Eight of us got together to drink some nice wines. We were situated in a spacious private room. Champagne
The 96 Krug in magnum was simply perfect! I typically slightly prefer the 96 Salon but not this time.
1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut- France, Champagne
En magnum. Perfectly mature example, beautifully combining richness, opulence and precision. Noticeable red fruit, baked cinnamon apple, burnt sugar, brioche, honey and limestone mineral. Very fine abundant mousse, rich yet precise and detailed, bright acidity, strong limestone mineral, and a long sweet baked apple driven finish with cinnamon and honey at the end. Showing a bit more richness and volume in magnum format. Although showing the vintage Krug oxidative note, it also displays purity and sweetness. Absolutely perfect! (100 pts.)
1996 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut- France, Champagne
Really tight cork that had to be broken and pulled out using a corkscrew. Very fresh example but strangely shy fine bubbles. Still showing apple, pear and fresh lime. There is also a hint of honey and cinnamon at the end. As usual, very precise showing strong mineral and bright acidity. Hoping for a bit more bubbles (95 pts.)
2015 Sine Qua Non Entre Chien et Loup- USA, California, Central Coast
Rich and ripe yet showing good mineral expression and acidity. Slightly coiled white fruit, beeswax, honey and steely mineral. Excellent concentration, rich and opulent but also good balance and precision. Although ripe, cool overall impression. (93 pts.)
Chardonnay
The Baillot has improved, fresher and more precise.
2018 Arnaud Baillot Corton-Charlemagne- France, Burgundy, CĂ´te de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Very fresh and sweet nose, sweet white fruit, honey, honeysuckle, beeswax, oyster shell, sweet spices and limestone. Excellent concentration, finely layered, sweet, cool and precise, bright acidity and strong limestone mineral, and a long sweet white fruit driven finish with limestone and honeysuckle at the end. There is the 18 ripeness showing at the end. This has calm down a bit, showing better balance and precision. (95 pts.)
2017 Edge Hill Chardonnay Bacigalupi Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Very ripe, kiwi, honey, orange zest, crème brulee, oyster shell and steely mineral. Excellent concentration, rich yellow fruit, dense, rich and deeply toned, bright acidity, oyster shell mineral, and a long sweet yellow fruit driven finish. Very rich and big scale. Apparently the same vineyard as the 73 Montelena Chardonnay. (93 pts.)
Rayas
The preference was evenly divided. The 07 would have been one of the greatest Rayas. Unfortunately this bottle had slightlly fizz.
2007 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve- France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
This was incredibly expressive and impressive upon release. There is a hint of fizz which gives much better version of Aussie sparkling Shirazs. Enormous wine with impressive concentration. Much bigger wine than the 06. A lot of cinnamon and tobacco. The fruit is a bit stewed. The fizz bothers me and make the overall expression a bit subdued. (95 pts.)
2006 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve- France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
This have evolved slowly since I last had in 2015, showing similar. Expressive nose displaying very ripe red fruit, cherry liqueur, cherry jam, strawberry jam, wet tobacco, garrigue, leather, rose, cola, cinnamon and nutmeg and earth. Very good concentration, very finely layered ripe red fruit, warm and round but also silky and polished, medium acidity, strong earthy mineral, and a seamless long jammy red fruit driven finish with tobacco and cinnamon at the end. This is a classic Rayas. This seems almost light compare to the 07. Nevertheless, it shows very good concentration. Since I find fizziness bothersome, I prefer this slightly. (96 pts.)
Bordeaux
The 00 Pavie was simply perfect.
2000 Château Pavie- France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Explosive and unbelievably hedonistic nose displaying decadent black and blue fruit, blackberry liqueur, blueberry pie, crème de cassis, licorice, ink, dark milk chocolate, liquid smoke, lavender, sweet spices and crushed rocks. There is a hint of vanilla/oak. Incredible concentration, layers upon layers of concentrated black and red fruit, unctuous and rich yet silky, perfect amount of acidity and mineral, and the never-ending finish. Although remaining very youthful, it is very expressive and incredibly delicious. I dare say the 00 Pavie is now even richer and more concentrated while maintaining the excellent balance. This can easily improve for a couple more decades. Is the 00 Pavie the modern day equivalent of the 47 Cheval Blanc? Absolutely perfect! (100 pts.)
2009 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage- France, RhĂ´ne, Northern RhĂ´ne, Hermitage
Medium expressive nose displaying concentrated black fruit, blackberry liqueur, blackberry, licorice, animal, ink, dark spices and mineral. Exceptional concentration, very finely layered slightly coiled black fruit, unctuous and silky and polished, medium acidity, strong limestone mineral, and a long concentrated black fruit driven finish with animal and ink at the end. This is not as expressive the last year’s bottle. Still needs time. (95 pts.)
2013 Bedrock Wine Co. Syrah Exposition Three Weill Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
This would have been a very impressive barrel sample Incredibly concentrated with black and blue fruit yet silky and fluid. I find it a bit monolithic lacking nuance. Impressive wine but not my cup of tea. (92 pts.)
A great time was had by all! Posted from CellarTracker
I recently drank Rayas 2005 (20/20 at home), 2006, 2007 and 2008, not in the same context.
The 2005 and 2007 are highly concentrated. The 2006 and 2008 seem more elegant.
The Rayas 2006 was drunk with Fernando Garcia in the Maranones vineyard (Sierra de Gredos), after an excellent Pena Caballera 2016, during sunset … an outdoor unforgettable moment (19/20 then 18,5/20 for another bottle a few months later) !
The great powerful 2007 was drunk with “natural wines” lovers who did not like it … which was not a surprise … to much depth, purity and personality
No fizz after 30 minutes of decanting (fizz could have been an ally for my contradictors).
I wish I could drink Pavie 2000 again, blind.
The last one was during a Pavie dinner at l’Hostellerie de Plaisance in St-Emilion. It was worshiped after Michel Rolland commented it.
I did not rate it as high … (I also remember a blind comparison at the domain in Pessac between Mouton 2000 and Smith Haut Lafitte 2000).
Fantastic notes as always Kevin. Really great to see that you and the crew are getting back to normalcy.
Like Laurent, I have never gotten the joy out of the 2000 Pavie as you did on this night. In fact and somewhat ironically, if you recall some years ago, during En Primeur we attended a deep vertical of Pavie at l’Hostellerie de Plaisance in St-Emilion. It was a struggle for me and in particular the 2000.
As to the 1996 Salon, maybe not the best bottle. We had this two weeks ago and it was stunning with plenty of fizz. I am always a little concerned when a champagne cork is difficult to remove. The lack of bubbles is another concern for such a young bottle.
Glad to see the note on the 2000 Pavie especially, as this and other vintages of Pavie have been polarizing through the years, even as seen in this short thread.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
