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Dinner with the wine group

Zazie, SF

Tasted December 10, 2019 by aagrawal with 159 views

Introduction

Our yearly high end dinner.

Flight 1 (2 notes)

White - Sparkling
2008 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut France, Champagne
95 points
High intensity aromatics, delicate, elegant mousse, slight brioche but pretty fresh; palate is absolutely searing acidity, but also a wonderful density and complexity to the fruit which holds its own, green apple, delicate mousse, flavors persist through the midpalate; finish is clean, mouthwatering tart lime acidity, immediately freshens the mouth for another sip. This is incredible for such a young wine, great intensity. Once it develops more maturity and complexity it will still improve. 95-96++
2 hours later: just as exciting if not a bit kore stuffing and complexity. Vibrant and ridiculous.
4 people found this helpful Comment
White - Sparkling
2008 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
95 points
Lovely richness on the nose and palate, brioche, yeast; palate is lemon-lime, citrus, medium-plus to high acidity, balanced; long finish. Seems a bit more integrated than the Cristal today, though both are excellent. I like the richness and brioche in this, though the Cristal may be more precise. 94-96
2 hours in: complex, balanced, absolutely lively wine. Ready to go but will age.
2 people found this helpful Comment

Flight 2 (2 notes)

White
2012 Joseph Drouhin Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
93 points
Moderately aromatic, peach, tropical fruit, pineapple; palate is full bodied, richly textured but not at all heavy, tropical pineapple, good length. This is very nice, but very expensive for what it’s showing. 92
With 30 minutes air, this starts to open up and develop a bit more complexity. Pretty nice. 92-93
2 hours air: continues to improve and improve. Richness with lightness. 93-94
White
2012 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
93 points
Some minerals, white fruit, stony; palate is medium bodied, crisp saline minerality, great freshness, still a bit closed; finish is long. 93
2 hours later: improving, showing more and more.

Flight 3 (1 note)

Red
2001 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
94 points
Superb aromatics, vosne spice, red fruit; palate is light to medium bodied, some prominent tannins for Pinot but very approachable, excellent balance, medium-plus acid; finish is medium-plus to long. Really lovely red burgundy, with all the vosne character I expect. 93-95
Grows a bit with an hour of air in the glass. Lovely. 94-95
1 person found this helpful Comment

Flight 4 (2 notes)

Red
1996 Château Léoville Las Cases France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
93 points
Double decanted 8 hours prior to dinner. Deep ruby, still youthful color; aromatic, blackcurrant, slight tea leaves, slight tobacco, some capsicum; palate is full bodied, tannins still present but approachable, medium-plus fresh acidity throughout, good remaining black fruits for its age, a touch of bell pepper, not a ton of secondary or tertiary complexity yet; finish is medium-plus length and quite clean/precise with a bit of minerality. Right now this seems like a youthful but approachable classically made bordeaux, still with good fruit but not a ton of mature complexity. Nose>palate right now. I'm hoping this will fill out a bit with some air, but it's still a nice bordeaux now. 92-93
Really needs at least 7-10 years more age to develop more.
Day 2: Shows a bit more fine complexity on the nose, a bit more polish and smoothness on the palate as the tannins have integrated more, and overall doesn't really show any significant oxidation that I might expect with so much air. This definitely has a lot of time left before my next bottle.
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
1995 Château Margaux France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
93 points
High intensity aromatics, black fruits, slight spice, forest floor, slight bell pepper; palate is full bodied, still plenty of black fruits, medium-plus acidity throughout; medium-long finish. Very nice Bordeaux, still actually seems a bit youthful, though slightly further along than the '96 LLC. 93-94

Flight 5 (1 note)

Red
1989 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
99 points
Double decanted 8 hours. Absolutely intense olive, probably the most intense olive that I’ve ever smelled, black pepper, incredible depth, meaty; palate is light-medium bodied, elegant, really stellar medium-plus acidity, black fruits that seem almost young, gamey but just barely and not at all overwhelming, incredible balance; finish is long. This is absolutely stellar, one of the best northern Rhône wines that I’ve had, and honestly the most interesting thing is how drinkable it is for such a complex wine. Elegant, not brawny, but still powerful. 99
2 hours into dinner, this started to fade just a touch. Though it had a lot of air at this point given that it was double decanted in the morning. Fresh bottles could go for many more years to 1-2 more decades.
1 person found this helpful Comment
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