TN 90 Krug & Piper-Heidsieck Rare, 95 Scavino & Quintarelli

[Michael Malinoski]

My wife and I were invited to dinner a little while back by good friends, and as usual we couldn’t resist opening too much wine for the four of us. Still, we managed to do some damage, and had great leftovers for the next night, as well.

1990 Krug Champagne Brut. Served from magnum. This is a beautiful gold color, and offers up a tremendous nose of toasted bread, apple cider, nougat, praline, roasted nuts, pie crust and copper penny. Where it absolutely shines is on the palate, where it’s powerful, concentrated, driven and biting, but also lush and layered. Interwoven flavors of baked apple, pear, beer nuts, spice, toasted bread, cream and mineral are incredibly giving and generous, with excellent balance to go with fantastic length and persistence. I had four glasses over the course of the night, and there was no drop-off whatsoever—it’s drinking great but has plenty of life left to offer.

1990 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare. This is classy, refined and well-constructed on the nose, with gently aged aromas of peach skin, apple, pear, light spice, baked bread and struck flint emanating from the glass. It’s a bit drier on the palate than the Krug, with plenty of praline, baked apple, vanilla, blanched almond, mineral, white currant and lemon flavors that grow increasingly elegant and full of character as the night goes on. It really comes into its own and delivers a lovely drinking experience.

1995 Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric dël Fiasc. I find this wine to have an excellent and rather interesting nose featuring aromas of dried rose petals, crayons, pink peppercorn, saddle leather, mushroom, raw meat, tar oil, sour cherries, loamy earth and soft oak. It’s medium-weighted in the mouth, with very tangy flavors of sour cherry and raspberry fruit to go with tar and spice notes. It has vibrant acidity, yielding tannin levels, and a smooth creamy texture. It’s finely-resolved and drinking right in the pleasure zone for my tastes.

1995 Giuseppe Quintarelli Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva. Despite being rather rich and luxuriant on the nose, this shows a ton of class in its delightful aromas of cherry paste, black raspberry, mocha, coffee, fig, fudge, raisin, vanilla, menthol and brown tobacco. In the mouth, it just drapes across the palate, with rich sweet flavors of vanilla, black cherry, black raspberry, fudge and exotic spices that are smooth, smooth, smooth—with no hard edges anywhere to be found. Overall, it’s sexy, heady stuff that’s absolutely delicious and wraps it all in a robe of smooth plush creamy texture. This is a great bottle of wine.

2004 Müller-Catoir Rieslaner Haardter Herzog Auslese Pfalz. Served from 375 ml bottle. This is just gorgeous, giving off lovely exotic aromas of blue slate, pineapple, dried grapefruit cubes, kiwi, quince paste, apple pie, honeydew melon, coconut oil and light brown sugar that totally draw you in from the very first sniff and then just keep developing new nuances as you go. In the mouth, it has wonderful tension but also lush tropical fruit and fine sugary flavors of pineapple, dried grapefruit and honeydew melon. The combination of vibrant acidity and luxuriant tropical fruits leads to a very long finish and puts a smile on all of our faces. This is a total winner all around.

1995 Giuseppi Quintarelli Recioto della Valpolicella Classico. This is luxuriant, ripe and rich on the nose, with bold, heady aromas of chocolate-covered cherries, raspberry paste, roast coffee, fudge and chocolate that are like cashmere in the nostrils. It’s super-sexified, but also impressively deep, layered and utterly inviting. In the mouth, it’s plush and creamy, delivering sexy rich flavors of cherry and raspberry liqueur, chocolate and smoke that drape across the palate but somehow still manage to feel lifted and bright. The sweetness is actually not as intense as I was anticipating, and everything just feels effortlessly integrated. It’s a delicious and wonderful wine that avoids feeling heavy while delivering a ton of lushly-textured flavor.


-Michael

[stefan]

I bet you did not have leftovers of those two great Champagnes!

[RDD]

Almost ANY 1990 Champagne is the best I've had. What a vintage.

[JCNorthway]

Great line-up from start to finish!