points
A Parker 100, so I thought I'd hate it, but it was surprisingly well made, and less slutty than I would have imagined. Bright fruited, still a bit young and still definitely a bit hot...
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Flight 3 - Desserty wines (6 notes)
White - Off-dry
1994 P. Licht-Bergweiler Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Auslese
93 points
Pre-Pradikat drift, so a modern Spatlese in heft. Not much botrytis evidence. Mostly that clean citrus, honey, wet slate thing with a bit of diesel to keep it real. Great stuff.
White - Fortified
1968 D'Oliveiras Madeira Boal
95 points
Caramel, honeysuckle, toasted almond, dried lemon peel with a beautiful sweet palate. This was gorgeous.
White - Fortified
1898 Henriques & Henriques Madeira Sercial Solera
96 points
Caramel, hazlenut, dried orange peel, a little old dust and a lot of history. Very light sweetness and pleasant but not face-slapping acidity. This was wonderful. Hard to compare against the 1968 Boal - such different styles.
White
1990 Prince Poniatowski Vouvray Clos Baudoin
94 points
Everything was there. Racy acidity, honeyed sweet tones, earth and flowers. Great dessert wine and held its own against the madeiras over two days.
White
1989 Prince Poniatowski Vouvray Aigle Blanc
Apparently we drank this. As Wittgenstein said - that of which you cannot speak, one must pass over in silence.
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Red - Fortified
1977 Warre Porto Vintage
I recognize this as being a good example of vintage port from a supposedly great year. That being said, this is a hot sweet mess to me and smelled of prune and some things I don't particularly want to eat for dessert. I hate port.
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Flight 4 - Night two (7 notes)
Red
1986 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve
93 points
Out of magnum. Still a great wine from the Great Years before California succumbed to critical pressures. Thanks to Berg for bringing this!
Red
2003 Hospices de Beaune Corton-Cuvée Docteur Peste Maison Louis Jadot
92 points
Lovely and youthful. Dark fruited and imposing but not as much tannin on the finish as I'd have expected from the Jadot elevage.
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White - Sparkling
2004 Dom Pérignon Champagne
91 points
My first attempt at sabering a success. Likely to be followed by more, and, hopefully, no late night ER visits.
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White
2007 Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
93 points
A late night "is it too late to open a bottle of white?" escapade wine. Ample acidity and beautifully mineral but neither as round nor as angular as you would hope or fear, respectively.
Red
1988 Louis Latour Corton-Clos de la Vigne au Saint
90 points
The spice of the old wood is the only thing GC about this. On the darker fruited side of things. Was a bit iffy at first, hit its stride and then fell off a cliff like Wile E. Coyote after about 40 minutes.
Red
1990 Robert Ampeau & Fils Blagny 1er Cru La Pièce-sous-le-Bois Rouge
88 points
A bit foursquare but nothing wrong with it. Smells like aged burgundy.
Red
1985 Duckhorn Vineyards Merlot Napa Valley
91 points
Great stuff. With a bit of pyrazine, at this point in its life you would never guess this for a merlot. Drinks like an old St. Julien.