BURGUNDY FOCUSED EVENING AT DAVE’S - (10/26/2019)
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NV Bérêche et Fils Champagne Brut Réserve - France, Champagne
[Tasted Single Blind] First time trying this producer. Pours clearly darker than champagne 2 with a gentle pink hue. Killer nose on this right out of the gate. Lightly oxidized red apple, pear, rose petals, red berries, candied ginger, toasted almond, and cinnamon waft from the glass. The palate is quite dry, but the slightly oxidative leaning note fills out the mid-palate and finish. I’d peg the dosage Dosage around 4-6 gl (afterward I noted the bottle says 7 g/l). (93 pts.) -
2006 Marc Hébrart Champagne Premier Cru Special Club - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
[Tasted Single Blind] Notably lighter in color than the previous. Still youthful and doesn’t feel like this had budged much since last tasted over 6 years ago.Certainly focused more on the autolytic side of champagne which I love. Nose is of toasted bread, croissant, granny Smith apple, barley sugar, and fresh lemon peel. The palate feels just a bit more round with clean acid on the finish, and perhaps a slightly higher dosage which I’d peg at around 6-8 g/l. Glad to still be holding one bottle. Probably worth waiting even a bit longer for it to develop. (93 pts.) -
1985 Pierre Ménard St. Romain - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, St. Romain
This pours quite dark in colour. Rich and mature nose, but not terribly oxidative. The nose reveals overripe peach, apricot, honey, mushroom, and hops. The palate is a bit tired repeating the ripe stone fruit but there is enough acid to keep it in tact. I don’t have a lot of experience with aged white burgundy so this was interesting, thought not really compelling. (90 pts.) -
2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
This pours pours youthfully light. Light straw, with hints of green. Impressive for a 14 year old white burg. Clearly in no way suffering from any sort of premox. Initial impression on the nose is there is a nice touch of flinty matchstick reduction, followed by the candy cane note I nearly always get on this bottling. Cinnamon, fresh bright pear, and lemon custard round out a focused but complex aromatic offering. The acid on the palate is equally focused and balances the mid-palate which is just beginning to pick up the weight that age is bringing. Really enjoyed this. Nearly 95. (94 pts.) -
1976 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Clos de la Mousse - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
This pours impressively youthful with only light bricking noted. The nose is of forest undergrowth, moss, light touches of soy and hoisin, beef stock, and plenty of bright sour red cherries. The palate is where I found this really shone. Wonderfully high acid keeps this really fresh and plays nicely against the sour cherry fruit. There is very low dusty tannin still providing a touch of grip. The finish might just be clipped just a touch short. (94 pts.) -
1993 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Russian River Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Man these are consistently great. What a classic! The nose takes an hour to fully open up but once it does there is a broad spectrum of restrained aromas ranging from sweet to sour to spicy and savory: orange peel, stemmy spice, cinnamon hearts, salami, moss, and rose petal. Just gorgeous. The palate is high in acid with virtually no tannin and sweet red fruit entry. I really love this style. (93 pts.) -
2002 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay
This pours youthfully dark. Still transparent but closer to opaque than the wines prior. This nose feels a touch reductive, with dark cherry, licorice, tar, plum, just a touch of red fruit and a hint of rubber. I didn’t really get the sense this really blossomed, but at the same time it felt like there was potential for this to go a little further. (91 pts.) -
1996 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay
Corked. NR (flawed) -
2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
[Tasted Double Blind] This was essentially popped and poured just a touch over cellar temperature and was just singing from the get go. Just a spectacular nose right out of the gates. Just so spicy and stemmy. The nose is of saline, ginger, ramen broth, incense, chinese five spice, dark cherry, bay leaf, and pomegranate. Flat out amazing! The palate is still quite structured with medium tannin and medium acid. The finish replays the very spicy nose and lingers nicely. Clearly remarkable and classic wine in my view. The group quickly latched onto Rhys as the producer and Alpine as the vineyard. Vintages ranged from 2007-2009. (95 pts.) -
2009 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos des Porrets St. Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
The group consensus was that this was still really tight, though I might have liked it a little more than the norm. The nose is dark featuring moderate intensity aromas of petrichor, plum, nutmeg, animal fur, twigs, and thyme. The palate is still admittedly still tightly wound with elevated tannin and seemingly a touch of sawdust on the palate. (92 pts.)