Got together with a few of the usual suspects as well as some others for the Zachy’s auction and dinner at Del Posto.
A small group - The Returner, Hillbilly, AG and his better half - wound up getting there a little early and started a pre-party champagne tasting where we sampled the following -
’95 Krug Clos du Mesnil is still youthful but with air is starting to show some hints of maturity. A bit of chalk with a lot of sweet lemons coming through on the finish. This was a bit of an anomaly in that it drank better than the '96 Mesnil a few of us drank earlier in the week. Excellent plus
’95 Krug Clos d’Ambonnay may have been my champagne of the night. No, I didn’t drink it blind, but before anyone jumps to the conclusion that it was my favorite due to a case of label reading there were a number of serious labels to follow. I’ve been fortunate enough to have this wine five times now and each bottle has been better than the previous. Next to the Mesnil it was much richer with some smoke and darker fruits. Can this wine keep getting better and better? Killer minus
’82 Krug Collection is a wine I had been disappointed with the two previous times I’ve had it and therefore don’t own a single bottle of it. I may have to change that. While previous bottles seemed somewhat advanced especially for a recently released Collection this bottle was smoking. Bright vivid fresh yellow fruit without a hint of oxidative notes. A laser beam of acidity on the finish. Staggering minus
’85 Krug Collection can’t hang in this crowd, at least out of 750ml (mags are much fresher with more fruit). A bit straightforward with some oxidative notes I didn’t take a refill of this with so many other great bottles sitting alongside this one. Very good plus
’99 Selosse - a big fan of the man, but I’m not one of the throngs of groupies that love every wine with his name on it. Served blind I would have thought this was a slightly over the hill bottle from the '70’s. Much darker than the next wine with heavy oxidative notes. The fruit is still there, but it’s too buried beneath the oxidative notes for my taste preferences Good
’99 Taittinger CdC Mag - youthful and very clean. The chardonnay shows in this light colored mineral laced champagne. Some chalk as well. This definitely needs some more bottle age especially out of mag. Will surely improve, but won’t reach the heights of the '95 or '96. Excellent minus
’76 Krug - I’ve probably drank more bottles of this than any other single champagne over the past couple of years. And almost every bottle (with the vast majority coming from a single parcel purchased by a couple of us a few years ago) has been stunning. This bottle was no different with dense rich fruits that are complimented by notes of honey and almonds. Great structure, this wine still has decades of prime drinking left to it. Staggering
Time to move on downstairs and on to the main event where we were joined by a legion of other wine lovers. Some good friends joined our table as well as a few others - one of which was purged by the Returner - and the next wave of wine was opened.
’75 Dom Perignon Mag - had great smoky, toasty aromas, classic rich and round DP fruit and texture but the finish was off with a touch of metallic flavors. After airing out for an hour or so, the metallic note disappeared but it soon became a little skunky and furry on the finish. Had a 15 minute window of great drinking but overall it was Excellent minus.
We were still thirsty for some more champagne so we ordered a few bottles off the list
’64 Krug Collection Mag was a little tight and closed on first pour, but there was tons of fruit there, but initially it lacked a little complexity, especially for a 45 year old wine. With time this really evolved and became explosive on the palate with rich notes of nuts and touches of coffee and white chocolate. Staggering plus
’64 Dom Perignon Oenotheque - (Green label) - was actually the last wine of the night and probably not really needed but hey that’s how we roll
Classic '64 DP - creamy, tons of yellow fruits and the signature freshly ground coffee. Staggering
Btw, before drinking the DP, we had a few reds
’71 DRC/Marey Monge RSV was what mature and elegant red burgundy is all about. Fully mature with the color lightened by age, but a beautiful light ruby liquid in the glass. Very perfumed with violets and floral aromas, light red cherry fruit and a silky palate. This bottle was at its peak. Staggering
’90 Dujac Clos la Roche - was a contrast to the previous wine. The concentration of fruit on this wine was incredible. Dense and powerful it initially overwhelmed/pancaked the previous wine but once you didn’t necissarily compare them against each other but enjoyed them for what great but different attributes they had, they made quite a pair. Staggering plus
’86 Rouget Echezeaux - also had dense fruit with cherry in the forefront and a thick sappy texture. This wine gave The Hillbilly some schooling that he didn’t receive in that one room laden with charcoal writing instruments he attended growing up. While '86 is not a great nor heralded vintage across the board, some producers, especially the likes of Jayer made some great wines. Probably the least of our fab four red burgs but still Excellent plus
’91 Leroy RSV closed out our flight of red burgs with the brightest and most vivid fruit of the night. The fruit was so concentrated and lively it was amazing. While it could have use a little more complexity I’ll drink this thick and velvety wine any time. The acidity cuts through the thickness to keep it balanced and not soupy. Staggering minus.
Some '66 Palmer followed - fortunately the Hillbilly had a second bottle since the first bottle was replaced for seemed like an apparent refill, then came a bevy of Piedmonte wines that I look forward to reading in Antonio’s HG write-up of the evening. However, the two that stood out for me were a '78 Giacosa Collina Rionda Riserva ( Staggering plus) and '70 Giacosa Barbaresco Vigneto Montefico (I think that’s what we drank) (Staggering minus).
Zachy’s had a great venue with Del Posto with a lively energetic crowd. Great food accompanied the killer wine line-up and quite a bit of laughs with good friends at the table and it was good making a new friend sitting on my right!