1971 Labaume Mazis Chambertin
1978 Heitz Fay Vineyard
1990 DP Oenotheque
Difficult to pick one wine. My list that I scored 96 and above:
1990 DRC LaTache
1978 La Chapelle
1991 Rousseau Chambertin
1993 Rousseau Chambertin
1990 Chave Hermitage
1985 Rousseau Chambertin
1979 L Latour Corton Charlie
1988 Leroy NSG Boudots
2005 DRC La Tache
2002 L Carillon BBM
1982 Ramonet Monty
1966 Dom P
1996 Leflaive Batard
99 Coche MP. Note to follow.
Hard to say. Had an absolutely outstanding Clape 99 Cornas the other day, but a Roumier Bonnes Mares 2001 is also a strong contender.
'47 Chateau Margaux at a tasting … we battled over who would get the glass of the bonehead who skipped this course over dinner. Ended up splitting it among 4 or 5 greedy Bordeaux lovers.
Other great wines
'82 Leoville Las Cases
'95 Bouchard La Romanee
'01 Bichot Richebourg
'90 Pichon Longueville Baron
'96 Pol Roger Cuvee Winston Churchill
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2005 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru (6/7/2014)
La Tache dinner (The Boardl Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): Upon release, this wine quickly shot up to $3,500 per bottle in grey market. I was fortunate to try a few off a number of restaurant lists. Very youthful but very expressive and hedonistic. Perfectly ripe red fruit driven nose, raspberries, raspberries jam, dark cherries, a hint of stems, tie guan yin, perfume and sweet spices. Precise palate, incredibly layered, youthful intense sweet red fruit driven palate impression, silky and polished, bright acidity and noticeable but nicely integrated tannins. Despite the youth, this is very expressive and incredibly complex. Compare to the 90, perhaps slightly less concentrated and not as ripe but as complex if not more and more precise. For me this is perfect in every way. As a side note, some tasters thought it was way too young. I tend to love my Burgundy very young as well as very old. (100 pts.) -
1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru (6/7/2014)
La Tache dinner (The Boardl Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): Most powerful and intense nose. Incredibly youthful nose displaying perfectly ripe red cherries, cherry tart, mint, licorice, hoisin, black tea, intense sweet dark spices and sweet incense. Infinite layers of fruits, contrasting the nose, the fruit is jammy black, also a mint, so much fruits that acidity and tannins are completely masked. The finish is extremely long. For me, the enjoyment comes from experiencing the greatness as it needs another decade to be ready. Total sensory overload. (99 pts.) -
2009 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru (6/7/2014)
La Tache dinner (The Boardl Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): Absolutely stunning showing. The last time I had a young Coche Perriers was the 01 and it reminds me of that, so precise, fresh, pure and incredibly delicious. Fresh and sweet white fruit driven nose, pear, whit peach and apple, a hint of flint which I find in Coche, white flowers,light honey, cool wet limestone and saline. Excellent concentration, delicate white fruit driven palate impression, strong presence of acidity that is nicely masked by ample fresh fruits and lovely clean finish. Stuart N recently commented how stylized Coche wines were but this is perfectly pure. Perhaps it is my love for Coche but this flirts with perfection. A great privilege to drink this elixir. (99 pts.) -
2008 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru (3/26/2014)
2013 editon of En Primeur - Kelly and Kevin’s excellent adventure; 3/26/2014-4/1/2014 (Mostly in Bordeaux and a night in Paris): This bottle is so darn concentrated and oily, it is almost Raveneau like except even more precise. Yellow fruit driven nose, lemon curd, lemon oil, white flowers, incredible amount of mineral presence, steel, honey and a hint of mint as the end note. Exceptional concentration, very mineral, steely, unctuous, piercing acidity that is in-line with the overall expression and seamless finish that resonates. The precision and balance must be tasted to be believed. The wine got better with air, gaining intensity without losing the precision and balance. For me, this is the best Chablis and perhaps one of the greatest white wines. (99 pts.) -
1998 Château Cheval Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (1/11/2014)
Last minute impromptu gathering but some great wines – Roumier, Mugnier, Lafite, CB and etc. (Paul’s house then to Adam’s): Really, we should keep it as a secret. Another brilliant showing. Incredible nose and even more incredible palate. One of the sexiest Bordeaux. (99 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
It’s hard to pick one because I have favourites for different reasons.
Over all best: 1964 Ruinart Rose: I don’t know what the hell Richard Juhlin has been smoking, because to me 60s Ruinart is fantastic from the four bottles I have had.
Most pleasant surprise: 1999 l’Arlot Nuits St Georges 1er cru, 2009 Leoville Barton
Most interesting discovery: Pierre Labet Bourgogne Rouge 2011 + something secret because it is too rare and under the radar to share
Most rewarding experience: Pol Roger Blanc de Chardonnay 1998
1959 Ausone. And if that doesn’t finish as my WOTY, then I will be a very lucky guy, because it’s hard for me to imagine something much better.
2011 Liquid Farm White Hill - turned me into an aspiring acid freak and obsessing over American Chablisienne-styled chards
2011 Checkerboard - so young, so tight, so delicious - Dennis, Steph, and Martha are killing it on Diamond Mtn!
Hopefully it is the 2009 Saxum James Berry that I have on tap for tonight.
1988 Krug
1989 Mission Haut Brion
1985 Margaux
1997 SQN twisted and bent
1998 Pegau Reservee
I have several that I keep on my sig footer below but in terms of top dog at this stage, would have to be the 2012 Kutch Falstaff Pinot Noir.
FWIW, the WOTY wines I maintain, once I build the list, I will revisit them all one more time near the end of the year and then pick the best one. For me, this ensures that anything I hold in that high level repeats the experience on 2 occasions and if it does not, then I won’t consider it.
2007 Abreu Thorevilos
2005 SQN Atlantis Syrah (my last bottle, sadly)
2012 Rhys Alpine PN
I will decant, the Professor and I will taste, and then we can give it as much air as we want because we will be at it for a while.
Been tons of good wine, but I’ll give the nod to the:
1990 Troplong Mondot
98 Krug
2010 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 – kind of like a hypothetical Platonic ideal of a ripe Pichon Lalande
Well, seeing things like 1959 Chateau Latour reminds me I walk only among mortals, but I did have the fortune to taste a 1913 Bourdy white (chardonnay) that blew me away. Can you say unoxidized, lively, acidic, why-is-Burgundy-having-premox-problems-when-Jura-whites-don’t-die? Jura is famous for vin jaune (not chardonnay I know), but this was vin jeune, as in wine to make you young, an elixir from the fountain of youth. Ponce de Leon should have travelled east, not west.