I didn't really like this wine today. It felt so incredibly mushroomy and dense, with a somewhat disjoint dosage, and far older than it actually was too. Coming around to the opinion that I'm just not a huge fan of Goisses...

Oddly, this is more fresh than the 2007. It doesn't show as heavy on the mushroom notes and you get more bright acidity and freshness to the fruit here. Surprisingly lean for a pinot-heavy 2006. The more I try Goisses, the more I realize I just don't grok the wine.

After declaring the 2008 the best Dom in a generation, a new contender has arisen. Served next to the 2008 tonight, it seems that this younger wine is just drinking so much better. A little bit of the classic Dom reduction followed by lots of bright apple notes, as well as a little bit of pear. Very full and complete, in contrast to the slightly more structural 2008 alongside. As an aside, the 2010, tasted later, probably should never have been made.

Probably the worst Dom since 2003, and possibly even farther back. This shouldn't have been made. Coming smack inbetween the 2008 and 2012, this is a very mediocre, white-grapey version without either the breadth of 2012 or the structure of 2008. To be fair, it's a passable champagne, but you really might as well leave this one to the nightclubs.

I've crossed paths with this wine a fair number of times already (lucky me), and tonight's bottle seems consistent with those past experiences. It's a little more structural and showing the acidity far more prominently tonight. Still, the expected concentration and complexity is still on display; but it seems to me that it is less and less worthwhile to open bottles now, especially since I preferred the 2012 alongside.

Perhaps a little less autolytic and rich than I would have expected for Deutz (then again, my experience with the wines is fairly minimal). Good acidity and brightness, but a tad simple for a tête de cuvée.

From magnum. A little reductive at first, but plenty of delicious autolytic notes. Quite a ripe fruit profile with generous dosage, but also a slightly chewy texture from all the extract here. A hint more Maillard present than I would have really liked, but this is still quite good.

What, did Taittinger run out of money and have to release a wine this year? Another example of a tête de cuvée that shouldn't have been made. The fruit feels underripe and has green tones, but there is also this really weird sugary/sappy thing on the palate that just doesn't work at all. Extremely atypical for CdC, and a definite whiff. One to skip, unless you're getting to try this gratis.

From magnum. A little more browned apple than I would expect for this wine (especially having had it a few times in the past). Ripe fruit and zippy acidity, but the fruit profile being a little more electric would have been great.

From magnum. Way too browned, this was past its drinkability window for me.

From magnum. Not premoxed (which is rare for 2007 Boillot). Generously oaked and thickly textured, with lots and lots of orchard fruit on the nose and palate here. In this format, this wine seems like it still has ages to go.

From magnum. Interesting to try next to the Boillot -- this was clearly less oaked and showed more purity of fruit. But it did feel a little flat as the acidity didn't seem to be as bright on the palate.

Pleasant and textbook Meursault; showing a little more esters than I would have expected with a slight banana note on the nose. Good texture and acidity, this has the correct weight of a 2015, and would probably drink quite nicely with some more time.

Liked but didn't love this; surprisingly fat and showing more ripe apple notes and nascent cidery tones that seem out of place for 2014. But I do like the weight and acidity here; I just wish that the freshness was more in line.

Nowhere like my last experience with this wine. While not premoxed (I argue that that plague has a different oxidative taste than just mature chardonnay), this just felt like it had seen better days.

Absolutely impressive wine, this is the first Bonneau I've tried from after the buy-out. Large-scaled aromatics on the nose -- plenty of expensive oak and a hint of reduction. Very ripe, sweet, and fat on the palate, but there is definitely the right amount of material here to hold it all together. One of my favourites tonight.

Bizarre stuff. Drinks kind of like grape juice but with all the sweetness stripped out of it. Reminds me a bit of drinking vinegar (and it wasn't just me). Don't get the appeal at all.

From magnum. I was very excited to try this wine ever since I read about this in a recent Gilman issue, so lucky for me to be able to taste it so soon. Surprisingly pyrazine heavy, but with good acidity and some meaty notes as well. I think I liked this more than others at the table, and might have called this a ripe Loire if served blind.

Quite stern and structural, and probably my least favourite of the three Ampuis tonight. Hard to get much of a read on, this was generously dark-fruited with a little bit of leather and smoke thrown in. Still seems too young, unlike the 1998 and 2000, which were more open for business.

Easily the best of the three Ampuis, this was mature and showing well. It had many of the notes that I want to see in syrah, with more of a meat/smoke thing than olives, even though there was a little tapenade if you looked for it. Resolved on the palate, even though I'm not generally a huge fan of Ampuis, I'll admit this was a pretty smart bottle.

In comparison to the other Ampuis, this was a little more green and felt a tad underripe, showing a little pyrazine and far more acidity than the other wines. I enjoy the herbal thing to an extent, but this may have gone a hair too far. Would have been nice to see more of the olive and brine notes in a relatively cooler vintage.

Some pretty red fruit on the nose, with a palate that has a very slight herbal touch, and a few chewy tannins on the back end. For me this seemed a little more ready to drink than the slightly more structural Ducs alongside.

A little more heightened in aromatics and structure than the Chênes alongside. Definitely cut of the same cloth with the red fruit and structure. A more contemplative wine than most on the tables tonight, I wish I was able to give this a little more attention.

From magnum. Fantastic stuff. Herbal notes and pyrazines but all in the context of a ripe wine showing sweet black fruit and age-appropriate leathery notes. A little rustic and backwards in terms of tannins, but this bottle is really just spot on. One of my favourites tonight.

From magnum. For a change, a bottle of La Chapelle that's actually decent. Surprisingly clean without any off notes, though there might have been a smidgen of volatile acidity here. Beautifully clean black fruit on the palate, but this still lacks the salinity and brine notes that I love in my syrah, even though there are a few smoky tones here.

From magnum. What a treat to cross paths with this again. Slightly woodsy, but not in a bad way. Sweet and delicate red fruit; a bit of a lighter style here, the fruit is ripe and mature. Slightly grainy on the back end still, this wine still has plenty of gas in the tank.

Absolutely fantastic showing. Such lithe and lifted aromatics, this was really bright and elegant, with classic syrah notes of olive brine and smoke. The palate is light and supple, high in acidity, and fully mature. The oaky elements, if there ever were any, have receded a way. A treat.

From magnum. Far, far too many pyrazines for me to enjoy. Drinks like a ripe and old sort of Loire.

From magnum. In a charmless vintage from what I consider to be a charmless producer, there is suddenly a wine that belies all of that charmlessness. It's definitely a stern, structural wine, but there are all the hallmarks of great Bordeaux here. A surprising amount of black fruit on the back end, this is very large-scaled wine that's incredibly impressive now.

Tannic and brooding, this has a lot of chewy black-fruited tannins and a stern, hard tannic structure that's impossible to get through. Yes, despite this being Dugat-Py, I'm still going to editorialize here to say that I don't think the 2005 red Burgundy vintage really is all that it's chalked up to be (unless you just like drinking tannin).

From magnum. Extraordinarily good. Ripe, fresh, and sweet, with nary a hint of age. It's definitely a product of a riper vintage with sweet yellow fruit, but there is so much electricity and exuberance in this magnum. Chewy minerality on the back end. This is the sort of showing that reminds me why I love Dönnhoff so much.