A couple of months ago KoC started planning a dinner which he coined the “Virgin Palate” dinner. He invited ten or so long time friends who also happen to be long time wine drinkers to join him for dinner in which he would open wines throughout the evening in which none of the diners had ever had before. And most importantly, the quality of the wines he would serve would still remain world class. With this group of attendees this was a monumental task. And while it turned out the some of us had drank a few of the wines that KoC served, the fact that most of the wines he did serve were “Virgin” wines was staggering. Add the fact that the quantity and quality of the wines were killer, the task he completed probably could not have been accomplished by any other wine collector in the world. And I don’t say that as hyperbole.
A few wines never made it to the table do to being overly oxidized/maderized and one or two for authenticity reasons. I mention that mainly for the cynics out there who will say " how could there be so many wines of this caliber with only a few bad bottles and no authenticity issues ".
On to the wines, of which a few attendees brought a bottle or two but the vast majority were supplied by KOC especially the heaviest lumber/rarest bottles.
One last thing before I discuss the wines, of which my notes will be brief and I will score only one wine using the trademarked KA rating scale - for those of you who have a problem with a LOT of legendary wines being drunk at one sitting, stop reading this thread and press the back button on your browser.
On to the wines which were all served double blind, discussed/guessed during each flight and then revealed before the next flight was poured.
’43 Krug Mag -not a bad opening salvo for our reception wine. Very lightly colored, but with no effervescence at least to the eye. Caramel on the nose, but on the palate a lot of fruit, effervescence and freshness all of wihich surprised me based on looking at what was in the glass.
’41 Mumm Late Disgorged - tried to get some information on the wine but all the house chimed in with was they don’t have any more of it and they don’t know when it was disgorged except that it was pre-2000. Clean fruit, youthful with a very creamy palate that gets cuts by some good acidity.
’28 Pol Roger - this one pushed my limit of oxidation for an older champagne when first served and had some funk which I was hoping would blow off. Unfortunately oxygen quickly pummeled this into submission, ut a couple of others liked it more than me.
’39 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses - never had a Goisses older than '52 before. Didn’t even know this existed and I’m sure the first '39 champagne I’ve ever drunk. The aroma of the wine screamed toffee, like smelling a piece of butternut crunch toffee candy. Very good on the palate but a bit more of acidity would have helped.
’45 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses - wow ! A ton of fruit on the nose, even more on the palate and crisp acidity. I was sure this was either relative young ( which didn’t make sense to me knowing KoC’s tendencies but I thought maybe this was somebody else’s contribution) or a later disgorgement. Turns out that it was almost certainly an original disgorgement.
’55 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses - a blend of the previous two wines as far as flavors and level of maturity.
’29 Salon - Unfortunately DOA and another wine I didn’t know existed
’42 Salon - KoC said this unknown to me vintage of Salon was never commercially released. A bit funky with some oxidation but very interesting complexities.
’45 Salon Nature - Well, another champagne I never knew existed. This champagne supports the “champagne needs some dosage to gracefully age” adage.
’49 Salon - Very funky on the nose, I had some trepidation about drinking it, but on the palate the funkiness magically disappeared to reveal great fruit and chocolate.
’20 Krug - rich fruit with excellent acidity - loved it
’45 Krug - I liked this but it paled in comparision to it’s 25 years older sibling. some others liked it more than me
’69 Bollinger VVF - lots of tropical flavors on this - I thought some botrytis, some agreed on the latter a few disagreed. Very different than the two Krug’s before it but it was a great flight. good freshness and by far the best old VVF I’ve had.
’45 DRC Richebourg Vieux Cepages - very sappy fruit. I thought this was a flight of DRC Ech, LT and RC. Well, two out of three ain’t bad. well, two out of four since I thought the vintage was 15 or so years younger. Stupendous flight.
’45 La Tache - I immediately got soy and asian spices which led me to my conclusion. This was a fantastic bottle.
’45 DRC Romanee Conti - My fourth ( in theory - I thought at least one of the previous bottles wasn’t correct) of this wine but by far the best bottle. RC is about the only wine that could have topped the previous LT. My second favorite red wine of the night.
1870 Chambertin Negociant Bottled - I love old/mature wines but this was a bit too old. My first thought was wow, this must be really old, but I was thinking more like from the teens years old not 139 years old. Nothing wrong with it, not offensive but the fruit had been stripped by too many decades of age. Should have been consume when it was a 100 year old youngster
’19 Vogue Musigny - I thought the previous wine was several decades younger than it was, and the same for this bottle. I thought it was from the 40’s. Not as good as the astounding bottle that KoC opened at his charity dinner last spring.
’19 DRC Romanee Conti - Class of the flight. Showed closer to its age than the previous two wines. Rich fruit with enormous length.
’19 Rousseau Chambertin Vieux Plants - Very interesting and complex. Lots of leather of brambly fruit. This super rare bottle suffered only by being served right after the previous wine. Another ridiculous flight of wine was complete.
It was around this time that the one-lines started flowing with regularity. It was also at this time that our vocabulary word of the night come up. It was “gusset”. Used in context, the person (unnamed) said " I was walking by the laundry room one day and saw my mother-in-law smelling the gussets of the dirty underwear " Coincidentally, it was just at this time that a late arriving guest who is not a regular in our group showed up. After being introduced to everyone he sat down and said to the person across from him " you’re right, this isn’t a stuffy Frasier Crane type wine drinking group".
’23 DRC Les Gaudichots - this was a replacement bottle for I think a DQ’d 23 La Tache. Possibly the best aromatics of any wine from the evening. Sweet perfumed fruit. Palate is fantastic too, but not as good as the nose.
’23 Vogue Musigny - this had some fruit and just a touch of freshly removed sweat socks. I mean that as a compliment. Grat complexity.
’37 DRC Richebourg - very peaty. Enough fruit to back it up with some iron vitamin supplement aromas too. Hey Rob - you cutting back? where’s the '37 Richebourg Vieux Cepages?
’66 Krug BdB - palate cleanser wine. Pale youthful color. Appears to have little effervescence left to it. Ok - I hate overused wine terms like hedonistic, opulent etc. However, the only way I can describe this champagne is that it absolutely EXPLODED on the palate. A blast of fruit, effevescence, acidity and that another blast of fruit and complex flavors. And then the fruit becomes creamy, and then the acidity shows up again and cuts through the cream. If I listed all of the flavors I be here typing all night. This is the second time I’ve had this wine - the other also courtesy of KoC - and that may have been the greatest champagne I’ve ever tasted. this bottle was even better. My wine of the night. Half the room’s wine of the night. Everyone’s champagne of the night. The only wine I will rate for this evening. KILLER PLUS
Going to speed up the notes from here and try to enhance them tomorrow
’11 Moet - butterscotch aromas - not as monumental as the bottle at KoC’s apt a couple of years ago, but still a star.
’14 Moet - DOA
’19 Moet - DOA
’21 Moet - a bit too skunky for me. Others liked it more.
1889 Moet - how’s that for a replacement bottle ?! Oldest champagne I’ve ever drunk by three years. Anise and Sassafrass. I liked it more than most people.
’36 La Tache - I thought it was older than it was. Not much left to it.
’40 La Tache - Ground coffee sprikled over berry fruit. Delicious.
1892 Lafite - A bit too vegetal for me. Tasted like unripe Cab franc.
1899 Lafite - classic Lafite - Cedar and lead pencil
1900 Lafite - also classic Lafite but a step behind the pevious wine.
1881 Latour - too much VA detracted from any potentail enjoyment
’24 Lafite - another classic Lafite, but like the 1900, a step behind the 1899
’34 Lafite DOA
’47 Cheval Blanc - I’m not as big a fan of this wine as the status it has but this was one of the best examples of it that I’ve had. Very ripe fruit.
’45 Haut Brion - HB is probably my favorite FG but unfortuantely this bottle seemed to be a bit amiss.
’52 Ponsot Clos de la Roche - while not nearly as good as the best bottles of red Burgundy served on this evening, for me and for most others it was still better than any of the Bordeaux.
’54 Bonneau Celestins - oldest bottle of this cuvee I’ve ever drank or seen was the '62. Not sure when this cuvee began. Very ripe strawberry fruit.
’11 DRC RC - touch of crayons. Not as good as this bottle could/should be.
’15 DRC RC - not showing a whole lot other than its age. Nothing offensive, but just not muh going on.
’26 DRC RC - this vied with both the '19 and '45 RC’s for the red wine of the night. Split room between this one and the '45 with the '26 being my favorite by a nose.
’45 Huet Mouellex - someone else needs to help me with this one
’46 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses Demi-Sec - another wine I never knew existed. Still going strong and very enjoyable.
KoC - what else to say but thanks a million for including me
PS - pressed for time - will add some pics tomorrow
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