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The Roots Fund Charity Grand Cru Dinner
House of Nanda - Chicago IL
Tasted June 19, 2021 by Burgundy Al with 202 views
Introduction
Raising money for the Roots Fund, whose goal is to increase racial equity in the wine world. Great cause, great wine, great people, great food.
Flight 1 - Champagne to Start (5 notes)
White - Sparkling
N.V. Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Réserve
88 points
From 3L. Fun as always, this was subtlety floral with lots of berry character and good weight and good enough textures.
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Comments (2)
White - Sparkling
2006 Pol Roger Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill
93 points
Brighter than Krug 2002 just tasted with both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay character coming through clearly and combining for layered complexity. Bright through with impressive length. Very good already now.
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Comment
White - Sparkling
2002 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut
95 points
A Champagne of intense concentration that might still be slightly backward, but with so much ripe apple, baked apple, ripe red berries. toasted rye bread and savory spice. More Pinot-centric than Chardonnay-driven, but with both able to share the spotlight gracefully.
White - Sparkling
2002 Dom Pérignon Champagne
94 points
Ripe, tart and baked apple throughout with some lemon curd. Very brightly textured with an equally bright finish. Very good now.
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Comment
White - Sparkling
2010 Dom Pérignon Champagne
92 points
Plenty of apple, some tropical hints with sourdough bread. Good+ length. Maybe this just needs more time to integrate, but it comes across as less complex than the very best vintages of Dom Pérignon.
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Comment
Flight 2 - Corton-Charlemagne (4 notes)
White
2014 Domaine de Montille Corton-Charlemagne
So much here, but very reductive and that SO2-ness never fully went away. Tough to fairly assess, but this has so much concentration and has been a wine I've greatly enjoyed before, and hope to try again.
White
2010 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne
94 points
In vertical. Floral and spice aromatic start with apple, baked apple throughout. Very charming and perfectly balanced. Not quite as powerful as the 2007 or 2008, but greater harmony. Good depth, drinking beautifully now.
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Comment
White
2008 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne
93 points
In vertical. Rich and the most concentrated of the three vintages, but more maturity and butterscotch vs the others. Very good length. At its peak, best to enjoy over the next five years, although this bottle seemed slightly more mature than previous bottles in the past few years.
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Comment
White
2007 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne
94 points
In vertical. Apple and floral notes throughout, this is very dense, powerful and structured, with the fruit to carry through its enjoyment to a long, bright finish. Very minerally and engaging textures. Still further upside here, consistent with previous bottles. I slightly prefer this over 2010, but there was clear disagreement at the table.
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Comment
Flight 3 - Hubert Lignier Clos de la Roche (4 notes)
Red
Red
1996 Hubert Lignier Clos de la Roche
93 points
In vertical. Great nose with so much ripe red and black fruit, well supported by an broad array of spices. Similar palate, just not quite as harmonious. So much here, but the start is so rich, the finish more firm. I think this will continue to improve, but like many 1996s, some are losing faith.
Red
1998 Marie-Elisabeth Legrand Clos de la Roche
flawed
In what was ostensibly an Hubert Lignier Clos de la Roche vertical. There seems to be no available info on this wine, other than the label looks almost identical to Lignier's and with a correct Lignier bottle and cork. Tough to assess if this was a Lignier fermage partner who took some wine in this vintage because, alas, the wine seemed dirty, and some even thought perhaps corked.
Red
2001 Hubert Lignier Clos de la Roche
95 points
In vertical, this was my highlight. Pure red cherry on nose and palate, so harmonious and powerful, while neatly elegant. A lingering, expanding finish. So good now, and easily able to last another 15+ years.
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Comment
Flight 4 - Intermezzo (1 note)
Red
1991 Domaine Dujac Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Gruenchers
flawed
Directly sent from the Domaine, but sadly very corked.
Flight 5 - Dujac Clos de la Roche (5 notes)
Red
1999 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche
95 points
In vertical. Slightly snug to start, this gradually opened and unfolded into a masterpiece of ripe fruit, meat, spice and brilliant textures. I certainly preferred the 2000 in the next glass to start, but this caught up by the time both were finished 45 minutes later.
Red
2000 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche
95 points
In vertical. A wine that has almost always thrilled me, and tonight's was no exception. Red cherry and berry coming out of every nook and cranny, well supported by spice, meat and earth. Did I mention the spice? Perfectly Zen. Started great and stayed there all the time in glass.
Red
2001 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche
92 points
In vertical. Nicely spiced with bright red fruit in a leaner style vs the 1999 and 2000, but very good length, even if ending ever-so-slightly more firmly than would be ideal.
Red
2008 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche
94 points
In vertical. The baby of the flight, which made it tougher for me to love, but the stuffing is here. Spice galore with lots of concentration, this could never be expected to be as layered (yet) as the 99/00/01 vintages alongside, but was certainly tasty and hinting at its trajectory.
Flight 6 - Lignier-Michelot Clos de la Roche (3 notes)
Red
2002 Domaine Lignier-Michelot Clos de la Roche
93 points
In vertical. Bright red fruit, aging beautifully and gracefully, nicely supported with sweet spice. Complex and layered with good density and length. A great vintage for Virgile.
Red
2008 Domaine Lignier-Michelot Clos de la Roche
89 points
In vertical. Powerful and big-scaled, but not quite perfectly balanced yet, giving a slightly awkward finish. I am probably being unfair tonight because it was served amongst so many of the greatest bottles of Clos de la Roche.
Red
2005 Domaine Lignier-Michelot Clos de la Roche
92 points
In vertical, this was served double(ish) blind. I did not think it was from Lignier-Michelot and certainly did not think it from 2005. Very ripe without hard tannins (so I thought 2009) with a fun, eager-to-please character and tons of rich black and red cherry. Very good now, which is rare for '05 Grand Cru that is popped-and-poured.
Flight 7 - Dom Pérignon Rosé (2 notes)
Rosé - Sparkling
2004 Dom Pérignon Champagne Rosé
93 points
Alongside the 2006, this came across as leaner than 2006 and leaner than i recall from before. There is a slight bitter note that added something interesting, but also didn't thrill me. But overall complex and very layered, even if I preferred the 2006 tonight.
Rosé - Sparkling
2006 Dom Pérignon Champagne Rosé
94 points
Alongside the 2004. Only my 2nd time tasting this wine, and I much preferred it tonight vs last year. Rich berries come across from start-to-finish, seemingly lush upfront, then brightly textured and energetic from the middle forward. Very good length.