A few selected notes of wines of interest from the HDH auction this weekend. Not a particularly interesting auction, with mostly commodities on offer, and at pretty stable prices. Of note was the cellar containing various vintages of Gruaud Larose (back until 1876) – those wines hammered extremely well. A single bottle of 1975 Egon Mueller TBA hammered for $6000 before vig.
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2008 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Mazis-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru (6/25/2016)
Heartbreakingly lovely. This is the kind of experience that will leave you like Gatsby standing on the pier staring at the green light. Super elegant and racy, with just amazingly pretty red fruit. I’ve worried a bit about the longevity of the 2008s because of the austerity, but this will almost certainly be an exception. So perfumed and bright, but there’s great concentration here too. A touch short on the finish, but I’m giving a flyer on that given how amazing the nose and attack are. (95 pts.) -
2012 Forey Père et Fils Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Gaudichots - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru (6/25/2016)
The nose here is stunning – lots of brilliant and classic brown spice, coupled with some delicious fresh fruit. The palate here is elegant, light, and perfumed, showing a very judicious but light touch of oak. Lovely acidity and freshness here – so much delicious light red fruit and captivating silkiness here… certainly a bit too young, but seriously delicious already. (95 pts.) -
2004 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Rosé - France, Champagne (6/25/2016)
A lovely, steely nose, with tons of bright fruit. The palate shows a little bit of unintegration right now, with the disparate elements all showing a bit jarring right now. Tons of minerality and tart red berries. With air, this rounds out significantly. becoming quite a delicious example. (93 pts.) -
2009 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe (6/25/2016)
#12-10, 8.5% abv. Mea culpa. The attitude I had against the 2009 vintage was wrong. This is a delicoius bottle of Spätlese that, despite the obvious signs of Prädikat creep, remains well within the classification of Spätlese. Quite light, but this is immensely sweet at the same time. Crisp, with lots of sweet apple and tropical fruit. No signs of botrytis – despite the crazy sweetness on this, this is still a clear and crisp bottle of riesling. (93 pts.) -
1962 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 890 - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja (6/25/2016)
Classic Rioja. Lots of oak on the nose, as well as just a touch of brown spice and coffee. The palate is very, very acidic, but there’s lots to enjoy here. Huge amount of oak, as there should be, but there’s some brown sugar and a touch of dried brown fruit. I wish it was a touch sweeter and more fruit-forward, but it’s hard to argue this isn’t exactly what it should be. (90 pts.) -
2012 Louis Jadot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru (6/25/2016)
From what I understand, a somewhat rare bottle of negociant Jadot. Immensely bright red fruit on the nose, with a lot of lovely spice character – a bit from oak, a bit, presumably, from Vosne. This is a very, very dense wine on the palate, with amazing red fruit character, and a lovely vein of acidity. The oak pokes through a little prominently at the moment, but it’s the sort of in a way that doesn’t worry me at all. (90 pts.) -
2005 Kongsgaard Chardonnay - USA, California, Napa Valley (6/25/2016)
Bizarrely smells of a teutonic grape, with all that spice on the nose. The palate is very, very ripe and rich, with just a bit too much oak. Surprisingly good acidity though, which is a plus, but this is certainly too ripe and fat for chardonnay. (80 pts.) -
2004 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne - France, Champagne (6/24/2016)
This is some pretty serious champagne, if a bit young. The nose has a touch of herbaceous greenness to it, but lots of ripe yellow fruit as well. The palate is where this really shines though – it’s so potent and full of energy and minerality. At the same time, there’s a rounded texture here that keeps this in perfect balance. (93 pts.) -
2002 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru (6/24/2016)
Nice touch of red fruit, but this is surprisingly green. Not as opulent and rich as I’d expect a 2002 to show at this point. There’s a light touch of spice on the palate to counterbalance very tart red fruit, but all-in-all, this is a very stern rendition of a 2002. Served blind, I would never have picked out the vintage. (90 pts.) -
2011 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru (6/24/2016)
Light-bodied, bright red fruit on the nose and palate. Seems like this is a bit manufactured, and there’s a lot of oak spice on the nose. This really needs more heft and body to back up the heavy makeup. All of that could still be somewhat forgivable if this wine weren’t so goddamn green and stemmy. A serious disappointment. (80 pts.)
