TN's: Champagnes from Antonio G's Charity Dinner

WINE TALK
1

Great dinner with a dozen or so others for a good cause. About 20 or so pristine Barolos and Barbarescos with all but one from the 60’s and 70’s and all but one from Giacosa and G. Conterno. Almost every one showed great. I’ll leave those notes to Antonio. Food and truffles at Del Posto were fantastic. The risotto was perfection (truffles weren’t bad either). We also started with a '78 Rayas as a blind ringer that seemed to be fully maturte and then some.
On to the champagnes -

’76 Krug Magnum was a Hillbilly selection. Vibrant effervescence. This was dripping with honey covered fruit. Very rich but with the marriage of a perfect amount of acidity. Yellow fruits combined with almonds and marmalade. Served as an apertif but it was more of an amuse bouche. Staggering

’82 Dom Perignon Magnum The Evictor unwrapped this mag that he purchased on release. Another perfect example. Lighter and creamier than the Krug. Mushrooms and a hint of coffee give complexity to the fruit. This mag still needs a little more bottle age before it will hit its peak. Excellent plus

’75 Dom Perignon Oenotheque Black label third plenitude bottle. Airline Eddie opened a couple of bottles for the group. Eddie had his champagne epiphany a couple of years ago drinking this at my birthday dinner and this became his house champagne. He regularly opens a bottle or two whenver I see him. No complaints from me. This bottle was showing extremely well and has lost some of its pure youthfulness. Still very fresh, but it has developed many typical DP mature notes of ground coffee with levels of creamy flavors. My only potential concern is how rapidly this has developed since its disgorgement. I noticed that the last time I drank it and even more so this time. This bottle tasted ten years older (but still in a positive way) than bottles I drank 2+ years ago. This may be one to consume over the next 8-10 years. But for now Killer minus.

’96 Krug A million tasting notes on this one so I’ll just say that although this bottle was not my favorite example of this wine it was still a solid representation of one of the top 2 or 3 wines from the vintage. Excellent plus

’95 Dom Perignon Oenotheque '06 disgorgement. This has become a go to bottle for a few of us. While not cheap it’s a bargain relative to other DP Oeno’s on the market but it always delivers in a big way. There is a sweetness to this champagne, but it comes from the fruit not the dosage. Very DP with its coffee creamsicle flavors. Rumor has it the '96 Oeno is even better. While waiting for that release, I’ll happily consume these. Staggering

If I get as many replies to this post as I did my Rioja post I’m going to start putting “Congrats” in all my subject titles [basic-smile.gif]

2

Great notes, Ray. Thanks for sharing.

Have you experienced much bottle variation across the '96 Krug? How do you expect it will evolve over the next 12-36 months?

Thanks

3

Doubt we’ll see notes from Antonio on this board so give it a go. Did you have that ephihany bottle of barolo or barbaresco that we discussed?

Seems like a light champagne night? You guys feeling OK? [whistle.gif]

4

Chris,

I’ve read posts from others that say they’ve had different '96 Krug experiences than I’ve had. I haven’t found the wine to be variable and I’ve drank bottles from various sources and markets. Additionally, while youthful, I find it to be approachable and very enjoyable for current consumption. And while only an educated guess, I would think this champagne outlives me.

Paul,

I don’t remember what conversation you are referring to regarding the epiphany, but as far as it being light on the champagne, relatively, it was. Although the last couple of bottles were drunk among just three of us. No worries, I plan on making up for that especially on Friday where ridiculous amounts of off the chain champagnes will be consumed.

5

Ray,

I hope they continue to hold back the 96 Oeno for a bit longer as it is still a bit too tight IMO. I prefer the 95 Oeno at this point, but we’ll have to see how things stand in 6-12 months. I won’t be surprised if I continue to prefer the 95, but it could go either way - which shows how good the 95 is. Even more exciting than the 96 Oeno is the first release of Oeno Roses - brilliant stuff!

6

Brad,

I’m hearing the '96 Oeno will be released in the spring.
The pricing for that wine as well as the Rose Oeno will be interesting. I know where a fair amount of the '95 Oeno went so if LVMH prices them like they still think it’s 2007, they won’t sell.

7

Ray,

Yes, that is still the plan, but I can always hope things will change. Even if they don’t, the bottles have already been disgorged since 2008 so you can always buy and cellar. My fear is that a lot will get opened and consumed earlier than when the wine is showing its true colors. An extra 9-12 months will likely do wonders with the wine.

No clue where the final pricing will fall, but the current state of the market is a hot topic of discussion when the pricing is set on the next Oeno releases.

8

Is “killer” what happens if the punch doesn’t just “stagger” you but actually proves fatal?

Numbers would be a lot easier to keep track of.

9

1968 Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano
1969 Giacosa Barbaresco
1969 Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano
1971 Barolo Cannubi from Ceretto
1964 Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano
1967 Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Asili
1971 Giacosa Barolo Riserva Le Rocche di Castiglione
1978 Giacosa Barbaresco Gallina
1978 Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva
1978 Giacosa Barolo Riserva Villero
1978 Giacosa Barolo Riserva Collina Rionda
1961, 1964, 1967 and 1971 Giacomo Conterno Barolo
1971, 1978, 1982 and 1985 Monfortinos

The above was the Piedmonte lumber that Antonio pulled from his cellar (except for the '82 Monfortino that CK provided) to benefit the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation. What was eye opening were the wines from '68 and '69 which are hardly highly regarded vintages, that while not profound were excellent ( Nathan - that means low ninety or so points on the 100 point scale, 18 or so on the 20 point scale, 4 stars on the Broadbent scale and a 6 on the new GJE scale) wines I’d be happy to drink again. Of course it doesn’t hurt that these bottles were hand carried back from Piedmonte where they have been they’re whole lives.

10

Ray, nice line-up of Piedmonte wines. I had the '82 Monfortino last night. I couldn’t believe how young it was.