Best Quarantine Wines

Maybe Mike Grammer can refer to this thread in 8 months or so when he’s compiling the WOTY thread.

I thought it’d be fun to see what people have liked that have been opened during the age of Covid.

For me:

2012 Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Clos de la Boudriotte
2004 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne (for our anniversary, actually not in quarantine, but at McCrady’s in Charleston, just before everything shut down) Thanks to Jay Miller for insisting I try this and for Dennis Atick for the bottle.
2015 Y. Clerget Volnay 1er Clos du Versueil
2017 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey VV

I’ve been liking most of what I’ve opened. I really liked all the Sabelli-Frisch wines so far, but was thrilled with one this week.

2010 Domaine Des Monts Luisants 1er Monts Luisants

grouphug champagne.gif

Lots of solid wines but the following stand out.

‘09 Bachelet ‘Corbeaux’
‘14 PYCM St. Auburn ‘En Remilly’
‘10 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee

Have started to open more wine, held off at first, but it helps pass the days now, so I’ve just ripped into random things I don’t usually get around to opening. Nothing mind-blowing, but some good, solid wines.

2005 La Pousse d’Or Volnay 1er Cru Clos de la Bousse d’Or
2012 Rattalino Barbaresco Quarantadue 42
2015 Pierpoan Classico Calvarino - yum-o outside on a warm night
2010 Guiseppe Quintarelli Primafiore- about right. Good with food
2015 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie Gorges

CellarTracker! Davenport Cellars Wines Davenport Cellars wine sale. Great wines and all under $15.00

2012 Myriad GIII

My wife’s been opening her wines lately; but I have opened “a few” of my own. The ones I took particular note of are:

1998 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne BdB (magnum);

1998 Domaine François Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens (decanted for sediment and 2&1/2 hours aeration);

1997 Château d’Yquem; and,

2004 Col d’Orcia BdM Poggio al Vento Riserva (decanted for 2&1/2+ hours aeration).

2015 MacDonald
2008 Dunn Napa
2017 Saxum White JBV
2015 Carlisle JBV

2017 Maybach Materium
2008 Cristal
2001 Delgadillo
2017 Matrot Puligny Les Chalumeaux

Was just commenting the other day on how we’ve had some pretty good luck with our quarantine wines so far. the three of us talking decided its because we are lucky to just have cellars full of really delicious wine!

Best white:
2014 Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo hands down

Best reds:
2004 Rioja Alta 904
2016 Big Table Farm
2008 Joseph Voillot Champans

My top wines so far:

2013 Richard Leroy Chenin Les Noëls de Montbenault
2002 Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières
2010 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers
2008 Vietti Barolo Rocche
2015 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo
1978 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Montefico

1994 Felsina Fontalloro
2006 Fevre Les Clos
1995 L’Evangile

2009 Cayuse Syrah Armada Vineyard
2013 Cayuse Syrah Wallah Wallah Special #5
2015 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
2016 Rivers-Marie Silver Eagle Pinot Noir
2016 Loring Cargassachi Vineyard Pinot Noir
2017 Bucklin Old Hill Ranch “Bambino” Zinfandel (this is a QPR marvel, btw)

2008 Guigal Chateau D’Ampuis and 2016 JB Neufeld Yakima Valley have been the two that I’ve been daydreaming about the most long after drinking them.

I have consumed 12 bottles so far during this extensive social distancing, these are the best in rankings.

  1. ‘85 Cheval Blanc

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  2. ‘85 Jadot Corton Pougets

  3. ‘95 Ducru Beaucaillou

  4. ‘13 Comte Liger Belair NSG Clos des Grandes Vignes

  5. ‘93 Joseph Drouhin Charmes Chambertin

  6. ‘09 Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny

  7. ‘96 Chapoutier Le Pavillon

Big gaps in quality between #1 and #2, #5 to #7 are equal in quality.

Not in any particular order:

‘90 Merryvale Profile — one of the better California Cabs I’ve had in a while with some age on it. Really loved this wine back in the day.

‘08 Trimbach Frederic Emile — Perfect with Thai food and blew away my family who had not had it before

‘15 Rhys Horseshoe Pinot — so savory and delicious, probably my favorite of their vineyards

‘16 A Tribute to Grace Besson Vineyard — lovely feminine Grenache from California

2006 Jacques-Frederic Mugnier Clos de la Marechale — best of the bottles I’ve had to date and just coming into a good drinking window…

1981 Pichon Lalande
2007 Levet Chavaroche
2012 Lignier Clos de l’Ormes

Interesting. The 2012 version of this wine is one of the most vile bottles of Pinot I’ve ever opened. I couldn’t make it through half a glass before it became an offering to the porcelain god.

Yours might have been the TN that made me think it was going to be garbage, so might as well open it. But of course I could just have terrible taste. If that’s it, then let me know next time you hate something!

Best so far would have to be an 1899 Latour. Because why not? Will our species survive this and if we do, do we deserve to? In any case, might as well drink some good wine. This was a pretty special bottle - I look forward to eating the dregs in the morning!