RJ and I have shared more than a few memorable bottles over the past ten plus years. This wasn’t really a wine dinner but we had three pretty special bottles. For me, the most important aspect of having passion in wine is the friendship and camaraderie. A lot of my closest friends are also my wine drinking buddies. As usual, we conversed about all different sorts of topics. Time flies when you’re having fun as our earlier dinner lasted over five hours.
1993 Domaine Michel Niellon Bâtard-Montrachet- France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Intense ripe yellow fruit driven nose, RJ mentions guava, peach, lemon curd, sesame, butter scotch, oyster shell, a hint of lanoline and flowers. Excellent concentration, dense ripe yellow fruit driven palate impression, quite rich yet precise palate, perfect amount of acidity, strong presence of mineral and a lovely long finish. This is a perfectly mature Batard, ie dense and masculine. Excellent showing. (95 pts.)
1993 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru
Explosive youthful nose displaying intense black and red fruits, blackberry, raspberry, cherry, liquid smoke, rose, espresso, dark spices, a hint of sous bois and earth. Perfectly harmonious sensual palate, still a hint of tannins and a seamless long finish that ends with intense dark fruit and smoke. This is an extremely youthful example. Drinking incredibly well! (98 pts.)
1971 Giuseppe Quintarelli Amarone della Valpolicella Classico- Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
A bit tired nose like the note from Rupert, a hint of madeira, raisin and rose. Medium concentration, fully resolved, a hint of sweetness and a medium to short finish. It gains a bit of weight but not enough. (87 pts.)
Da Domenico! How funny. I graduated from McLean, HS many years ago, and know that place well.
It is such a painful pleasure to hear of good Michel Niellon bottles. A favorite producer of mine, and so many have fallen victim to the plague. How wonderful to have some left from before the problem years.
More than a few years ago, when Paul Wasserman was still working at Woodland Hills Wine, I wandered into the store and asked him for the best $300 bottle that I could drink with my wife to celebrate our anniversary (I forget which one, but it must have been important). He went into the back of the store and came out with a bottle of 1993 Rousseau Clos de Beze. It was delicious then, too.
About fifteen years ago Scott Manlin went to some of the top restaurants in Paris as well as Troisgros and drank through most of the Rousseau Chambertin and CDB for sub $200. I drank for $350 at Troisgros as I recall.
We typically have six to eight for our wine dinners. I don’t enjoy being drunk. It is also impossible to write TNs after a few glasses. This was totally and drinking event!