Yesterday , our wine club organized the annual party evening . Everybody brings a wine that he/she was really looking forward drinking . Truly an awsome evening with wines that will no doubt figure in my top wines 2019 list .
We started with 2 Champagnes : the Dom Perignon 2000 rosé was easy going , the more powerful Krug 2000 was the better one imo .
First white wine was the 2002 Auxey Duresses Les Clous d’Auvenay . Decanting was wise , the wine showed it’s dry extract beautifully. Nutty and mineral , excellent wine .
The Chablis les Clos Raveneau ( magnum ) was very slightly corcked . Too bad , as this was a very good wine .
The second wine was advanced and borderline drinkable : Montrachet 2007 from Henri Boillot . Bummer . But my friend had tasted the wine at home and brought a back-up that was briljaint : the 2008 Montrachet from Henri Boillot . This wine was linear , chalky and very pure . Blind I would have thought Chevalier , it did not have the creamy texture of a Montrachet . But a fabulous wine 98/100 .
Then came something I never tasted and probably my wotn : 1989 Clos St Hune Vendages Tardives hors Choix . It is a special cuvée , from the oldest vines I guess . This Riesling was sweet with beautiful acidities , incredibly pure , golden color , magical . It doesn’t get better than that .
Ten the reds . The Latour 1990 was fully ready , a very good Latour but lacking freshness to be outstanding .
The Echezeaux 1966 from DRC had an incredible nose of spices and tobacco . The taste was not so briljant , indeed a nose wine . Francois Audouze probably likes this more than I do.
The Massetto 1999 was way too powerful to come after the delicate Echezeaux . Probably too powerful anyway , i think it is too early to drink right now . Pure concentrate .
The Pichon Comtesse 1982 from magnum was easily recognized blind . One of the best wines from Bordeaux in 1982 I think . Very Pauillac with a tobacco nose . At it’s peak .
The Mascarello Barolo Monprivato 2006 was opened the day before which did the wine real good . Classy fruit , no annoying tannins , it performed well among all these stars .
The 1925 Ygay was still very enjoyable . Blind I thought a wine from the sixties . Some flaws but when you taste history , you can forgive it .
Then came the 1934 Chambertin from Leon Fransman . I believe he was a Belgian negotiant from Ninove , a small Flemish town . Negotiants used to buy a barrel and bottle back in Belgium . They are also famous for adding more powerful wine to beef up the delicate Burgundy . This wine was awsome : still relatively dark , with pure fruit , still fresh . There is no doubt in my mind that this is a briljant example of Pinot and Hermitage . The wine had a low neck fill but that is normal . I adored this wine .
Before starting with the sweet wines , we were offered a refreshing Muscato d’Asti : 2018 Saracco . Only 5 % alcohol , it did me real good and I also loved it . Not too sweet .
Then the 1944 Yquem . One of the darkest Yquem’s I ever tasted . Still a lot of sweetness , nice length but not great. It shows it’s age . Still , a real treat to drink a well aged Yquem .
To close up , the 2001 Rieussec : golden color , a lot of sweetness , creamy , lovely wine and a perfect example of the greatness of Sauternes .
Wines of the night : Probably the Clos St. Hune , the Chambertin , the 08 Montrachet and the Pichon 82 . Lucky us …
I was able to attend a trade tasting with Hubert Trimbach long ago (maybe 1995) and he brought that '89 Clos Ste. Hune VT Hors Choix. I still remember it. He explained that the grapes that year gave them no choice but to make that wine, despite it being outside of the typical style profile for Clos Ste. Hune. Hence, the designation “Hors Choix”.
Agree completely on the Saracco Moscato di Asti. We enjoy this or a peer every Christmas morning as a tradition. Light, refreshing, and an enjoyable sip to transition to other things.
1989 was an unusual year in Alsace. Pierre Trimbach went on holiday and upon returning, to his horror, found that botrytis had raced through the Clos Ste. Hune. Everything was picked at once. There is no regular Clos Ste. Hune that year, only VT. The Hors Choix is a selection of wines bottled separately from the regular 1989 Clos Ste. Hune VT. Not sure how much was made. As far as I know, it was only available at the Domaine.
( the VT Hors Choix, made from the oldest vines harvested two weeks later than the “regular” Clos Ste. Hune VT. ) This quote is from Ian d’Agata in Vinous , he gave the wine 98/100 .
this is an especially rare bottling of Clos Ste. Hune in that it only came to be thanks to the particular nature of the 1989 vintage in Alsace, when Botrytis cinerea was rampant. By the time the Clos was ready to be harvested, noble rot was everywhere, so Trimbach opted to make two different Clos Ste. Hune VTs in 1989: the “regular” (but I shudder in referring to any Clos Ste. Hune as “just” regular) and the Hors choix . Vinous .
I had the Regular Clos Ste-Hune 1989 VT in march 2018 :
_First half bottle - Trimbach Clos Ste-Hune VT 1989 (demi-bouteille) : 16,5/20
De l’oxydation, avec des senteurs de coing, d’hydromel, de menthe, de pain d’épices, d’orange amère. On se croirait en Layon … avec une acidité peu prononcée (et la puissance est moyenne).
Second half bottle - Trimbach Clos Ste-Hune VT 1989 (demi-bouteille) : 18/20
Le cépage est ici plus manifeste (il est vrai que la première bouteille a été dévoilée et que notre cognition s’en trouve forcément modifiée) : terpènes, résine, épices, confiture de mirabelles … Longueur sur un superbe tonus, contrairement au flacon précédent.
Rappel :
Alsace - Trimbach - Riesling Clos Sainte-Hune VT 1989 (75 cl) : 30/7/2005 (restaurant Celler de Can Roca)
PP19 – LG18
Le nez développe des senteurs typées particulièrement exquises : minéral, agrumes, thym. Elles sont confondantes d’évidence. En bouche, l’expression est racée, excitante, dotée de pureté et d’aisance. Le niveau que l’on pouvait attendre d’une telle cuvée (mensurations idéales, équilibre suprême, avec notamment une intégration du sucre parfaite et cette magie du grand vin sucré évolué)._
There was a GJE tasting with Trimbach wines in Restaurant Laurent. The wines came directly from the Domaine. I think this 1989 was part of the tasting. It was fantastic.
. Thanks for posting such nice notes.