Here are the reds and Sauternes from our evening out.
I hope you enjoy them.
Here are the reds and Sauternes.
Bordeaux Flight
1985 La Mission Haut Brion
A gorgeous nose. Dark fruit. Earthy. Very focused too. The palate is medium concentrated and now all about complexity. Dark fruit. Scattered earth that is to me Graves. A firm mineral backbone that focuses the wine. Pretty good length. Nice wine.
1989 Mouton Rothschild
A really wonderful nose. Classic Pauillac to me. Dark fruit. Some element of lead pencil shavings. The palate shows very focused dark fruit. It is somewhat constricted still by tannin. (Like all Moutons to me except the 1945 and 1959) Great finish. This is a pleasant and welcomed surprise to me. Excellent.
1990 Beausejour Duffau
Wow! Rich very sexy red fruit on the nose. Some earthy element but it is buried underneath a mound of fruit. The palate is all about velvety texture and sexy fruit. Huge in the mouth with a finish that goes on and on. Profound.
1995 Montrose
Here there is very young fruit. A little sterner. Very dark. The palate shows wonderful length and the tannins are just receding. Great length. A long future ahead for this one.
Blind Older Wine
This has a nose that is lifted by some VA. Complex darker fruit. Lots of earthiness. Reminds me of a 1947 Lagrange in many ways. The palate is resolved and shows some fruit still sticking it out. Complex earthy notes and a focusing acidity that really goes well with food. The finish is good.
Burgundy Flight
1978 DRC Richebourg
High neck fill.
Time stops here. You are compelled to smell and taste. The nose is ethereal. Dark red fruit is still present but there are truffle elements. A perfect mélange. Nothing is out of place. This to me is Red Burgundy. The palate is absolutely glorious. Red fruit. That umami soy element that is so compelling in great Grand Crus from the Vosne area. A balance that reminds me more of Romanee Conti than Richebourg. Oh la la! A finish that lingered until the next day. Profound and one of the very best experiences you can have with wine. Thanks Ken.
1990 Faiveley Latricieres-Chambertin
This one is on the early drinking curve. Dark fruit. Some element of meat and beef blood on the nose. Minerals also. The palate is so integrated now but needs some time to flesh out the complexity completely. Intense minerality to me. Focused. A profound wine in the making.
1990 Comte de Vogue Musigny VV
Dark brooding nose. Very ripe darker fruit. Some earthiness. The palate is so thick with dark fruit. There is some surmaturite here. On the edge of too ripe. The finish is where the magic happens. It lingers and builds. This one still needs some time.
2002 Jean Raphet Gevrey Chambertin Les Combottes
A dark fruit nose. There is a big mineral core to the nose. That iron you get from Gevrey. Big dark fruit on the palate with a long finish. After the Richebourg, this seemed almost monolithic. As below, I wished I had sampled this first.
2002 Hudelot-Noellat Vosne Romanee Les Suchots
Sexy dark fruit and spice on the nose. I wished I had tried this before the Richebourg however. The palate is sexy and loaded with fruit and Asian tea type spice but seems almost monolithic after the Richebourg. Great length.
Sauternes
1990 de Fargues
Wonderful golden ripe fruit. Spicy on the nose and palate with Botrytis. Rich in the mouth but having the acidity to really focus the finish. Fantastic.
1980 d’Yquem
The de Fargues up a notch with a little less ripeness but lots more complexity. Amazing complexity on the palate here. Golden spicy fruit. This explodes on the finish. Not a great Sauternes year but this is a great wine. Profound.