Favorite Old-World red of 2021:
2015 Château de Vaudieu Châteauneuf-du-Pape Amiral G
Favorite New-World red of 2021:
2018 Ovid Experiment R9.8
WOTY:
2019 Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! Chendawg Yeah!
That chendawg was magical. I never knew chenin blanc could do that!
Tried the 86 meyney. really awesome stuff, recommended a few times on this board as the QPR star in aged bordeaux. really good… by far the oldest one I’ve tried… 03 being the next latest. It is very interesting how deep and earthy wine becomes with such age. Definitely want to try more of this aging thing.
Do you remember the disgorgement date on the Egly Ouriet BdN Crayeres? I’ve had 1 bottle and then have a bottle of their Tradition, but have been hesitant to open as I’ve read on the forums that you should give it a couple years for Egly after the dg date.
Looks like the 2 bottles I drank last year were both disgorged in 2009. Truly exceptional wines. As an aside, since it seems like you are going through the Egly lineup, if you haven’t yet tried the Vignes de Vrigny which is their 100% meunier bottling I recommend it. I really love their wines but have not had the rosé yet so that’s next on my list.
76 drc ech; really showed how good Echezeaux could be when well kept.
Oh wow 2009? So sounds like it’s best practice to wait quite a few years from DG date for Egly. Thanks for the rec, I’ll look for a bottle of the Vignes de Vrigny. I do love PM champagne! Thank you
2019 DeLille Cellars Chaleur Estate Blanc - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley (12/5/2021)
Day 1: Very rich and intense offering. Honey, minerals, sour apple, wafer, exotic spices and stone orchard fruits. Medium plus finish and nice acidity. What a great wine for $25.00. 93 points
Day 1.5: This wine is even more rich and intense at room temperature. Love the fact that Minneapolis does not gravitate to these wines and there is a ton left for me at less than $25.00.
Day 2: This is almost a shoe in for wine of the year. $23.99 a bottle. Orange marmalade, honey, floral, spices, orchard fruit, sour apple, and minerals for a mile. Medium plus finish and super complex. Back up the truck and get a case and be happy you did! 94 points (94 points)
Let’s see Bordeaux produce a wine this good for $23.99.
It’s going to spoil you for all other NV rosés.
All the Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! wines I’ve tasted to far. The Cantina Dei Produttori Nebbiolo Carema wines (all three of them) and the Vajra Langhe Nebbiolo surprised me and introduced me to the wonder of light, acid-driven Nebbiolos. Benoit Dehu “La Rue des Noyers”, beaucoup bottles of Bouchard’s Val Vilaine, and Egly-Ouriet’s “Les Vignes de Vrigny” demonstrated to me the delightful world of straight Pinot Meunier. My palate seems to have shifted once again towards young, crisp, acid-driven food wines with low Alcohol. I now find myself searching for the ABV number instead of high numbers by whichever critic of the day is in vogue.
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Love the tradition and your granddaughter’s name 
Great topic.
Here’s mine:
Drove you to explore a different region, varietal or wine type;
-2017 Felettig Chambolle-Musigny Gruenchers. This wowed me, which no <$200 bottle of Red Burgundy had done before. Even though it was only in late October that I had the Felettig, I ended up with several cases of red burgs to try afterwards (including quite a bit from Felettig).
Lead you to buy more expensive or more affordable bottles;
-More expensive, 2017 Felettig Chambolle-Musigny Gruenchers; Less expensive, tie between two Pouilly-Fuissé, 2_018 Guerrin La Maréchaude & 2017 Jacques Saumaize Les Courtelongs_. I bought a lot of wine from Pouilly-Fuissé in 2021. I tried a few, carried by K&L (who has/had a nicely selection of theses) and recommended by John Gilman, and they were all great and cheap. Even the 2018s I tried were really good(not my preferred vintage in France) .
Start drinking younger or older wines;
-Younger wines, 2014 Bordeaux, 2017 Red Burgundy, . Older wines, 1970 Magdelaine, 1971 Canon, 1952 CVNE Vina Real Reserva Especial.
Reconfirmed with a much deeper clarity that some certain wine, varietal, region, type, characteristic… is still your favorite or most important to you;
-1990 Le Pin, 2014 VCC, 1982 Magdelaine, 1978 Lafie, 1962 Ducru Beaucaillou, et cetera. Bordeaux is king.
Had the 96 La Tache double blind in October, and the heavens did part.
Could have not happened to a nicer guy! ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
There’s a jeroboam headed for your crotch.
Weekend in Highlands, NC, with the boys, Kane popping killer vintage champagne one after another. I drink them on occasion, but cannot recall a night, or even a weekend, where I consumed so many top tier champagne such that you get a better sense of the vintages, styles and quality. Really was a game-changer for me. Cristal. Dom and Dom P2. Krug. Some special bottles of Billecart. Ruinart. Plus some others. Revelatory.
Oh, and best of all, Kane making us an omelette topped with Fu caviar, with champagne as the accompaniment. Best hangover food ever.
Kane used to idolize me, now it is the other way around.
what producer and vintage?
2006 JF Mugnier Chambolle Musigny Les Fuees
I realized that these top winemakers have had their prices increase so much in the past 15+ years for a reason. And it’s still worth it. I’m always looking to spot the second level options that are 80% of the quality at 20% of the price, but I realized that there’s levels to this game. Those options kind of exist, but they’re more like 50% of the quality at 20% of the price. This year I’m buying the stalwarts and skipping the cruft.
M. Kaplan wrote:
Two specific bottles stand out:
- Alexandre Filaine DMY. My first bottle from Filaine pushed all of the right buttons and accelerated my search for unique Champanges.
- 2012 Louis Roederer Cristal on 12.24.21. We shared a bottle with my daughter, her husband, and our first grandchild, Sophia Pearl born two days before. 2012 Cristal was the first liquid to touch her lips after her mother’s milk. The first liquid of any kind to touch her mother’s lips was 1975 Bollinger R.D. and the first liquid of any kind to touch her uncle’s (my son’s) lips was Krug Grand Cuvee bottled circa 1980. Sophie kept the tradition alive.
Congratulations, and what a great tradition to continue!
Ours was a 1992 Ridge Monte Bello, a half-bottle. Went to Ridge in October, 2010 and they were pouring the 1990, 1991, and 1992. We liked the 1991 and 1992 the most, and the 1992 was significantly less expensive than the 1991. Bought a few half bottles, which was the format that they were selling. Came home that night and watched the SF Giants clinch the NL Pennant in Philadelphia. This was the 2nd to last bottle we had and it was magnificent.
Ed
Wait is Mugnier Fuees the stalwart or is it the cruft (i.e. 50% of the quality of Musigny at 20% of the price)?