60th birthday bash

[Comte Flaneur]

I was invited by my friend Alino, a regular in our London wine circle, to his 60th birthday dinner at La Trompette in London. He supplied most of the wines and some of us chipped in. We ended up with a dream team line up.

Champagne

2002 Piper Heidsieck Cuvee Rare - bright, racy and beautiful with plenty going on /of interest, an excellent bottle - 94
2002 Dom Perignon - a bit awkward by comparison, a bit and up and down, it divided opinions; not the best bottle perhaps but still delicious fizz - 92

White burgundy flight - the white burgundy flight was a significant step up from the fizz flight - which is why I drink much more white burgundy than champagne - this was the flight of the night.

2006 Domaine Jean Marc Boillot Batard-Montrachet - this wine was fresh as a daisy, grippy, focused, youthful, more steely Puligny than Chassagne, drinking well with excellent light colour, magnificent - 96
2001 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet - some wet wool and lanolin on the entry, slightly more rounded, richer and luxurious than the Batard, also in a very good place, refined and glorious - 96
1985 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier Montrachet - youthful vibrant colour, timeless; spectacular; perfect ripeness, poise and precision, beguiling, this wine just kept giving and giving - a smorgasbord of subtle but luxe spicey and mineral nuances; a privilege to drink and as good as white burgundy gets - 98 - my wotn (just) group third equal

Red burgundy flight - interesting contrast here, only one winner but a great showing from the Camus

2001 Domaine Ponsot Cos de la Roche Grand Cru - savoury, this was a bid muddy and started off slowly. Initially unconvincing it started to pull its socks up after a couple of hours in the glass - 92
2001 Domaine Camus Chambertin Grand Cru - old fashioned - somewhat rustic perhaps - old style grand cru red burgundy in the perfect place, animale; a joy and a delight to drink now - 95
2001 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant - Benedict described how it skated majestically away from its flight mates, which was the perfect analogy - difficult to put into words - just breath-taking, intense red fruits, nuanced with perfect grip and poise, thrilling and kaleidoscopic - 98 - group wotn, my #2

Bordeaux Rothschild flight

1962 Chateau Lafite - in good condition, it started out earthy and gritty, and slowly improved as it came out if it’s shell; not showy, but nicely resolved and nuanced, elegant and classy mature claret - 94
1976 Chateau Lafite - initially it seemed corked, and it seemed a little below par, but a second pour at the death suggested it was not in fact corked - even so not on a par with the bottle we enjoyed back in 2018 at the same table - 92
1982 Chateau Mouton Rothschild - a pristine bottle, youthful and brooding, it had difficulty expressing itself in the glass which was too small for this wine, even though that did not seem to be a problem for the burgs. For this reason only my #4 wine - it might have muscled its way onto the podium in a bigger stem, still 98

Sauternes

1975 Chateau D'Yquem - an extraordinarily good bottle of 75 Yquem this had a beautiful copper-toned hue, fabulous grip and gusto, probably my favourite vintage of Yquem in the last 50 years - 98 - my #3 wine group third equal

[stefan]

What a glorious party that was for your friend's 60th!

[jckba]

What a wonderful lineup and notes.

[dstgolf]

Outstanding wines and great review of the celebration.

[Musigny 151]

Great notes.

[JoelD]

Wow, what a wonderful night. You know it's a great tasting when 02 Piper and 02 Dom don't live up to most of the other wines and shouldn't have based on expectations originally anyways! That 1985 Leflaive Chevalier sounds sublime. That's the rare white that I would almost want to try over a DRC and 82 first growth. Glad they all turned out so well.

[Jay Winton]

The Comte continues to drink well!

[DavidG]

That’s the way to do a birthday bash, very nice! It’s gotta be a good night when 82 Mouton and 75 Yquem are on their game… and are still only #3 and #4.

[Nicklasss]

OMG!

Speechless.

I did not had many times the Domaine Leflaive Grand Cru, but they are surely and clearly among the top dry white wines on the planet.