Bubbly, white and red Burgundy on a snowy night in the Front Range

[Blanquito]

Got together with some of the local crew for a great night, that ended up with blizzard-like conditions for the drive home.
Overall, the food and wines were excellent, but the champagne and whites left the reds pretty far behind. The recioto was divine.

2002 Piper Heidsieck Cuvee Rare
Low effervescence for this bottle, with barely a "pop" on uncorking and few bubbles. The bouquet was fairly quiet and linear, showing mostly citrus and slate, but the palate still had tons of energy and body in a crystalline, bright, lime-driven format. Terrific length, still fresh and intense, but could be time to open these. 93 pts.

2002 Jacquesson Extra Brut Degorgement Tardive
Disgorged in 2017! Also a low effervescence bottle. My first try with this house. This is 57% pinot noir and it shows with the distinct soil and umami-caraway seeds notes on the wine, almost like a Blanc de Noirs. It is quite dry, but not shrill. Lovely balance and length, just not my preferred style. 91 pts.

2007 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne BdB
One of my favorite champagnes and this bottle does not disappoint. Great bouquet with florals and citrus, still fresh as a daisy. Definitely on the brighter end of the spectrum, but it has more body and richer fruit than the Rare. Not really a hair out of place, with balance, intensity, length, and pleasure found in perfect proportion. Young, but drinking great. 94-95 pts.

2014 Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet Les Vergers
Another sensational bottle, up there for WOTN. Minty, tarragon, lemon creme, subtle vanilla, white flowers. Great body and luxurious fruit, yet never heavy. Perfect balance, in such a great spot. White burgundy stands alone. 94-95 pts.

1989 Domaine Rapet Corton-Charlemagne
Still a going concern, this suffers next to the more interesting and electric Niellon. Tastes like an old yet intact white wine, with a quiet bouquet, good body (almost shows the structure of a red), and a nice slightly acrid finish. Little complexity nor old-wine intrigue though. 89-90 pts.

On to the reds...
1966 Remoissenet Pommard Clos des Epenots
"Suspiciously young", notes the one highly-experienced Burgundy lover in the group, "but then Remoissenet late releases always are". The color was a shockingly deep red and a fresh nose, with no signs of tertiary development. Correct flavors, decent bouquet and body, fairly silky structure, but overall the wine is not that interesting. 87-88 pts.

1999 Henri Gouges Nuits-St-Georges Les Chênes Carreaux
Wow, this is a beast and a true throw-back. Sauvage, vinous, deep, dark, a touch rank with some stemminess, I love the earthy, rustic, intense bouquet. There is great body and concentration on the attack, but then a rough, woody structure and tannin clamps down on the finish and leaves a hard, acrid taste. 90 pts tonight for its energy and unapologetic old-schoolness, but 93+ pts easily if this pull together with another decade or more in the cellar.

1999 Chevillon Nuits-St-Georges Les Chaignots
The class of the reds for me, with a beautiful bouquet of ripe cherries and sweet herbs. Balanced, integrated, elegant with body, but not showing much length nor complexity at the moment. Overall, very good and a little shy of dazzling, could improve still. 92-93 pts.

2002 La Pousse d'Or Volnay Clos des 60 Ouvrees
Excellent and absolutely tasty, but in the end analysis a little dull and predictable with all of its Volnay seductiveness and standard perfume. I can't really find specific fault, it was just like reading a brilliantly written and edited story that in the end has no soul. Ok, too harsh, but I was looking for more excitement and had to go back to the Gouges. 92 pts.

2001 Louis Remy Clos de la Roche
Served last and a touch forgotten, but this was very nice and correct. Nice cherry fruit. Seemed a little foursquare, perhaps too young. 90-91 pts.

2007 Quintarelli Recioto "A Roberto"
Really terrific and singular. Not particularly sweet nor heavy, yet it still performs like a dessert wine and stands up to a delicious Basque-style cheese cake. Does that magic act of tasting like an (unusual) dry red table wine that somehow isn't. Wonderful equilibrium, class and substance, all it lacks in complexity tonight, nevertheless a delight. I am a sucker for recioto, which is reflected in my score. 93-94 pts.

[Nicklasss]

Vers nice report. I can almost taste the Niellon, and from 2014, what to not like!

[stefan]

2014 Niellon is sooo good.

[JoelD]

My kind of night. Havent had the 2014 vergers but Marcus opened the clos st jean and it was lovely. I need more Niellon in my life.

Glad I didn't splurge on that Jacquesson, almost did. Did the Piper have the red clasp thing around the neck? Theres a theory going around about that with disgorgement dates.

[Blanquito]

The Piper did have the red neck clasp, Joel. For whatever reason, this bottle wasn’t nearly as good as the one in DC last year.

Seems like Niellon has become BWE’s house white burgundy! Too bad the new releases are so stinking pricey. I’m still backfilling though.

[JoelD]

You're comparing this 02 to the 06 we had at the Thursday dinner you mean? I know you loved that.

We had an 02 at the Friday dinner this year and it was quite nice. Did not have the clasp though. Very well balanced and rich. Has moved a little from when I tasted this multiple times in late 2019. I'm curious to see where it goes. The 08 is not ready.

[Claudius2]

Guys
One point about the Remoissenet reds from the old regime.
I’ve tried a few wines from the 50s that were unbelievably young but the winemaker (Bernard Repolt) has assured me that they were genuinely made then BUT he cannot vouch for what is in the bottle. His comment some years ago was that “they are what they are”. He would not be drawn any further.

Having said that the modern Remoissenet reds still mature slowly and ar seemingly indestructible. The whites age well too though I’m finding the 2015s need to be drunk soon whilst the 14s are maturing slowly - and 2014 is to my palate one of the very best white Burgundy vintages I’ve ever tried.

Cheers
Mark

[AKR]

I didn't care for the few recioto's I've had. Maybe it's an acquired taste.

Nice lineup and glad everyone made it home safely.

It's been pouring out here.