Friday night-
Some fun apps and cheese. With a very good pulled chicken cacciatore that went quite well with the wines.
Krug 164eme- Out of two half bottles. This is a very good, rich but balanced wine right now. Especially out of half bottle, however still a bit young for my tastes. The best experience of this bottling that I've had yet but is almost certainly a wine that will gain a lot by giving it bottle air, or one to two blanquitos. 94pts
2012 Roland Champagne Special Club- Very enjoyable early but fell off a bit in glass and bottle. 91pts
2010 LDH Rose- A very interesting and often polarizing wine. Very fun to try and had some similar qualities to the old barolo's opened. I prefer the blanco but this was still quite solid. 92pts
1958 Pio Cesare Barolo- Mostly clean wine and good stuff under here except for the massive amounts of VA that just never truly blew off. 88pts or flawed, depending how you look at it.
1961 Luigi Oddero Barolo- Cloudly and not as clean as the Pio, but ended up being the much better wine. Touch of madeira but still very enjoyable with late tastes. 92pts
2005 Perrot Minnot Clos De Beze- What a treat. Big, meaty and masculine. But balanced, floral and pretty at the same time. Needed the 1-2 hour decant that we gave it. My first time with this producer and I see why it costs what it does. 97pts. WOTN
1996 Bruno Giacosa Falletto- So much fun trying this for a 4th time in as many years. Still aging glacially. This was the most accessible of the bottles that I've had, probably due to the owner storing at around 62deg instead of 55. Such wonderful purity of fruit and minerality. 95+pts
2006 Paul Bara Comtesse- Opened later for another bottle of champ. Very clean, balanced and lovely wine. Didn't speak to me as much as a previous bottle I've had though, or the 2008. Most enjoyed it though. 93pts
1994 Trimbach Gewurztraminer SGN- Absolutely wonderful on all levels. Perfect golden color. Just a touch of that Gewurz spice. Not as viscous as most SGN. Similar in body to some Loire chenins. 95+pts
With Greek apps, cheeses and a roast leg of lamb with root vegetables in the jus.
Egly Ouriet VP (2020 Disg)- First time trying this and I certainly enjoy it more than some of their other bottlings that can be very oxidative. It got very good with some bottle air. 94pts
1998 Billecart Salmon Clos St Hillaire- Such a treat to try this. And different than I expected. Great acidity, perfect golden color. This is a wine for the long haul and like the Krug, could use hours of bottle air. Others were wowed by this a bit more than me but very enjoyable. 94pts
2014 Pierre Baillette Rilly Montagne- This wine came out firing. Everything I look for in a Champagne. Light on it's feet but lots of depth and balance. Very low dosage but still a touch of fruit sweetness. Balanced but noticeable acidity. Only gripe was that it fell off a bit later in the evening. One of the very pleasant surprises of the weekend 95pts
2014 Marc Morey Chassagne Caillerets- My best of 3 bottles of this. Perfect straw color. Needed just 10 min of air in glass to really open up and give. Probably at it's peak. Super clean but very interesting. Definitely got lost in the shuffle. Should have served all with the apps instead of saving for dinner. 94pts
2005 Michel Gros Vosne Clos De Reas- This came out firing. Absolutely stunningly pretty nose with a great mix of dark and red fruit. Vosne spices. Drinking very well right now with possible upside. Only gripe was that it closed down a bit as the night went on, probably because it's an 05. 95pts
1959 DRC Grands Echezeaux- Not the best ullage but color was really good. We all had tempered expectations. But wow, once this was poured it was clear that it needed air in the glass. Almost zero risk of falling apart in the short term. No madeira notes. Color was a bit cloudy and is in pics below. The depth, length, finish, spices, acidity were all so balanced and lovely how they came together with the brown sugar protruding as time went on. A bit of fruit left as well, "cooked" fruit in a good way (like in a pie or a warm spiced wine). Some noted a salt/brine flavor or smell but I didn't get much of this. It lasted well for a 1-2 hours although did fall off slightly at the end. The nose was better out of tighter glasses but the broader ones were better for the palate. Just such a treat. Thanks to Jim for sharing this and hosting. 98pts. WOTN and WOTY candidate.
2004 Pavie- I also had tempered expectations on this but the nose gave beautiful 2004 classic vibes. Sadly the palate did not for me. Overly sweet and just not my thing. Most of the others really enjoyed this. 90pts
1998 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Célestins- My first from this producer and I see why it's so highly regarded. Probably the best nose of the whole weekend. Similar to the Giacosa in the purity of fruit and minerality. My only gripe with this is that it showed it's alcohol a bit. 95+pts
2013 Cellers de Scala Dei Priorat St Antoni- One of the other surprises of the weekend for me. A Priorat like I've never had. So clean, pure and didn't show its alcohol. It doesn't have all the depth or length in the world but I very much enjoyed it. A fairly rare wine from what I'm told. 94+pts
1959 Huet Le Haut Lieu 1er Trie- So cool to try this next to the 1989 that I have loved. Very good color and in good shape. At times I was worried this had some TCA or other taint but when I got good tastes, it was wonderful. 93+pts
1989 Huet Le Haut Lieu 1er Trie- Late release bottle with the new label. DavidG introduced me to this the first time I met him in Dec 2019. At the time it was the best dessert wine that I had ever had and I sought out a few bottles. This was lovely, although a tad less clean and a bit mushroomy as these old chenins can be sometimes. Perfect color and some thought it too young. With lots of air as the late night went on, I kept going back to it. The mushroom blew off and it got so good and balanced. 95+pts.
1996 Domaine Jo Pithon Coteaux du Layon Saint-Lambert Clos des Bonnes Blanches- This got lost in the shuffle a tad for me. A bit advanced on the color but still a very enjoyable wine. The Huet's outshone it but this was balanced and yummy. 91pts
All in all such a fun weekend with great new friends who all share a love of wine. My only gripes for the weekend were that my favorite reds of each night were the most expensive ones. And that I didn't quite appreciate the higher end big house champs as much as everyone else did. Those two gripes also completely contradict. However these are some of things that I love about wine and the many different people and personalities that share the passion.
I haven't been good about write ups this year. The more I taste, the less I write. Hopefully I can change that.
