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2007 Jacques Selosse Champagne Premier Cru Millésime Extra Brut - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru (10/6/2022)
Disgorged February 4, 2019. Like the 2008, this was very uninteresting and heavily oxidative right at the beginning. There were strong notes of apple cider and browned fruit. But as the evening went on, this tightened up in a very impressive way -- it just kept getting fresher and brighter; and this became a bottle that really highlighted the best parts of chardonnay in an otherwise difficult, underwhelming vintage. There are some slight sherried/oxidative notes on the nose, but with air these browned tones became tart white citrus and green apples. The palate has some brioche tones, as well as a slight nutty, sotolon character. Fabulously intense and concentrated; probably the best 2007 vintage champagne made. (98 points) -
2005 Château d'Yquem - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (10/6/2022)
An incredibly generous gift of a dessert pour. Overall, I confess to being a little surprised at how weighty this was (especially after all the hearsay about how the style lightened up after the Lur-Saluces family left the estate. Thickly textured, with a caramel note on the nose, as well as bitter orange marmalade, the palate still retains enough acidity and bitter extract to counterweight the sweetness here. At this adolescent stage, it seems pretty clear to me that this is nowhere near its full potential. Very heavily botrytised in the context of Yquem; I'm very glad to own some of this, but I won't be opening them for many, many years. (95 points)
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