TN's: Highlights from the Past Week

WINE TALK
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Highlights included -

’88 Salon - Great drinking bottle but only a good bottle overall. What I mean by that is while it wasn’t an oxidized bottle it was more mature than it should have been. So, while this was a bit advanced it was actually at its perfect stage of maturity. Pine Bros honey cough drops were in the forefront with plenty of yellow fruit intermixed as well. Some oxidation but enough fruit and acidity to make it work. Excellent

’88 Krug Clos du Mesnil - opened right after the Salon and this took it to the next level and beyond. Very pale colored as if it were five years old. A wealth of yellow fruit, pears and apples. A touch of chalk and then a laser beam of acidity on the finish. Not the prettiest vineyard to look at, but it sure does produce some good grapes. Staggering plus

’92 Leroy Romanee St Vivant - one of if not my favorite '92 red burgundy. Dense rich fruits. Raspberries and cherries. Velvet mouthfeel. Everlasting finish. Staggering minus

’66 Dom Perignon Oenotheque black label. Just was able to pick up three more bottles of this rare bird, so I was comfortable dipping into one of my other two bottles in my stash. This was crushing it, the real deal, deep ocean and lumber all wrapped up in one. Smoky, creamy and rich. Touches of honey, almonds, hazelnuts, coffee and more. This is a bottle for all of you DP haters out there. Find one, buy one, drink one and you’ll be a convert -guaranteed. Monumental plus.

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Never met a DP hater!

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Keith,

You must not get out much

[basic-smile.gif]

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Ray,

I take it you like the 66 DP Black Label Oeno better than the earlier late disgorgements of this (I’ve only had original releases and late disgorged 66s from the three packs released around 2000)?

I think 88 CdM is the best CdM to date, but 79 is right up there with it and I know you guys really like the 96 as well. I have been amazed at how much better the 96 CdM has gotten since release when it was very, very good/almost great. I wish I could drink it more often to follow its somewhat dramatic evolution closer. As for the vineyard, it is good, but in the big picture of Le Mesnil, it isn’t really that special which just goes to show you how much great work Krug (and LVMH) put into the grapes and wine.

I’d love to do a “DP Hater” Dinner where you start them off with young Dom like 98 or 99 and watch them talk about how much they hate it. Then serve them some 60s Dom and watch them turn into DP Lovers. Maybe more than any other Champagne out there, DP has traditionally drank like water when young and needed a couple decades to really strut its stuff and bloom. I wonder how many haters you have converted by introducing them to what DP can be with age.

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Brad,

I do like the '66 black label better than the other late disgorgements. I think it may be that Richard Geoffroy has really mastered the craft of these late disgorged wines over time and knows exactly how to handle them.

Rumor has it I may see you at the end of the month?

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Ray,

It does indeed look like I will be in New York later this month. I’m working on being Angry, but I am failing miserably so far.

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Is “Monumental” a recent addendum to the KA rating scale?

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P,

I’m glad someone noticed [dance-clap.gif]

“Monumental” is a one time rating. It just popped into my head as I was typing.

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Wow, that is totally the opposite of my experience. In fact Dom is really the only one of the prestige cuvees I have found that tastes like something special right out of the gate. Certainly have never had a Dom remotely like water regardless of age. When I think of Champagnes that are bland young but bloom in time I think of Taittinger Comtes or La Grande Dame, but definitely not Dom.

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Keith,

I say “Dom tastes like water” somewhat tongue in cheek. As you do, I find it classy and tasty when young too, but most don’t. For many, young Dom is often outclassed at tastings by supposedly lesser wines. However, given a couple decades to age, it almost always blossoms. I’d classify Comtes and Grande Dame as more expressive as a young wine than Dom (both are very different, but I normally get oomph from them than a bottle of young Dom); as much I like Dom, it isn’t the most expressive wine on release. One of the biggest issues LVMH has with Dom is that people don’t like waiting 20+ years for it to bloom in full - they want the flavor right here and now.

So… I was speaking more about the masses when I said it tastes like water as I completely understand where folks who don’t “get” young Dom.

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Ray, love your system of scoring! [welldone.gif]