TN: DC winos belated holiday dinner - Mostly Burg and Bordeaux

WINE TALK
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DC WINOS BELATED HOLIDAY DINNER - MOSTLY BURG AND BORDEAUX - Lavandou, Washington DC (1/3/2013)

Ken B emailed the usual suspects a week ago for a possible holiday gathering and we obliged. Eight of us got together at Lavandou to drink some nice wines. Ken kindly contributed the 70 La Tache which totally exceeded my expectation.
Champagne
The 96 Comtes de Champagne showed extremely well. This bottle was drinking beautifully. Some of us thought the 00 BS was off. I noticed a slight hint of metallic note which I associate with heat damage.

  • 1996 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne - France, Champagne
    This is showing beautifully. Sweet yellow fruit not unlike a great 20 year old puligny montrachet 1er crus, ginger bread, lemon zest, mineral and honey. Fine mousse, rich unctuous mouthfeel, deeply toned fruit and incredibly long finish. This bottle is showing the first stage of maturity with deeply toned sweet yellow fruits. A fresh example, Lovely stuff! (97 pts.)
  • 2000 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut - France, Champagne
    A hint of slightly metallic note, seems a bit light and straightforward. Very fine mousse. It has gotten a bit more expressive but still only good not great. (90 pts.)
  • NV Nicolas Maillart Champagne 1er Cru Brut Platine - France, Champagne
    Yummy and tasty. Almost Chenin or Muscadet sur lie sort of generous fruit impression, also some red berries and bubble gum. This is a generous upfront fruit driven tasty champagne that is drinking wonderfully. (91 pts.)

White

Bordeaux
The 89 Meyney once again was showing really well.

  • 1989 Château Meyney - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
    Chateau Meyney made excellent wines in the 80s and the 89 has been an exceptional wine. Slightly lean black fruits, cassis, ink, lead pencil and earth. Silky lean palate, noticeable fruits and fully integrated tannins. A love classic Bordeaux that wont break your bank. (92 pts.)
  • 1964 Château La Mission Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
    A hint of VA, generous red fruits, ash, smoked meat, earth and damp cellar. Still showing generous fruits but It is slightly dirty. Still enjoyable. (90 pts.)
  • 1961 Château Beychevelle - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
    Subtle red fruits, mint, lead pencil and cedar. It is mostly tertiary driven with a hint of red fruits. Refine silky palate, fully integrated tannins but the finish is not sweet which results in medium finish. This is a lovely fully matured claret which has been kept well. (93 pts.)

LLC
Both were very youthful. IMO LLC is one of the longest lived Bordeaux. Perhaps that is not always a good thing.

  • 1975 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
    It makes a very little sense to generalize mature wines. The last bottle drank only a year ago seemed fully matured. Not so in this case. Black fruits, licorice, eucalyptus, lean and cool. Silky cool palate with integrated tannins. It isn’t quite ready. Still very fresh impression. (91 pts.)
  • 1982 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
    Another “will need more time” example of the 82 LLC. Black and blue fruits, a hint of licorice, lead pencil and cedar. The fruit is cool and shy which gives a bit of lean palate impression. It is enjoyable but this bottle still needs time. (94 pts.)

Old Burgundy

  • 1970 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
    My expectation was relatively low as I have not had good experiences with the 70 DRCs. This far exceeded my expectation. Beautiful red fruits, strong presence of Vosne spice, Chinese medicine, clove and earth. Still generous sweet palate with bright acidity. The wine got more expressive with air. This is a lovely wine and definitely a La tache. I rated this wine a pointer lower than my top Burgundy of the night but I would definitely prefer to drink this at the moment. Lovely showing. (94 pts.)
  • 1969 Domaine Jean Hudelot Musigny - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
    Classic musginy nose, a bit shy, floral and sweet caramel. The palate is a bit lean and a hint of oxidation has taken place. Definitely showing “iron fist in velvet glove”. 95 point nose, 85 point palate. (92 pts.)

Vosne
The 02 HN RSV is very pure.

  • 2001 Domaine Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
    Black and red fruits, strong cherry note that quickly transforms to blackberry and strawberry, vosne spice, Asian spice, sap, flower and sesame/toasted oak. Sweet dark fruit, excellent concentration and good acidity. Every Leroy I drank seem to show strong Leroy signature, ie. sweet ripe fruits, blackberry, Asian spice and sesame/toasted oak and this is no exception. Lovely hedonistic wine but not showing much pure fruits. (95 pts.)
  • 2002 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Romanée St. Vivant - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru
    Expressive yet delicate nose of black and red fruits, perfume and sap. The palate is delicate showing great tension and inner energy. All the components are in great harmony. Not much of tertiary note at this stage. The fruit expression is so pure, the purist of the night. It is also not showing much Vosne spice. The expression is still primary and need at least ten more years to be fully matured. (95 pts.)
  • 2001 Joseph Drouhin Romanée St. Vivant - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru
    Pretty muted nose displays a hint of mint, blue fruits, sap and tar. Dense and sappy palate. Will it improve with time? Not so sure. (91 pts.)

Cote Rotie
We almost let this one go but what a beautiful classic cote rotie.

  • 2001 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
    We almost forgo on this. Lovely stuff. If you love a classic cote rotie, this I the wine for you. Smoke, blood, meat, tapenade, viognier/lychee like note that gives the wine nice lift and garrigue. Medium concentration, silky palate and bright acidity. Drinking beautifully. (93 pts.)

Sticky

  • 1924 Château de Malle - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
    Always consistent showing. Caramel, butter scotch and dry figs. Complexity coming from the age. Sweet nose but slightly dry palate as one can imagine. (93 pts.)
  • 2000 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal Sélection de Grains Nobles - France, Alsace, Alsace AOC
    This has to be a Bob 100 pointer or something close. It has settled down but still intense. Apricot, yellow peach, orange rind and candied ginger. 10W/40 like thickness but bright acidity lifts the wine and keep the wine from being heavy. Hedonistic wine. (96 pts.)
  • 1977 Graham Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto
    This is a very fresh bottle still showing ample fruits, dry fig, dry cherry, roasted chestnut and tobacco. Excellent concentration and fully resolved tannins. There is a hint of alcohol at the end which is not unusual. (93 pts.)

As usual, it was a great fun to share the great wines with the fellows.
Posted from CellarTracker

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Thanks for the notes!

Good to hear on the 1977 Graham’s. Picked up 3 recently.

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Hi Kevin,

Great to se that the Comtes de Champagne 1996 is showing so well. I have not dared touch my bottles yet.

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Quite an excellent evening, Kevin–thanks for the fine and prompt reportage on the marvelously interesting array of wines we sampled.

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Hans, you might try one. It was drinking very nicely last night.

In fact, none of the wines were bad and only three of all these old wines seemed at all over the hill - the Billicart-Salmon, the Niellon and the Musigny.

The 1964 Mission Haut Brion probably needs drinking sooner rather than later, but it was still quite nice last night.

What was amazing was how fresh and alive the 1961 Beycheville and the 1970 la Tache were. I loved the way these wines had become wines with lots of flavor with little weight. I even told Panos I thought the 1961 Beycheville was a Bordeaux for Burg lovers.

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By the way, this wine was Halbtrocken.

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Definitely agree, Howard. Truly enjoyed your Donnhoff, by the way–wonderfully fresh and complex.

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Wish I was visiting DC for another Levandou event with the usual suspects.
Maybe in 2013!

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Thanks, Kevin - as usual, well recorded. I think I liked the '69 Musigny, the Beychevelle, and the Boillot a little more than you did; the Z-H and the Leroy a little less - but that’s just taste. I don’t think the bottle was right on the Billecart-Salmon.

Almost forgot - completely agree on the '02 Hudelot Noellat RSV at the top of the heap. Excellent wine.