Great bottles since the beginning of 2018

WINE TALK
1

19/20

Domaine Vial-Magnères : AOC Banyuls ’’Al Tragou’’ 1990 : 19/20 – 23/3/2018
Domaine Vial-Magnères : AOC Banyuls ’’Al Tragou’’ 1985 : 19/20 – 23/3/2018
Both drunk with the producer, Laurent Dal Zovo, in an unbelievable verticale.

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St-Vivant 2007 : 19/20 – 24/3/2018
DRC …


18,5/20

Stella di Campalto Rosso di Montalcino 2012 : 18,5/20 – 25/1/2018
The best of the three bottles I crossed in 2018.

Maury Mas Amiel 1970 : 18,5/20 – 25/1/2018
Another great fortified french wine.

Sauternes Haut-Bergeron 2005 (50 cl) : 18,5/20 – 8/3/2018
Pure, elegant, thin, long … My friend Hervé Lamothe is still very successfull …
Vouvray Foreau moelleux réserve 1989 : 18,5/20 – 13/3/2018
One of the best vintages for this cuvée.
Châteauneuf Rayas rouge 2001 : 18,5/20 – 24/3/2018
Rayas … the fifth or sixth bottle I was lucky enough to taste. It was paired with DRC RSV 2007.

Vouvray Foreau Goutte d’or 1990 : 18,5/20 – 24/3/2018
I had a first bottle some years ago. Still promising, even better.

Raveneau Chablis Butteaux 2010 : 18,5/20
Restaurant Fil du zinc in Chablis … Do no miss this address. Great choice and low prices.

Corton-Charlemagne Bonneau du Martray 2014 : 18,5/20
Without surprise, a great chardonnay. Same wine list.

2

Champagne Fallet-Gouron BdB Extra Brut (1978) : 18/20 - 25/5/2018
A great champagne, with a beautiful rancio and a sharp acidity.

Barolo Bartolo Mascarello 2006 : 18,5/20 - 25/5/2018
Great traditional style (flowery, fruity, spicy, with tar and orange), complex, powerful and elegant at the same time.

3

Nice to see a Banyuls note! (not that we Americans see too much on them)

4

Markus

This Banyuls had never been previously commented on this forum …

We tasted a large range of wines with the producer (Al Tragou, Banyuls Grand Cru André Magnères, Banyuls blanc Rivage, Collioure blanc Armenn) and a full report will soon be available on our web site …

Note that the Maury Mas Amiel 1970 is also in my list.

5

The 2001 Rayas is a wonderful drink. Glad to see it made your list.

6

Don,

You might agree with me to say that Rayas is one of the best red wines in the world.
Four weeks ago, I had a great Pignan 2003 (18/20).
Two days ago, an excellent Pialade 2002 (17/20).
And yesterday a very good “mere” Château des Tours 2012 (16,5/20).

I love Emmanuel Reynaud’s shining style.

7

I do agree. Rayas is one of the world’s greatest red wines.

8

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rayas 2000 : 18,5/20 - 3 june 2018
The munificence of grenache (and probably the best Rayas 2000 I tasted). Great as always … and aging very well.

Recioto della Valpolicella Amarone Bertani 1962 : 18,5/20 - 3 June 2018
Intense/complex (tar, paprika, cocoa, cherry, strawberry, fig, dried currants, leather, walnut stain spices, …), very pure (which is not always the case with Amarone), very long … Still very young (thought 1990, Dal Forno or Quintarelli)

Alves de Sousa Gaivosa Porto Tawny 20 ans : 18,5/20 - 3 June 2018
A great success, as noted during my visit at the domain in july 2017. Intense without any brutality, fruity, perfectly balanced. A superlative tawny (and a great bargain).

9

Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle 1991 : 18,5/19 - 22 june 2018
A great, very long powerful but thin sensual syrah.

Visit at Trimbach 22 june 2018 :
Clos Ste-Hune 2015 : 18,5/20+
Expressive (peach, mint, stones, flowers, spices, …), sweet and tonic at the same time (15°, 15,5 grams of residual sugar). Will age longly (and exuberantly, probably like the 1989). Explosive.

Frédéric Emile 1990 (a perfect bottle, according to Pierre Trimbach) : 18,5/19
Complex (bergamot, lime tree, coco, raspberry, blackcurrant, …), still very young, high internal energy. Spectacular (18/20 in a verticale at the domain a few years ago).

Clos Ste-Hune 1967 : 18,5/20
Great rancio (a cornucopia of wax, kumquat, saffron, cognac, …). Great bitterness. Very long, slender, salty. Memorable.
By the way, Clos Ste-Hune 2012 (18/20), 2007 (18,5/20), 2009 (18/20), 2001 (18,5/20), 1990 (18,5/20) and 1975 (18/20) also turned out to be great Rieslings.

10

St-Julien Gruaud-Larose 1990 : 18,5/20 - July 2018
A stunning perfect classy St-Julien outsider. My guests thought premier grand cru classé. Nearly 30 years for this climax.

Dow’s Vintage Port 1994 : 18,5/20 - july 2018
As for 1985 or 1997, a great vintage port, powerful, perfectly balanced.

Champagne Laurent Perrier brut rosé : 18,5/20 - july 2018
A marvelous champagne. I could not imagine it would be so good (but 10 years of cellaring were fully profitable). Hence, remarkable quality-price ratio.

Champagne Dom Pérignon Plénitude 2 1998 : 18,5/20 - july 2018
More expensive but still a great champagne, complex, plain, thin, very long. The kind of expression that makes you regret not to have a magnum. Perfect to celebrate the second star … [cheers.gif]

11

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Pignan 1999 : 18,5/20 - July 2018
Yet another Emmanuel Reynaud’s signed great wine, fruity, spicy, solar but perfectly balanced. Very long depth of field. Without surprise, needs some decanting. Not easy to state Pignan or Rayas.

12

The top 1990 Trimbachs — good bottles — are wonderful magical wines. It’s been a few years since I’ve tried one, and it’s good to see the Hune and CFE are going strong. I’m looking forward to drinking the Fred VT, my personal favorite among the 1990s, over the next few months; I put it into the Drink queue.

13

Altho I loved the cfe vt 1990 for years IMH0 the “regular” cfe 1990 (and the 89 vt) aged better.

14

I had a great Trimbach Frédéric Emile VT 1990 several years ago (the place was : Olivier Roellinger three stars restaurant in Cancale).

15

dites-moi votre avi de 2008 F. Emile, s’il vous plaît: incroyable! I was at Trimbach in June but no old bottles were opened!

16

Alan,

June 2018
Frédéric Emile 2008 : 17/20
Intense (lemon, coco, blackcurrant, lime, green apple). Clearly an acid frame, coherent with the vintage.

22 Novembre 2013, FE verticale at the domain (from 2012 to 1971) :
5. Trimbach Riesling Frédéric Emile 2008 : LG16,5/17
Cassis, lait de coco, décoction de verveine, tarte au citron meringuée, granny-smith, festival d’agrumes …
Bouche encore simple gustativement parlant, en attente, acide (une acidité pointue qui devra se discipliner, nous confie notre hôte), au scalpel. Sa forme très allongée est aux antipodes de celle du 2009 (bien plus enrobé). On y trouve toute la rigueur du septentrion (et du style de la maison) et une amertume qui me va bien.

17

These two bottles are not the only great wines that I’ve had this year…but they sure do stand out in a collection of some great wines.

  • 2007 Weingut Keller Abts E®.de Riesling Großes Gewächs - Germany, Rheinhessen (3/10/2018)
    A gathering of wine geeks (The Greater Boston Area): This is absolutely brilliant…the nose is floral and herbal with a saline and mineral. The palate leads with lime, kiwi, green apple, and lemon…the finish goes on and on. It’s awash in lingering notes of chalk and a sense of mineralogy that is so clear…yet equally indescribable. This wine is absolutely brilliant now and showed it’s best 4+ hours after being opened. Extraordinary!!

Posted from CellarTracker

  • 2015 Weingut Keller Abts E® Riesling Großes Gewächs - Germany, Rheinhessen (3/10/2018)
    A gathering of wine geeks (The Greater Boston Area): There is a delicacy in the intensity of this wine…delicate floral scents, whips of fresh linen, seem to disperse throughout the intensely vibrant fruit notes. Flavors of lime, kiwi berry, lemon, and green apple seem to rise and fall at multiple points though the evolution of this wine on the palate as it seeks to engage all the senses. The finish on this wine seems unending as more keeps climbing into the mind. A brilliant wine that I will look forward to checking in on again in another 5-7 years time.

Posted from CellarTracker

18

Kirk,

Concerning Keller, I was confronted to a weak vintage :
Keller Westhofen Brunnenhäuschen Riesling Trocken Abts E®. de GG 2006 : 17/20 – 13/6/2017
Nez puissant, accueillant, très mûr : cassis, coco, pamplemousse, épices. Bouche à la fois puissante et douce.
Riesling Keller G-Max GG 2006 : 17/20 - 20/9/2011
Première rencontre avec ce vin délicieux, solide, typé, parfumé, tendu (sur un millésime épineux).
Spectacular wines, in 2011 :
Keller Riesling Westhofen Brunnenhäuschen Abts E spätlese (AP17) 2010
Keller Riesling Westhofen Brunnenhäuschen Abts E auslese (AP20) GK 2010
Keller Riesling Westhofen Brunnenhäuschen Abts E TBA 2009

19

Some outsiders :

Champagne Couche Sensation 1997 (dégorgé avril 2012) : 18/20
The third great bottle.

Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault Premier Cru Les Perrières 2011 : 18/20
A great wine on a weak vintage. Ready to drink.

Other interesting 2011 :
Chavy-Chouet Meursault Genévrières 2011 (17/20)
Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet Clavoillon 2011 (16/20)

Disappointments :
Corton-Charlemagne Lequin-Colin 2011
Corton-Charlemagne Vincent Sauvestre 2011
Château Bel Air Marquis d’Aligre Margaux 2000 : 18/20
No oak and the unique style of Jean-Pierre Boyer.
Macle Château-Chalon 2008 : 18/20
The Puffeney Arbois Vin Jaune 2005 - 16,5/20 - was found a little bit weak.

Barolo Accomasso Rocchette 2010 : 18/20
I recently also found great the 2008 (Rocche and Rocchette)

Champagne Bollinger Grande Année 2007 : 18/20

St. Urbans-Hof Leiwener Laurentiuslay Spätlese 2010 (AP 35/11) : 18/20
An unexpected quality for this bottle.

Pignan 2003 : 18/20

Sauternes Château d’Yquem 2007 : 18/20

Gustave Lorentz Riesling Kanzlerberg 2010 : 18/20
Following an excellent Frédéric Emile 2002 and pertinently recommanded by the chief of the Taverne Alsacienne in Ingersheim)

Pessac-Léognan Haut-Bailly 1995 : 18/20
A very good surprise, that needs air

Jamet Côte-Rôtie 2005 : 18/20
The Côte Brune needs some extra cellaring (5 to 10 years)

20

Yesterday, again a great Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rayas red 2008 (18,5/20).
Oriental, complex, brilliant balance and texture.

It came in a trio, with two excellent/great wines :
Barolo Rivetti Lazzarito 2007 (18/20)
Rossi di Montalcino Stella di Campalto 2012 (17,5/20)