TNs: Musar, Lynch Bages, Dom Perignon, Raphet, Yquem

2009 Dom Perignon

This was actually stunning after being open for an hour. Lovely brioche and lemon curd on the nose, with ample acidity and balanced palate with long finish. I think this is drinking better than the 08 currently.

1998 Chateau Musar

Perfect cork and fill. 2-2.5 hour decant. This was brilliant, absolutely perfect pairing with leg of lamb. A bit of funk and barnyard on the nose but so many flavors on the palate. Very elegant finish.

1982 Lynch Bages

Double decant and slow ox for 2 hours, then poured back in the decanter for another hour when the nose felt reticient. At the 3 hour mark this was drinking beautifully. Leather, cedar and spice box on the nose, fully integrated tannins that were beautifully silky. Finish was lovely and extremely long. Everything you could want from mature Bordeaux. Perhaps only lacking in power but not complexity from the very top level.

2007 Gerard Raphet Chambertin Clos de Beze

I can’t throw a dinner without burgundy but I was afraid this would be overshadowed after the two lovely wines preceding it. No worries about that. This was stunning with some earth and superb purity of fruit. What it lacked in power it made up in finesse and length. Beautiful classic Beze.

2013 Chateau Yquem

From 375

Young rambunctious Yquem with so much potential. First time I’ve had this vintage and I think it’ll be a good one. Apricots and some overripe pineapples on the nose, with a streak of acidity on the palate and lifted finish. I haven’t had young Yquem in awhile and this is something else.

Some nice whisky and brandy to finish the night, normandin mercier 76, Yamazaki 18, and kavalan Sherry cask, all were stunning.

Nice all around, I love Lynch Bages, what were the coursed out meals to go with such a diverse night of wine?

Fig crostini with fennel/rose goat cheese
Purple cabbage salad
Warm orzo salad
Air fried corn ribs with various sauces
Buttered leeks
Smashed cucumbers with chili sauce
Rotisserie leg of lamb
Fresh lychees
Raspberry and peach Melba layer cake

I was not expecting to read this. I already backfilled '09 Cristal thanks to you, now it looks like I need to backfill '09 DP too.

I think 09 is an underrated vintage in general. Vilmart CDC is really nice too.

Awesome. Agree on 2009 vs. 2008 in case of DP and Cristal. Sexy wines right now.

i just picked up some '08 Vilmart CdC last week, I will get some '09 now too. Thanks.

I think that from the perspective of Dom, the 09 won’t necessarily have the long term potential of 09 Cristal but a lot of experienced champagne drinkers couldn’t get enough last night.

I will pick up enough of the '09 DP for short term drinking.

Thank you for the notes Michael.

May I ask you a question about Raphet in general (since it looks like you have some familiarity with the producer)?

Is there a significant difference between Raphet’s normal bottling and the “Cuvee Unique” bottles from North Berkeley Imports? As in, are the Cuvees Uniques significantly oakier than the normal bottlings?

I did some research and found an old Berserker thread, but there did not seem to be much certainty about whether NBI made the Cuvees Uniques oakier when they did their barrel selection of the Raphets (I’m assuming this could have theoretically have happened if they just selected the barrels that were new oak, but I’m not sure).

I ask because I have some '08 Raphet Lavaux St. Jacques from NBI (long story how I got them) and am wondering whether I should expect them to be oak bombs at this point or whether they are relatively true to the normal Raphet bottlings.

Thank you in advance.

Not sure; I’m not super familiar with this producer as I’ve only had the two bottles. Maybe William Kelley would know.

The “Cuvée Unique” bottlings are indeed distinct blends with the exception of the Clos Vougeot V.V. and Clos de Beze. These days I don’t think they are especially oakier, but I haven’t done them side by side.

Thank you Michael and William. I appreciate you both taking the time to respond. Very informative!

Just to add my take based on a discussion a few years ago with Gerard, is that indeed, the US importer selects the barrels of wine for the US market (“if they pay, they choose”). I don’t recall him saying they were being selected based on oak treatment. I guess in a sense, these are indeed cuvées uniques.

Thank you Jozef for the additional background info!

It’s interesting. On the NBI website, the technical sheet on the Lavaux St. Jacques cuvee unique was that only 15% of the barrels were new, but I wasn’t sure if that was always the case or whether this is a more recent change in the way they selected for their cuvees uniques.

My research seems to indicate that there was heavier oak in the cuvees uniques when Jean Raphet was in charge of the domain, but maybe those takes were just based on the reputation of NBI and their other cuvees uniques from other producers which have had heavier oak treatment.

My take on it, having met Jean and Gerard, is that it is (or was) basically: “they come in, they taste barrel per barrel, they select and I bottle when they tell me. They pay, so they decide”. So maybe there was this focus on new barrels at NBI indeed, but Gerard certainly had a lot of old barrels last time I was there.

PS Jean’s wines from the 90s are still drinking great.

Very nice. I saw some of Gerard’s '05 Clos de la Roches put up for bid on an auction site (non-NBI bottling), but the bidding got a little fast and furious for me. But, I will be on the lookout – Raphet’s style is very much in my wheelhouse.