Served blind. We guessed 2000 Dom Perignon.
A great bottle and a joy for those like us who cherish old ( yet alive) champagnes at the stage when they are more burgundy white wines than bright bubbly champagnes. Autolysis, soft noble oxidation ( not oxidised) nutty, soft honey and still a lot of toasty touches. Alive and beautiful . 93-94

Served blind and was very perplexing to the senses. Felt more of a Sauvignon Blanc rather than an Assyrtiko to the untrained nose .
Very interesting side of Assyrtiko here , and always with hindsight, soft and polished acidity still bright but less flinty and lime-y. Apparently our host who had this before remembers it very different from a few years back when he tried it then and maybe the underwater maturation creates as expected a bit of randomness in the evolution. 92

The magic of great Chablis,
Served blind and even the most experienced among us ( including a Bollinger award winner MW) struggled to place it as a Chablis so away from the norm and the classic style this wine was. Maybe the use of oak in the hands of a great wine maker with ideas to push away from the classic?
More topical than anything, mineral for sure but also rich and layered with a fatty feel but effortlessly balanced . The table pushed towards Petit Cheval Blanc and even Haut Briton Blanc ( we hesitated between Terran primo and Ornellaia Blanc) . We can keep going here for a long time but really pushing aside all the fanfare this was a phenomenal wine. 95

Served blind ( Nicol picked it up as new world Chardonnay while Andreas struggled to place is )
Big wine , rich and with a proper smoky , toasty nose to the point that Guigal Ex Votto was floated as an idea. The nose was spectacular for sure, very expressive and albeit impacted by the oak use the wine carried the oak very well. Rich, oily, waxy on the palate , stone fruits, richness and ripeness of fruit and a lot of length here. Huge mouthful of a wine. 94

Served blind. A mesmerising wine from nose to tail ( We guessed La Tache 2001) , elegant and expressive. Red fruits, rose feel, bright yet elegant nose that was in full glory of burgundy. Similarly on the palate, elegant, silky. Considering the vintage this a monumental wine and one to remember . 96

Served blind. We thought this was 2005! Still so young and ( a consistent theme with 99s) required a decade more to reach its full potential. Almost a shame to open this now and partially the tightness of the vintage at this stage and partially due to the excellent Rousseau 95 Chambertin it was served side by side eclipsed this wine. Good for sure but lacking an expressive side at this stage and one which will reward patience. Keep it in the cellar for a decade pls. 92 for now

Served blind and went straight to Cote Rotie and called it Chave 1997.
It’s been 5 years since we had this last ( Papies 97 ) and very happy to see this wine continue the path of greatness. As classic as expected, smoky, bacon, roast meet nose , a nose to launch a thousand shops across the Aegean if it chose too. The palate in the same wavelength , silky yet full of energy, balanced and elegant. We can go on and on and on here but really an easy 97 and along with the Rousseau 95 Chambertin ( Papies 96) the WOTN.

Served blind flanked by what would be revealed to be the Chave 1999 ( ( Papies 97) and was along the same wavelength albeit darker and bigger. We guessed late 90s La Mouline as we felt it had a bit of a herby feel we so associate with the La La.
This with time like another 5-10 years will be close to perfect and will be like the great La Las of the 80s now is our call. It’s for sure impressive and close to perfection now but the heavier winemaking style of Guigal still needs time to hit its full stride. Impressive still and an easy 95 but hold on a bit more if you can and what we have here will be very close to a perfect score.

Served blind and what a move to serve such a wine blind.
Most placed are a Bordeaux albeit more of Pauillac ( including our resident MW) which Andreas found notes closer to an early 2000 Barolo. The wine here is definitely young and albeit has a silky soft and effortless feel on the palate was not really expressive even after 3 hours of decanting. Given the pedigree we feel pointless to rate as we saw but a glimpse of it at this stage.

Tasted blind, placed more of a cab sauv than a pure merlot.
Even after 3 hours of decanting the wine was not at full stride and we wonder if it will ever be or it will just be lacking that expected singing nose that one expects . The fact that was revealed to be a Masseto only made things worse for us… 92?

Served blind and albeit arrived at the end of a very long and super solid wine flight shown through. Nine guessed its origin but all fell in love with it.
This is our second time we had this ( Papies 96 3 years ago ) and was as impressive as the memories inscribed in the TN back then. Bright lots of energy and layered, depth of flavour exceptionelle here and albeit rich effortlessly balanced , almost light at times. Superb 96.

Served blind and albeit we tested the water with ideas of this being something out of the ordinary the table focussed on this being an 80s port.
Impressive wine and really was the closing wine of a superb flight and albeit palate fatigue was there the wine reinvigorated our will to taste more and claimed it’s spot.
Supple, soft and although with lots of presence and density never felt anything but elegant and balanced. This is what great ports are at the end of the day and this wine flew the flag . 94,95,96 just numbers , the wine was just superb.

Corked, heartbreaking .

Corked and drove a spike through our heart.