What are your wines of the 2010s?

Quick single rule -

list ONLY one wine each from the below categories of your favorite wine consumed during 2010-2019.

  1. Still red wine
  2. Still non red wine (in case someone wants to add in orange wine or something)
  3. Bubbly.

Feel free to expand on the wine and the memory. Figure if it’s your favorite wine over the last ten years there was probably a great memory to go with it.

  1. Still red wine - 1978 Rousseau Chambertin. I was contacted re: a cellar sale from a widow. Picture in my email box of well stored bottle of 1978 Rousseau Chambertin. The cost was a bit out of my price range, but the always generous Maharajah of Beauna Park wanted to drink it, so he covered the tab. I brought along a 1996 Krug Mesnil and a 96 Roulot Tessons. I stood the bottle up for a month and we got together for dinner to enjoy it. Initially it was a bit musty and shut down - we worried a little. Drank the Krug (excellent but young) and the roulot (excellent) and proceeded through dinner. About a hour in the Rousseau exploded out of the glass. All time great wine. Not just my wine of the last ten years, but maybe the greatest wine I’ve ever consumed.

  2. 1977 Roulot Perrieres - also consumed with the Maharajah off the list at Majordomo in Los Angeles. First week open - we saddled up to the bar - perused the list and knew we had to try it. Wine was incredible. It had freshness but complexity and depth that could only come with age. Have a fair amount of honorable mentions but this one is seared into my memory.

  3. 1988 Krug Clos du Mesnil - Since the very first bottle I’ve had a few more, but the very first one still rings vibrantly in my memory. Not sure I’ll ever be able to recapture the vibrance and power of that wine. Realized, the Maharajah opened this as well. [snort.gif]

Great idea Charlie!

  1. Since the '10s was the very first time I got to try the vaunted 1982 Bordeaux, my red choice is obviously: 1989 Lynch Bages. What a great young wine! A great older wine too! All in the same night!
  2. 2002 Raveneau Clos. Even with a bit of oak signature just yum.
  3. Tough one. My off-vintage 1993 de Venoge Grand Vin des Princes comes to mind before any Doms or grower champs. Austere, tightly wound, and just fascinating.
  1. 1994 Clos Erasmus Priorat - Spain, Catalunya, Priorat (11/18/2010)
    Generously opened by Rob Gardner. A rare OMG wine. Nose is like walking into an old wooden winery, rustic and earthy, I could just smell the glass all night. The palate is rich and vibrant, still extremely youthful, deep dark cherry and plum, not a hint of overripeness or oak, just a wave of complex intensity, seamless balance, and a long, lingering finish. There is probably a slight touch of brett, which at its low level adds to the wine more than subtracts. This was opened at the dinner table, decanted, and drunk over a couple of hours, with the last sip being better than the first. I brought bottle home, and managed to eek out a couple of sips from the dregs in the bottom, with the depth and intensity increasing even more. An absolutely spectacular wine, one of the best I’ve ever had. (98 pts.)

  2. 2001 Prager Riesling Smaragd Klaus - Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau (1/15/2011)
    The label on this wine actually says “Weissenkirchner”, but all the other tasting notes are for this wine, so I’ll put it here. Not sure what everyone else is drinking, maybe its a matter of expectations, or bottle condition, but this was one of the best Austrian Rieslings I have ever had. Color is still quite light hay, a good sign that this has seen little oxidation. Spectacular nose, with some expected petrol notes, but after a bit of air there is also an underpinning of fruit that wafts out of the glass. On the palate, this is an intense melange of deep, rich fruit, with a beautiful savory aspect, and an underlying streak of minerality that weaves in and out, particularly on the lengthy finish. Plenty of acidity, with beautiful overall balance. An intoxicating, riveting wine that offers beautiful depth and complexity, but still has years ahead of it. Wish I had more than just this lone bottle. (96 pts.)

  3. 2008 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru (12/9/2019)
    A group of us had this, alongside 2008 Roederer Cristal, a fascinating comparison. Both needed some air to really open up. I’ve had the Vilmart a few times, and it is one of my favorites of the vintage, with lovely medium intensity, mouthwatering light tartness, some nice touches of minerality, finishing with excellent length. Sampling this as the evening wore on, there is even more coiled intensity and layered complexity, great acidity, and beautiful minerality, with a light saline tartness that reminds me of a great Chablis. A simply gorgeous Champagne, elegant, complex, doesn’t try to knock you over with its power, so much going on in this wine. (96 pts.)

I’ll add a bonus category: a wine made particularly special by an event, or the company you drank it with:

  1. 2017 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé - France, Provence, Bandol (6/8/2018)
    Drank this through the Warriors game 4 win over the Cavs. Got better and better. My first 100 point wine :slight_smile:
    OK, classic Tempier, more florals and fruit than Tempier spice, but fabulous wine. (100 pts.)

Your selections are from 1970-1979 and 1980-1989.

changed xo

Red: 1990 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateaneuf-du-Pape, consumed last year around my birthday with a couple local wine geeks. Bought this bottle from Ron Kramer’s cellar upon his death. In my infancy with Wine Berserkers, and going to some of the Boston offline events, he introduced me to the magic of Southern Rhone blends and I am thankful to him for my epiphany moment for wine in general.

White (dry): 2015 Martin Mullen Trarbacher Huhnerberg Riesling Spatlese Trocken ‘3te Terrasse’, tasted with Martin Mullen at his estate in Trarben-Trarbach. Opened up my eyes to how fantastic dry German riesling from the Mosel can be.

White (sweet): 1988 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Eiswein, tasted at the estate. Solidified my appreciation for the reward in aging pradikat riesling. The wine was a showstopper, and had a vibrancy and complexity I couldn’t put into words.

Sparkling: 2007 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvee, from magnum. Thank you Doug Schulman for sharing this gem!

Red: 1990 DRC Romanee Conti At TFL with some generous friends. Perfect bottle, incredible power and depth, endless finish, just astonishing.

White: 1929 D’Yquem Really unique experience a couple years ago at a Sauternes themed dinner. Initial nose on opening was very musty but showed promise. This was slow-ox for 4-5 hours, and the dominant features were depth and complexity. It was definitely unctous, and very sweet, but it just seemed to have so many layers and evolved so much in the glass. The finish was eternal, seemed to taste it for days after drinking it.

Sparkling: 1976 Dom Perignon Oenotheque At age 30, blinded I could have thought this was a 2006. Incredibly fresh and vibrant. Delightful Champagne that is very generous and was drinking perfectly.

Red - Truchot 1999 Clos de la Roche - I have had this a bunch of times starting when it was fairly young and it is my favorite wine from my favorite producer. Also, 1959 Latour. And, 1971 Francios Gros 1971 Richebourg. Impossible to pick just one.
White (dry) - Ramonet 2011 Bienvenue Bâtard-Montrachet and Drouhin 2014 Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche (tied) - Hard to distinguish between wow and wow.
Sweet - Schloss Lieser 2010 Niederberg Helden GC Auslese - Tough competition among this, 2001 Yquem, 2001 Climens and 2010 Reinhold Haart GKA, but the Lieser wins by a hair
Sparkling - Taittinger 1996 Comte de Champagne - Had this twice last year and really loved it both times.

Red of the decade - 1997 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses - perfect setting, celebrating our 20th wedding anniv…the wine was SO intoxicating, perfumed, chambolle elegance, deeply complex…an absolute perfect wine on that night. And cool side note…bottle #00002! Would have been better though if it was bottle #00020!

White of the decade - 1968 Heitz Cellar Chardonnay Pinot Chardonnay LOT Z-82 - this wine still haunts me! Amazing freshness…the finest Montrachet meets Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc…so complex and intriguing with these unique aged nuances, full of youth and vigor, balanced to perfection, and never let up. Bested the 74 Martha’s and 00 DRC GE also on the table. Will never forget that wine!

Bubbles of the decade - 1969 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon - in celebration of my 50th, a revelation for me as I’ve never really had an amazing bottle of wine from my birth year. As with the Heitz, I was amazed at how youthful this was…so alive, complex, exudes elegance and finesse. Couldn’t have asked for a better wine to celebrate with!

Dang, the last wine I rated a 100 points was in late 2009!

LOVE that you included strict parameters - works well for a type-A personality. That said…I’m sure people won’t follow the rules!

(EDIT - I previously put my WOTY, which means I didn’t follow directions, which means I"m disappointed in myself…so I’m trying to make edits)

  1. 1982 Margaux
  2. Can’t remember…will have to do some research
  3. Krug MV that Jen and I enjoyed when I proposed to her in Cabo in 2012 :slight_smile: (but for real, 1995 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année)

Only one rule breaker so far haha

I loved that bottle and it was one of my top few for sure too, but damn! Todd’s WOTD? Impressive!

OH dammit, I didn’t follow directions! I was WOTY! No way in hell I can remember my best wines of the decade! Will go back and try to edit

Strange… all 3 are 1996, and all 3 were probably not the best wine by quality, but best experiences i’ve had…

  1. 1996 Dujac Echezeaux - probably not the best Burg i’ve had. It was consumed at the Domaine with the wine maker… the experience + the wine made it special…

  2. 1996 Chateau y’Quem - probably also not the best white (not even the best yquem having also had 88/89/2001 etc), but again the experience makes the best of the decade. First time having a y’quem, and it blew me away.

  3. 1996 Dom - again, probably not the best bubbly either, but again, it was the experience. Epiphany bubbly. Stopped in my tracks and a realization of what champagne can be.

  1. 1989 Haut Brion
  2. 1988 Yquem
  3. 1988 Krug

1995 Haut Brion
2005 Chateau Rieussec
1988 Piper-Heidsieck Rare

Most memorable due to the experiences off the top of my head.

Hmmm tough to narrow down…

1961 Palmer - a stunning bottle from the Avery cellar and a pristine mag from Harry Waugh’s colllection

Puligny Folatieres 2005 d’Auvenay - tempted to go Yquem 75 but this Puligny, with Mr H on his deck in Australia, just reverberates in my memory

Krug 1973 - 2 pristine mags at a very special dinner in London.

hmm lets see:

Red: tough call… probably 1971 Produttori Normale
White: 2016 Walter Scott Bunker Hill (viticole cuvée)
Sparkling: Cedric Bouchard Cote de Val Vilaine

this is an interesting exercise for me because a decade ago if you had asked me I probably would have told you that I would never drink alcohol in my life. It wasn’t until 2015 that I even tried it and not until 3 years ago did I have the first glass of wine I enjoyed. since then, its been a wild ride, and this website has been such a fun part of the experience.

Red
1985 Rayas