Hello, everyone. First post here for me. Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of a friend of mine, I had the pleasure of attending this tasting dinner which he hosted. The wines were all purchased on release by him and stored impeccably.
There were nine of us in total attending, sharing one bottle each of the wines below. The wines were decanted briefly before pouring, but we followed the reds for 2-3 hours each in the glass.
This was my first experience with Domaine Romanee-Conti, so you can discount my impressions appropriately, plus I can’t offer anything in the way of comparing these to other vintages or DRCs of different ages. In the tasting group, however, were several highly experienced tasters of DRC and other great wines, and some of my impressions come from the conversations we had over the table.
Arrival Champagne. Paired with spicy dungeness crab with ginger and cucumber.
Jose Dhont Blanc de Blancs “Vieilles Vignes” 2004. This young Champagne was a big hit as we gathered. Very bright and immediately appealing, with green apple, ginger, lemon and white flowers. Great structure and acidity for aging, yet greatly enjoyable in its youth as well. 93 points.
Flight #1. Paired with seared rare Viking scallops with orzo pastina, hijuki seaweed, extra virgin olive oil and coulis of Santa Barbara sea urchin.
Domaine Leflaive Chevalier Montrachet 1999. Smoky on the nose. This featured honey, shellfish, minerals, ocean breeze, salted butter and subtle earth, with a long lemony finish. Elegant and cerebral rather than showy, this was a superb wine at a great point in its development. 96 points.
Kistler Chardonnay Cuvee Cathleen 1999. The color of deep brown used dishwater, this wine was greatly oxidized. The sherried aroma was so powerful that it distracted from tasting the other wines and needed to be removed. A shame, as I’m sure this would have been a terrific wine had the bottle held up.
[A side story: our host has tremendous success with the aging of white Burgundies, whether through luck, the right selection of wines, or both, whereas I experience the same Russian roulette of premature oxidation that many of the rest of you seem to. On the other hand, I’ve probably had a dozen Kistler chardonnays from the early 2000s in the last year and all had held up perfectly. When I saw the two wines poured in front of me, I immediately assumed that it was the Leflaive that was the oxidized one, and it was a few minutes until someone corrected me that it was actually the Kistler which had turned.]
Flight #2. Paired with Roasted Chilean seabass with herb crust, braised ramps, hen of the woods mushrooms and “Matelote” sauce of pinot noir.
DRC Grands Echezeaux 1996. The most immediately accessible and overtly joyous of the four at this stage. Bright, ripe, fresh strawberry on the nose. Strawberry and cherry on the palate, followed by a hint of menthol and notes of cinnamon and roses. Acidity in perfect balance leading to a long finish. A touch less complex and mysterious than the other three DRCs, but the most integrated and delicious at this point. 97 points.
DRC Romanee St. Vivant 1996. Tight and minerally initially, with flavors and aromas of dried cherry, rhubarb and dried red flowers. If the Grands Echezeaux was a big, playful puppy at this stage, the Romanee St. Vivant was the lovely and elegant, if slightly stern, lady of the house. This slowly but steadily improved in the glass over several hours, adding in notes of tea and orange peel. 94 points, with probably considerable room to improve.
DRC Richebourg 1996. This was the controversial wine of the flight (if controversial isn’t too strong of a word to use in this context). The most structured and broad shouldered wine of this flight. This had a pronounced mustiness and earthy funk to it that created discussion in the first two hours or so about whether the bottle might have been off a touch, but the question was eventually answered in the negative as it very slowly blew off and the wine improved greatly to its last sip. This had an oyster shell minerality to it, dark plum, iron and coffee notes. 93 points, probably destined for considerable improvement as well.
DRC La Tache 1996. A beautiful wine, with deep black cherry and raspberry fruit, smoke, tobacco, and stony minerals. This had a pronounced tannic and astringent finish early, which gradually softened over several hours. As the wine opened, it increasingly featured a dimension of Middle Eastern spices. There was no voting, but my impression was that this was the consensus favorite of the group. 98 points.
Flight #3. Paired with grilled grass fed natural lamb chops with “Bagna Cauda” sauce, English peas, sugar snaps and panisseo.
Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve 1994. Beautiful crushed berry fruit, with a pronounced eucalyptus note and black pepper. Very pure. 94 points.
Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 1994. Cedary nose, with smooth and fine-grained black fruit and coffee, with a slightly bitter finish. A bit lighter and softer than the other cabernets. 92 points.
Harlan Estate 1994. A gem which stood out even among the company that evening. Huge black berry fruit, spicy wood notes, cedar, tobacco and lavender. A wine which seemed giant yet weightless at the same time, and was offset with a perfect acidity on the finish. Like a great Bordeaux dialed up to one level of greater power. 97 points.
Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 1994. A very nice wine, featuring plum, cassis, licorice and saddle leather notes. A wine with no flaws and good integration, but lacking the special dimensions to make it stand out in this company (though am I maybe selling it short in this non-blind tasting a bit? I can admit to the possibility). 93 points.
Dessert wine. Paired with Roucoulons and Muenster cheese, lemon tart with berries, Pistachio ice cream with Polenta cookies, and orange flower water panna cotta with rhubarb confit.
Chateau d’Yquem 1999. Honey, acacia, baking spices, tropical fruit, grilled pineapple. Very nice at this age. 95 points.
A glorious evening, one I’m sure I will never forget (and maybe never replicate), and I don’t really have words which are adequate to thank our host for the generosity, the planning, the sourcing and storage of the wines, the coordination with the restaurant, and the overall experience.[/color]