Except for the Haut Brion, shared with six people, the others were full bottles shared with one other person over the course of an evening. Experiencing each of these wines evolve over several hours was magical.
Indubitably!
TTT
hm. I don’t know about perfect wine… but the best wines that have not yet been topped in each region
Champagne - 88 Krug Mesnil
White Burgundy - 96 coche CC
Red Burgundy - 93 La Tache
Riesling - 09 Keller Gmax (dry), 76 Egon Aus (sweet)
N. Rhone - 01 allemand SS
Cali - 76 heitz marthas
I don’t give scores to wines, but some of the greatest wines I have had in my life are (in no particular order):
1990 and 1999 Truchot Clos de la Roche
1993 Truchot MSD Clos Sorbes
1986 Henri Jayer Bourgogne Rouge
1945 Comte de Vogue Musigny (only a taste at a preview tasting from a Heublein Auction in the early 1980s)
1960 something la Romanee (my epiphany wine - bottle opened by my father when I was in college)
1971 Gros Richebourg
1971 la Tache [Also 1940 la Tache at the same Heublein event]
1993 Ampeau Meursault Perrieres
1952 Haut Brion
1959 Latour
1979 Ausone
1982 and 1996 Leoville las Cases
1990 Cheval Blanc
2016 Pichon Lalande
2011 d’Yquem [also a 1971 at the Heublein event] - I may be cheating here. Have had a number of wonderful d’Yquems over the years but the 2011 may stick out in my mind because I had this one at d’Yquem.]
1986, 2001 and 2014 Climens
1983 JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr GC Auslese
1991 Ridge Monte Bello
1979 Dom Ruinart Rose (from magnum)
David, was there more than one Brucke Eiswein in 2001?
Agreed on the Brucke. I also recall a bottle of 1998 JJ Christoffel Wurzgarten Eiswein that hit that mark for me.
2010 Donnhoff Hermannshohle TBA is in that category too.
The only red I’ve had that I truly considered “perfect” was an absolutely monumental bottle of 1985 Noel Verset Cornas, opened last spring.
If I was to score…1982 Chateau Talbot and
a 1976 Weingut Albert Gessinger Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese would be the closest.
1985 DRC RC
1961 Leroy Musigny
1953 Margaux
1978 DRC LT
2002 Shafer HSS
2003 SQN Inaugural Syrah
Have a few in cellar I hope hit that sweet spot too…frankly all were a combination of place, food and people, not sure 100 points is 100 points alone…I hope it isn’t.
I have a bottle of this Jay,
How did you prepare it for service?
Off the top of my head:
1990 Rayas
1971 Haut Brion Blanc
1989 Haut Brion
1975 Egon Mueller Scharzhofberger TBA
1802 Acciaoly Terrentez Madeira
1974 Heitz Martha’s
1968 Heitz Martha’s
1985 Guigal La Mouline
1969 Leflaive Bienvenue Batard Montrachet
1928 Latour
1993 Raveneau Clos
1972 Chave Hermitage
1990 Beaucastel but only one btl of the 25 or so I’ve had
I’m sure there may be a couple more I’m skipping on.
For me, the 100 pts / 100% perfect, is a hard score to call…
How do I know it’s a perfect bottle ? There could easily be even better bottles than the ones I score, in top. I just haven’t tasted them yet.
-Therefore I always leave out the 100 pts. It’s the theoretical boundary, that can’t be crossed.
I have had bottles that was close to my imagination of the perfect wine, and it certainly includes the company, the food, the special event-factor, and the element of surprise.
-When all factors are in top, then I call the bottle for “perfect”. I rarely scores pts, and have never scored the magic 100 pts.!
My “perfect” bottles so far (>99 pts. and <100 pts.) :
1970 Latour
1992 DRC RSV (few years after release)
1957 Tokaji Ezzencia
1986 Lafite
1993 Lafon Volnay Santenots d. M. (Dec. 24, 2000)
These five bottles are my references of the best wines I have drunk until now. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
-Søren.
For me, a 100-pointer would be a wine, I’d always choose over any other wines - save for another 100-pointer - and which would always be the single greatest wine in a blind tasting. However, I think that there is always some wiggling room of 2-3 points in the score, so in reality a wine that gets a 100 for me would in effect be a 97-100. And of course wine tasted once somewhere, in a specific setting, in a sepcific mood, etc. is always a singular experience. I have no problems admitting that a wine that would get a 98 from me somewhere would get 93 from me in a completely different setting.
However, I’ve given 100 points only once in my life, and that honor goes to Jean Bourdy’s Galant des Abbesses. Which is quite funny, seeing that it isn’t even a wine, but instead a beverage more akin to Barolo Chinato or Vermouth.
Instead given a few 99s (i.e. something like 96-100) to these beverages:
1895 D’Oliveiras Madeira Malvazia
1986 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Blanco
1989 Chateau Musar
1992 Chateau Musar Blanc
2006 Cantillon Brewery Grand Cru Bruocsella
2012 Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout
Long since gave up on scoring wines. It’s quite liberating. A Kabinett on a summer day can be quite perfect though.
That’s interesting. I haven’t had so many (maybe 6) but in my experience it has been quite consistent. I wouldn’t say 100 points but always extremely good (maybe one of my remaining bottles is the 100 pointer 
). My experience with the 1989 has been more variable.
1962 Penfolds Bin 60A
1964 Château Cheval Blanc
1985 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia
1975 Château d’Yquem
1905 Seppeltsfield Para 100 YO Vintage Tawny
1917 Seppeltsfield Para 100 YO Vintage Tawny
Not that I am aware of. I suppose there could have been an auction Eiswein, but that would be obvious from the extra sticker.
Excellent point. Not sure how I forgot about that one.
Without wishing to derail the discuss, I’d argue the problem is better described as score compression than score inflation. Sure, 100-point scores are handed out more often than they used to be by all publications (I really can’t think of an exception), and that tends to monopolize discussion, but the real problem is what has happened with the 80s and low 90s.
Indeed, it’s almost as if every wine is rated 93 now.
I’d posit that it is both. Good point you raise.