Extracted from the 30th Anniversary thread. It was quite a week.
The 2013 Vilmart Emotion Rosé was stunning. It opened with a dominant creamy strawberry note, followed by red cherry, orange and spice. A monumental rosé, one of my favorite vintages of this cuvée and easily one of my top five sparkling rosés in general.
A couple of days later we were at the home of another couple, close friends, and I opened a Laurent Perrier Grand Siècle magnum that I thought was the 23rd Iteration. Unfortunately, with these older Grand Siècles there’s no way to know exactly what you’re opening until you see the cork code.
This one turned out to be much older than I thought, although it showed phenomenally fresh, as these wines so often do. The D50E cork code suggests disgorgement in the fourth quarter of 2005. Considering roughly 10 to 12 years on the lees, it was most likely the 1990/1993/1995 blend, Iteration 17, although there’s a chance it was the 1993/1995/1996 blend, Iteration 18.
Check out the color of a champagne that’s over 30 years old.
On our actual anniversary night, I opened my only bottle of 1996 Krug. Gold to dark amber in color and definitely showing its age. More tertiary, with coffee, butterscotch, maple, grilled pineapple, ginger and some orange Crêpes Suzette. A huge, dense wine, but the acidity kept it from feeling heavy. Really nice, but I’m glad I didn’t save this for our 35th anniversary, or even our 31st. If this bottle was any indication, it was great but slightly past its apogee, even for my antiquarian palate.
The next night we celebrated at the wonderful Michelin starred Sushi Hyun Omakase. Eight seats total, two seatings, and outstanding.
I brought my only 1996 Dom Pérignon Œnothèque. It was sensational, one of my WOTYs, perhaps even one of my wines of the decade. So remarkably fresh for a 30 year old vintage, in color, aroma and flavor. Meyer lemon and pear, pastry, then later caramel and cacao. A long, dazzling finish. A revelation.
I might have to track down more. While I have many more growers than Grandes Marques in the cellar, it’s hard to imagine a wine topping this one. I don’t score wines, but this was perfection.
As I threw my third sheet to the wind, I spotted the 2013 Cristal Rosé on the wine list. In my joyful and slightly inebriated state, the price somehow seemed fair. Fortunately, Marybeth said, “Really? I guess if you truly want it.” That was enough to rein me in… a little.
I bought the 2015 Cristal instead, for much less than half the price of the Rosé.
It was another beauty, although it was hard to follow the Dom. Most young bottles of Cristal, in my experience, are somewhat dominated by lemon. While this had some of that character, it showed more complexity than I normally associate with young Cristal, perhaps because of the warm vintage. Not a trace of the green character I’ve found in some other 2015s. Lemon, pear, chamomile, brioche and saline.
I didn’t buy any 2015 for the cellar, but I will if I see a reasonable offer.
Close friends invited us on their boat for the last day of our week-long Anniversary celebration. It’s a beautiful ship, manufactured for spectating the America’s Cup, previously owned by Louis Vuitton. We cruised around Bellingham Sound then chilled alongside Eliza Island.
1996 Jean Gimonnet Blanc de Blancs Brut
Mature, but very much alive. The 27+ years on the lees preserved freshness. Green apple, pear, lemon, orange and almond pastry, supported by crisp '96 acidity. Great start to the night.
2015 Dom Pérignon Champagne Takashi Murakami Limited Edition
Our friend brought this. An atypical DP to my taste, although it’s still quite young and the nose was somewhat ungiving. Some of the typical reductive flint, along with yellow apple, lemon and scant tropical notes, but also an herbal quality through the mid palate. I’ll happily drink any of these that are opened, but I’m equally happy I skipped this vintage in favor of more ’08, ’12 and ’13.
NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée
One of the thrills I get when opening our old Krug GC’s (as well as our older Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle) bottles is the mystery. Before the iterations or ID codes were listed, you couldn’t know much about the disgorgement or base year based until you open the bottle. Then, the cork code can sometimes give clues, which you can decode and then make an educated guess.
This bottle was an old beige label GC, pre-ID code, signifying release between 2004 and 2011. Cork code A431 narrows it down to disgorgement in the third “period” of 2004, i.e. May/June 2004. My educated guess based on the cork and the way the wine showed was that the bottle was a 152ème Édition based on the 1996 vintage, which coincidentally happens to be the year we married. Admittedly, it could have also been the 153ème Édition.
Densely scented and flavored, with dried apricot, candied citrus peel, brioche, roasted hazelnuts, honey and winter spice. The glycerin texture was balanced by generous acidity. This was a great wine to finish our week-long 30th anniversary celebration, sharing with friends who appreciated the quality and the history.
