A spectacular evening- Part 4: Gaja Conteisa,95`La Mission Haut Brion 66`/ 98` Haut Brion

Our dinner group recently celebrated our 22nd annual Millennium dinner typically held in December of each year, but postponed last year due to COVID restrictions. This event compliments each year`s worth of weekly dinners by bringing top tier wines across the board and as has always been the case, we had many spectacular wines.

Our usual venue has been the private and wine themed Cork Room at one of our favorite local restaurants, bouchon; however, on this occasion, we sat outside up on an upper deck over looking the back secluded courtyard. The restaurant not only graced us with this regal like private deck, but assigned a dedicated server and their top somm to serve us and prepared a special prefix menu to pair with the wines. See photo.

I`m posting the notes for each flight separately.

We started off with 4 champagnes: {Part 1}

1996 KRUG BRUT
1998 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC
2007 TAITTINGER COMTES de CHAMPAGNE BLANC de BLANC
2000 DOM PERIGNON P2 PLENITUDE BRUT

Next up. 2 whites before moving into the reds: {Part 2}

2004 FE TRIMBACH CLOS STE HUNE RIESLING ALSACE
2008 PIERRE-YVES-COLIN-MOREY CORTON CHARLEMAGNE GRAND CRU

Now 3 flights of reds: {1st flight Part 3, 2nd Part 4 and 3rd Part 5}

2004 DOMAINE LEROY VOSNE-ROMANEE
2002 DOMAINE MEO-CAMUZET RICHEBOURG GRAND CRU

2008 GAJA CONTEISA LANGHE- hailed by one wine critic that it will go down as one of the great all-time vintages for this wine made from Gaja’s plots in the Cerequio vineyard of La Morra; since a small portion of Barbera is included, it is not labeled as a Barolo; this came out of the gate very slow and about the first furlong, it gained some momentum and moved into contention with nice tobacco and leather accented plum, red and black raspberry and a touch of black currant; the super smooth mouthfeel added to the sensory pleasures and it finished on an upbeat with everything coming together.

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1995 CHATEAU LA MISSION HAUT-BRION PESSAC-LEOGNAN- this bottle was fresh out from the not so fresh barnyard= Brettanomyces 4-ethylphenol; unlike the earlier 02` Meo Richebourg, it overwhelmed all of the underlying nuances that just had to be good, but not very discernible; this you’d have been a WOTN candidate.

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1998 HAUT-BRION PESSAC-LEOGNAN- we got a great bottle here and after a couple of pretty wines of the last 3, deservedly so; mild chocolate laced black currant dominated the aromas and early taste profile before being joined by ripe plum and blueberries with a touch of earth, tobacco and leather; it was full bodied and had a glorious soft and smooth texture; it seemed to gain momentum in the glass and just kept coming on with more pleasing nuances so I kept my pour aside and went back for more from time to time, each ending with a progressively increasing smile.

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The first of 2 bottles:

1966 HAUT-BRION PESSAC-LEOGNAN- we were happy the person brought 2 as this one was pretty much dead from the brown color to the funky, earthy mushroom profile and dominated astringency.

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1966 HAUT-BRION PESSAC-LEOGNAN- this was such a contrast to the other 66` as this bottle had decent color, mature dark fruit, more body, a smooth mouthfeel and a pleasant finish; more specifically, it gave up leather and earth accented dried, slightly sweet black currant and plum; it was medium to full bodied and soft and easy on the palate; there appears to be enough structure for this to continue to be drinkable for another few years or so, but I’d opt for some sooner than later.

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2005 CHATEAU L`EVANGILE POMEROL
2006 VEGA SICILIA UNICO RIBERO DEL DUERO

Our fabulous evening culminated with 3 stellar dessert wines:

1989 CHATEAU d`YQUEM SAUTERNES
1998 ALOIS KRACHER WELCHRIESLING TROCHENBEERENAUSLESE NUMBER 11
1993 CHATEAU PAJCOS TOKAJI ESSENTIA

What a great night!. Everyone stepped up and then took another step to bring great stuff. The smiles around the table confirmed how much we all delighted in sampling one treasure after another and the last conversation was about our next Millennium dinner scheduled for December this year. Meanwhile, we continue to do our weekly thing and drink great wines, eat great cuisine and share great fellowship.

Cheers,
Blake

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