NYE 2023
Tasted December 31, 2023 by 87tellub with 57 views
Introduction
NYE with the extended family. We started with the menu and worked backwards from there to pick the wines. Went with different than usual ways (for us) of making the filets, mushrooms and lobster tails. Was most interested in trying Laurent Perrier NV for the first time, as well as re-visiting the 2001 Rieussec (which I just thought was just ho-hum 5 years ago), and seeing what 20 years of bottle age would do to a Montelena Estate (spoiler alert: good things).
Flight 1 - Ocean (1 note)
Paired the Champagne up with baked lobster tails and gigantic shrimp cocktail. Everything played very nicely together. We don't buy tons of sparkling, but would certainly consider having some more of this in the cellar.
Flight 2 - Land (1 note)
These filets were dynamite, as were the mushrooms (tons of butter, shallots and parsley). This wine was fantastic. Easily one of the top 5-10 wines I had in all of 2023.
Medium to dark garnet. Nose is bright and alive upon first inspection. Combination of mineral red rocks, earthy notes and a bit of red fruit. Almost medium in body, resolved tannins, still a refreshing dose of acidity. Into the finish the fruit profile becomes more baked than fresh with notes of anise.
Update: already better with just 30-45 minutes of bottle air. Just very pretty and balanced. Some cigar box nose, more red plum palate, good intensity on the finish. Caramel and fig creeping in.
2 hours of air and it's put on a little weight. Texture is very fine and lovely.
Can obviously enjoy this now, but this bottle will still have been very fine in 5 years, probably even 10 or possibly more with proper storage.
Flight 3 - Sweets (1 note)
Sauternes with a fresh berry tart. Classic. Better showing tonight for this wine that several years back. It can't quite reach the heights of d'Yquem, but not a bad consolation prize.
On the nose it reminds me of butterscotch, honey, candle-wax, toasted crème brulee, tartar sauce (?). Incredibly thick on the palate, just inky. More of that crème brulee into the finish, with toffee, butterscotch. Wow.
The only thing keeping this from a 95-97 on my scale would be some more acid and a longer finish. Still, quite nice.
Flight 4 - Sweets (cont.) (1 note)
Upon the realization that I don't hate bleu cheese (the sauce for the steaks was Roquefort cream sauce) took the opportunity to sample a little port and a few chunks of that same cheese. Will be going back to this combination in the years to come.
Color is medium to dark purple. Nose of fig, warm caramel, fresh paint. A lot of concentration here, sweet dark berries, milk chocolate, raisin. Finish lingers there for a long time and gives you layers and layers of good stuff. Little too sweet is the only criticism on N1. N2: more balanced. Tongue coating, not cloying.
Update 2 weeks later: Not much has changed! Nose a bit more subdued but still pretty nice on the palate. Many decades of life left.
Closing
Pretty fantastic night all around. Maybe a bit of sweet overload at the end, but, there are bigger problems in the world! The Champagne was excellent, the Montelena was WOTN and I discovered I actually like bleu cheese. We will take it!