If you are looking for a fabulous starter champagne to kick off an evening of decadence, this makes a good choice. Fine bubbles and beautiful caressing finish.

Incredible champagne for the price point. This drinks well above its weight class. I’m down to my last bottle. Need to buy more.

I didn't love this wine. It tasted watered down and lacked personality.

Tasted double blind. Slight bricking at the edges. Touch of green herb on the finish with an odd prickly tannin going on in the finish. That said, I loved the nose and could smell it all night long. I called it '89 or '90 Pauillac first growth. I initially called it as my wine, but was talked out of it by the guy sitting next to me. It was my wine and my WOTN. BTW - in blind wine tasting it is always best not to listen to those around you. Trust your gut and instincts. They are usually right.

Tasted double blind. I called it an '06 Brunello Riserva because I picked up notes of dried red sour cherries and leather. That said, the Nebbiolo tannic finish should have given it away. Well made wine that needs time to develop.

Tasted double blind. I loved this wine. Red strawberry fruit, touch of spice, Grand Cru structure, sweet tannin, a touch of earth. I called it '10 Grand Cru, but that was as far as I got. This is young and will get much better with another 10 years of age. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it.

Tasted double blind. This wine looked like a glass of red tea. The jammy strawberry fruit pops you in the face and cleans out the sinuses. Almost liqueur like with an almost tawny port like sweet finish that tasted like a candied apple. I also picked up a touch of leather. This won WOTN ahead of '90 Latour. Blasphemy! I guess that's why we do blind tastings but the vote was biased because most thought this was Rayas Riserva because it was a mondo event so expectations were high. That said, I can honestly say I loved this wine and would enjoy one glass of it. However, to drink an entire bottle, it would turn my stomach. This is why the '90 Latour gets my WOTN vote because I would have no problem drinking a full bottle of Latour. I respect Rayas for what it is, but it is over the top for my palate.

Tasted double blind. This is a massive wine that initially smells like Bordeaux on the attack but is clearly Super Tuscan on the structured finish. Whenever I encounter a wine that smells like a Bordeaux in the glass, but then has a sweet almost new world Cabernet finish but has the tannin of a Bordeaux, I call Super Tuscan. This time, I called it an '04 Solaia or Ornellaia.

Tasted double blind. Wonderful left bank nose with some greenness and herb on the finish. I called it '96 Pichon Lalande. This is the first time the '96 Cos really showed well. My prior tastings of it have been backward and austere.

Tasted double blind. This did not show as good as it should have. I was convinced this was a mid-90's Cote Rotie from a great producer. Maybe a non-Guigal La La?

Tasted double blind. Turns out this was my first ever tasting of VS Unico and to be honest, I struggled to score it. Initially I thought it was a new world Cabernet based wine due to its sweetness, but then the structure took me to Italy. However, it was so incredibly smooth and symmetrical in complete balance. This wine was vexing to me. In the end, I called it "unknown".

Tasted double blind. Clearly Left Bank and easy to call it as Pauillac. Wonderful nose and similar to the '96 Cos d'Estournel that came before it with some greenish herb on the finish. This had more tertiary character and tobacco than the Cos, however. Once again, I called it '96 Pichon Lalande. Once again, blind tastings are so very humbling.

Tasted double blind. The group nailed this as Barolo, but I went against the grain calling it a young Grand Cru Burg. due to the deeper cherry fruit. I should have picked it up on the tannic finish. Nevertheless, the fruit powers through the tannin. It is a very pretty wine.

Tasted double blind. There is definitely Cabernet in this wine, but from where? It is tannic, but sweet with a tangy ting on the finish. I thought maybe Solaia? But of course, someone brought a knife to a gun fight. Cali Cab. Wow!

Tasted double blind. Very similar to wine #1. Rockin' nose with sweet tobacco, cedar, and a touch of brett. Slightly abrupt prickly finish. Nevertheless, it is drinking in a really good spot right now.

Dinner Champagne Flight. Non-blind. 2012 Dom is one of my favorite vintages of Dom in recent memory. Yum!

Dinner Champagne. Non-Blind. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to it as I was focused on the food and conversation.

Sadly this was corked.

Tasted single blind. We are now into back-up bottles and palate fatigue started to kick in and dinner table conversation began to dominate. I remember this being a well made wine. That's about it.

Served non-blind. This was exactly what my palate needed at this point in the line-up. Served at 50 degrees and paired with a delicious terrine of Foie Gras on brioche toast with Apricot jam. Perfectly paired and served as a wonderful palate cleanser, which inspired me to go cellar diving. The Yquem was darker in color (caramel) than maybe it should be at this age. Nevertheless, delicious!

Non-blind. This was an end of night cellar dive pop n pour. Hmmm... If I had to do it again, I would have opened it two hours prior and decanted it. It was muted, closed, and not giving up its full potential. Disappointing for what I paid for it.

Non-blind. My third time tasting this vintage of Soldera and I LOVE IT. To redeem the Jadot Beze failure, I pulled this to redeem myself. This is one of the greats from Brunello. If served blind, it has the potential to confuse trained palates as a Grand Cru Burgundy from one of the great producers. I once tasted this blind vs. a Rousseau Clos St. Jacques and I picked the Soldera as the Burgundy in the line-up. A great ringer for great Burgundy.

Non-Blind. Final cellar dive of the night. For some strange reason, my palate was reactivated after the Y'quem intermezzo. This wine never disappoints. It is always so consistently excellent and probably the best value mondo wine of the 1982 vintage. Time for bed! Night night!