A compressed holiday schedule resulted in several parties crammed into one very, very good day. People tend to deep for this party, and it showed. Unless otherwise noted, assume there were at least 3-4 bottles or mags of each wine for the group (or as noted, in some cases many more). With very few exceptions, the wines were purchased on release and have been cellared lovingly since.
00 Milan Terre de Noels: Not as round and full as the 02 version but a nice drink nonetheless.
00 Peters Chetillons: As a testimony to the pleasures afforded by this wine, the group went through 16 bottles during the course of the evening. Only going to get better, of course, but many thought this better than the 02 Dhondt. Creamy BdB goodness.
NV Dosnon & Lepage: Didn’t see the bottle but this must be pinot noir dominant and a little aggressively dosed at that. Candied cherry notes.
76 Krug: Served blind and drew raves. Although burnished gold in color, still youthful and full of power.
85 Krug Collection: Showed more mature than the 76 Krug, with nutty, oloroso notes. Nice but outclassed by the 76, and not the best showing for this wine.
96 Krug Mesnil: Painful to drink on opening, several bottles were stashed away in the cellar for later consumption which proved to be a wise move. Still showing more power than development after 6 hours, but the melange of citrus, cream and hints of honey show that this is going to be an absolute marvel.
02 Cristal (mags): The ladies who lunch loved this one, a bit sweet and simple, but they laid waste to 6 mags with ease.
00 Dauvissat Clos: Tight and ungiving at first, 2 hours in, it still drank like Perrier with a hit of lime. Several of us went back to the bottles at the 5 hour mark and the wine was fantastic; churning minerality and white stone fruit. Hands off for now.
96 Coche Puligny: Punches way above its class; would show well against any number of premiers. Oak is fully resolved/integrated and the minerality shines through.
Saw but did not taste a number of Leflaives, a couple of Raveneaus and a Rhys Chard that drew raves from some pretty good palates.
01 DRC RSV: Way, way too young. Has a bottle previously that showed pretty well (albeit young) but these never budged.
01 DRC La Tache: Surprisingly drank better than the RSV. Already showing the famed LT nose, although the palate development lags way behind.
69 DRC Grands: Each bottle showed varying degrees of volatile acidity creeping in, but the best of them drank very well. Serious iron streak in the middle of the palate but supporting fruit lends great complexity.
69 DRC Echezeaux: Mostly meh. One bottle showed beautifully though.
69 DRC La Tache: Didn’t even see this opened but someone handed me a glass at about the 8 hour mark of the lunch. An attention grabbing wine, mystery after mystery unveiled on the nose and even better on the palate. Only 2 bottles served but apparently I got a sample from the better of the two.
59 Haut Brion: There were a few more bords open, but this is the only one I tried and for good reason. A great, great wine, to me far the superior of the 61, pretty large scaled for HB but everything in balance and it seems to have endless depth.