TWO FRIENDS SHARING THREE BOTTLES OF WINE - PART 4 - Ruth’s Chris, Tysons Corner, VA (8/22/2019)
As much as I love wine, it is the people that make the passion so special. I have known RJ for over a decade. We have become close friends and had excellent adventures including two trips to Burgundy in search of cheap Coche Dury. RJ invited me to a dinner about a month ago and proposed the 99 La Tache, incredibly generous gesture. I wanted to try the 15 DRC Echezeaux so this was my contribution. As usual, the dinner lasted longer than expected as we were having way too much fun solving the world’s problems.
2007 CDC
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2007 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne - France, Champagne
Medium expressive nose displaying fresh and soft white fruit, fresh lemon, granny smith, a hint of pear, honey, sweet spices and limestone. Medium concentration, finely layered soft white fruit, fine abundant mousse, bright acidity, strong mineral and a medium to long sweet white fruit driven finish with honey and mineral at the end. It is softer and perhaps slightly fresher but not as energetic and concentrated compare to the 06. (94 pts.)
DRC
Both showed incredibly well. Interesting, they were both very ripe and unbelievably concentrated.
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1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
Explosive nose displaying intense perfectly ripe black and red fruit, blackberry, blackberry liqueur, black cherry, raspberry concentrate, a hint of licorice, Chinese medicine, Vosne spice, black tea, espresso bean, liquid smoke, lavender, a hint of DRC stem, sandalwood and limestone dust. Unbelievable concentration, layers upon layers of concentrated black fruit, unctuous, rich and opulent yet silky and sensual, perfect amount of acidity and mineral, mostly masked very fine tannins and the finish that never ends. It confirms once again that this is the biggest and most concentrated La Tache at least since the 90, only equal by the 15. It remains very youthful and doesn’t show much sous bois yet it is incredibly complex. If you prefer a lot of sous bois and tertiary notes as I do, this can easily improve for three decades or more. Monumental! (100 pts.) -
2015 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
Expressive hedonistic nose displaying very ripe jammy black fruit with a hint of red, blackberry liqueur, cassis, black cherry, black plum, raspberry jam, strong licorice, liquid smoke, caramel, cinnamon, nutmeg, Vosne spice, cedar and crushed rock. It is so ripe that there is no hint of the DRC stem note. Unbelievable concentration, layers upon layers of concentrated jammy black fruit, rich, unctuous and opulent, bright acidity, strong mineral and an intense long sweet black fruit driven finish with liquid smoke and caramel at the end. This is the ripest and most concentrated DRC Echezeaux that I have encountered. If you are a member of AFWE, this will not please you. I dare say, Kosta Browne like ripeness here. It will be really interesting to follow how it evolves. (95 pts.)
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