… and '64 DP.
An eclectic group of eight - the Hillbilly, the Evictor, Airplane Eddie, a couple of Country Squires BE and CK, DT, MB, and the esteemed Antonio Galloni - plus myself, got together to do a comprehensive 1964 Dom Perignon tasting as well as horizontals of '89 and '90 Piedmonte with a focus on Giacosa. A couple of additional wines were also opened including recently disgorged mags of '59 and '76 Henriot Cuvee Enchanteleurs, a mag of '82 Leflaive Batard and a '34 Lafite. I will leave the detailed notes on all of the reds to Antonio. However, my general comment on '89 vs '90 is that I found the '89’s much more to my liking mainly due to significantly less wood showing when compared to the '90’s.
A great time with a ton of laughs with the good natured insults starting hot and heavy almost immediately mainly due to the shackles being off the Hillbilly.
Started off the reception portion of our night with the two mags of Henriot.
’76 Henriot Cuvee Enchanteleurs Mag - a recent release and disgorgement this was an excellent way to warm things up. Very clean with some floral notes on the nose. Some mineral on the palate. A bit too strightforward without and real flair. Excellent minus
’59 Henriot Cuvee Enchanteleurs Mag - also a recent release/disgorgement this along with the '64 DP Black Label - well, actually Marine Green but we’ll get to that shortly - was the wine I was most looking forward to drink. One reason is that I’ve never had it before and secondly some consider it to be one of the greatest champagnes ever made. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a disappointment especially considering the great anticipation I had for it. The initial glass had a great nose, with some smokiness to it that reminded me a bit of a recently disgorged DP Oeno. Seemed a bit closed and I was hoping it would open up and thought the second glass over the course of the evening would be even better. However, over time the mid palate became more hollow instead of expanding and growing in the glass. Still, huge thanks to the Country Squire who was very generous and brought the two mags. Excellent minus
It was time to move on to our '64 Dom Perignon horizontal. The north and the south combined resources and brought six different bottlings of '64 DP. Only until recently can you be sure of disgorgement/release dates of DP, however you can use some label/capsule info to guesstimate the disgorgemennt/releases of the older ones. We had an original release bottle with the day/glow blue/green capsule, a bottle labeled the same but with a foil capsule (presumably released in the 70’s or 80’s), a bottle discreetly labeled RD on the back label ( probably early nineties release), a bottle which had an Oenotheque label only on the capsule (probably late 90’s very early 2000’s release) and a bottle with what we originally thought was a Black Label Oenotheque with a 2004 disgorgement but it after some investigation was in fact a dark green Oeno label which will further be known as the Marine Green Oeno. Last, there was a magnum of '64 DP with a foil capsule.
As we were drinking our Henriot we decided we would start with just three bottles of '64 DP and see how the evening progressed. However, the Hillbilly was clamoring for all of them to be opened as soon as we sat down. So we compromised and told the somm to open up all five bottles but not the mag. Well, we should have told him to open up the mag right away too, cause we opened it a couple of hours later anyway.
’64 DP Oenotheque Marine Green Label - disgorged in '04. First time drinking this exremely rare bird. It showed its rather recent disgorgement with its vibrant mousse, pale color and youthful smoky DP nose. However, as good as it was, in the context of how good the other '64’s were along side it it paled in comparison. It lacked explosiveness on on the palate. Some liked it more than me. Excellent plus
’64 DP Capsule Label Oenotheque - out of the gates this the best of the five (initially) DP’s. It’s rich creamy texture combined with its mature flavors made it a champagne with the best of both worlds - the youthfulness of the relatively recent disgorgement and the 46 years of overall age. However, on the downside this didn’t improve as the evening went on. Staggering
’64 DP RD Label - this was the first DP showing any resemblance of its age in both its color and much less abundance of mousse. The DP style is certainly clear by the third DP especially after the two Henriots. This was also fantastic out of the gates, but like the previous wine it stayed steady over the course of three hours, but didn’t reach new heights. Staggering minus
’64 DP Foil Capsule - On first pour and taste this was a perfect example/stored '64 DP. While for me it initially lagged behind the previous two wines, I was confident this would grow as the night when on. When I expressed my thoughts a couple of people thought I was off my rocker. The Hillbilly was the only one who had my back on this one (and the next wine). Well, for me, at the end of the night this wine did grow and surpassed the previous later disgorgements. All of the classic DP flavors were there, the mocha, coffee etc. Staggering plus
’64 DP Plastic Capsule - when first brought over to me to try, there was some concern on the somm’s face. He told me this was the first cork which came out very easily with only a faint sound. On pour it was a bit darker than the previous wine. However, it smelled good and tasted even better with still plenty of effervescence - especially on the palate - and good acidity. I made my comment on this wine like I did on the previous one that I thought this would surpass the later disgorged bottles. Once again, for me, this grew as the night went on showed the similar flavors as the previous bottle. Staggering plus
’64 DP Magnum - I try to do the right thing and stop us from being too excessive and it turns out to be the exact opposite. My only regret from last evening was not opening this mag with the other five bottles at the beginning of the evening. For me, this was another monumental DP. Everything the other older disgorgements had, but with more power and the magnum factor showing through. Had this had three hours of air it would have pancaked the other five DP’s. For me, it was still the best anyway. Killer minus
’82 Leflaive Batard Montrachet - Magnum was another perfect showing. The Hillbilly and the Evictor drink even less white burgundy than me and were giving one of the Country Squires a hard time for bringing it and how it negatively impacted their calorie consumption and brain cell damage by drinking it. This bottle was loaded with ripe fruit, floral notes, smoke and had a thick mouthfeel but with proper acidity that perfectly balanced out the wine. Seemed like it was somewhere in between the raciness of a Chevalier and the normal richness/fatness of a Batard. Staggering minus
We then moved on to sixteen or so glasses of great wine from Piedmonte and finished with a '34 Lafite. I look forward to reading Antonio’s notes on all of them.
We give the Evictor a hard time due to some of the superlatives he expounds regarding some of the tastings we do, but in this case it was definitely warrranted. A monumental pleasure drinking those six '64 DP’s side by side (that very fortunately all were correct examples) as well as being able to taste so many classic Giacosa’s etc side by side as well as '89 by '90.
Thanks to all for an amazing evening.
![[basic-smile.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/83717c74df9b0ce202453063bc4f11baf0ee6b8a.gif "smile"){kind=small}