Another early Sunday dinner at our new favorite hangout, Ruth’s Chris, Tysons. This time we upgraded ourselves to a private room. Commencing at 4 pm affords us to leisurely enjoy the wines over three to four hours though tonight we lasted five hours. How remarkably young the 90s along with the 00 CB were, demonstrated the importance of the great provenance. We had a quick discussion whether any of the wines merit three digit scores. I felt that the 90 Margaux and the 00 Cheval Blanc were perfectly drinking in very youthful way where others felt that they need a bit more cellaring to gain additional complexity.
Whites
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2009 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Cuvée Roussanne Vieilles Vignes - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
The nose is orange rind dominated, also limestone and yellow peach. It reminds me a Vin Jaune in the reductive style. This is an opulent big scale wine. In the palate, round mouthfeel, nice mineral expression, very sweet ripe fruits and bright acidity. As usual, it shows a hint of alcohol. If you are a fan of the Roussanne VV, your score may be substantially higher. (93 pts.) -
2004 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
The wine has settled down a bit. The green/ pyrazine aspect is a bit more noticeable. Honey, lemon oil, grassy, and seashell. The palate displays bright acidity but not showing the generous fruits that this wine once had. (90 pts.) -
2009 Antica Terra Chardonnay - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Not an overdone chardonnay. Showing ripe yellow fruits, bright acidity and limestone. It shows a good balance. (92 pts.)
1970 Palmer
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1970 Château Palmer - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
A bit of controversy as whether the wine is corked. It has the typical characters of the matured Bordeauxs that weren’t ideally kept, showing a lot of brett, ash and dirty sox. There is also attractive red fruit, cedar and mint quality. Not a correct bottle. NR (flawed)
Two 1990 Second Growth
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1990 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
This is perhaps the most youthful and clean example of the 90 Montrose. No sign of brett, incredibly intense nose of cassis, black fruits, ink, bitter chocolate and a hint of bell pepper that keeps the wine fresh. The fruit expression is ripe, dark and intense yet it may not have achieved the perfect phenolic ripeness just like the 03. Unbelievable intensity and concentration yet the palate is silky and not necessarily unctuous at this stage. The tannin is very well integrated. Impressive wine. (97 pts.) -
1990 Château Léoville Poyferré - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
There is something kinky about this wine. Blackberry jelly, caramel, lots of cedar, allspice, a hint of spicy and jalapeno coming from cabernet sauvignon. It is very similar to the 90 Montrose but showing more caramel and rounder/warmer fruit expression. Both clearly showing excellent provenance. The palate is silky and the tannins are not noticeable. I prefer this wine to the Montrose for the current drinking, a hedonistic wine. (97 pts.)
Two right bankers
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1995 Château Clinet - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Very muted and tight nose to start only showing some dry dark fruits. With air, gets jammy, some red fruits and cedar. Perhaps need a few more years of cellaring. (92 pts.) -
2000 Château Cheval Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
I usually don’t describe the color but this is still opaque. Intense nose displays sweet jammy blue and black fruits, crème de cassis, exotic sweet spices, dark milk chocolate and ink. The palate displays unbelievable concentration and extremely sweet perfectly matured fruits. The tannin is very well integrated. This along with the 90 Margaux shows the greatest concentration and the fruit intensity. This is very youthful yet extremely enjoyable due to the incredible amount perfectly ripe sweet fruits and the perfect balance. This bottle seems even fresher than the bottle had at the chateau during the 09 EP. (100 pts.)
First Growth
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1990 Château Margaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
The intensity in the nose is unbelievable, cassis, a hint of raspberry, cedar, ink and lead pencil. The palate displays incredibly concentration, extremely sweet/perfectly ripe fruits, silky texture. The tannin is not noticeable until the very end. This seems bigger and sweeter than the 90 Latour which is more of a classic claret. It is extremely youthful yet so perfectly hedonistic. (100 pts.) -
1990 Château Latour Grand Vin - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
This came from the same cellar as the 90 Margaux, clearly demonstrating the importance of the provenance. Incredibly youthful, dark fruits, a hint of cassis, cedar, mushroom and earth. The Margaux is a bigger wine but this is a great claret showing the subtle expression of fruits, precision and perfect balance. Everything is seamless here nothing really sticking out. I however prefer the 90 Margaux and the 90 Cheval Blanc. (98 pts.) -
1982 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
This seems a bit advanced to me, showing too much tertiary characters and not much fruit. Plum and red fruits, Smoke, ash, earth, mint and mushroom. Medium concentration and fully integrated tannins. (93 pts.)
Stickies
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1995 Château Soucherie Coteaux du Layon Chaume Cuvée de la Tour - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Coteaux du Layon Chaume
Fresh but a bit simple. (89 pts.) -
1995 Romano Dal Forno Nettare Veneto IGT - Italy, Veneto, Veneto IGT
Perfectly ripe yellow peaches and apricot. As usual, intense ripe fruits, chewy texture yet incredibly light and airy. (97 pts.)
Another crazy fun evening!
Posted from CellarTracker