Lots of superlatives to follow, it’s hard to be critical when people are bringing such great wines in celebration of my birthday. I wasn’t taking any notes, and didn’t spit too much either, so notes are a rather general and purely from memory. Yes the whites are all young, but such is the premox way of things. It’s sad that I can’t bring myself to cellar white burgundy more than 7 or 8 years without a fear of losing half or more of my bottles to premox, I’m just not that excessibe. But that’s an argument for a different thread, jeez these wines were great from start to finish. Just the Leflaive BBM was very slightly TCA affected.
Most wines were served double blind, (except the Leflaives and Prums). Whites served mostly in pairs.
Agrapart Champagne Grand Cru Terroirs Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut (Magnum) - solid start to the night while guests arrived, generous glass for my wife who was about to suffer through hours of wine blather.
1989 Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Grand Cru Degorgement Tardif Avize - Big powerful yeasty nose, almost ox-like but not quite, clean and layered through the palate, fresh as a daisy on the finish. Impressive.
1995 Charles Heidsieck Champagne La Collection Crayères Blanc des Millénaires - Wonderfully balanced and vibrant, still very youthful, creamy texture, a touch softer than the Jacquesson but no worse for that, superb.
2017 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles - General consensus around the table is that Pucelles has a case for Grand Cru status, we concur based on this. Hard going up against a Chevvy but a lovely wine in its own right.
2017 Domaine Leflaive Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet - Very very low level TCA masking any real sense of this wine. Texture and acid were there, but fruit was totally absent. Bugger.
2017 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet - OMG, I will say right here that I often enjoy Chevalier-Montrachet more than Montrachet, yes I know WTH #firstworldproblem right? Anyway, this was more fuel firing that opinion. Phenolic pithy texture, such intensity, vibrant acid spine from go to woah, just stunning length, think I can still taste it. Incredible and approachable even in it’s extreme youth (think around 2 hours decant).
2010 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne - Nerves were high due to premox history on BdM, but this was a really good bottle, less oak than I would have expected too which was nice. Great wine.
2015 Jean-Claude Ramonet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet - So good, claims runner up WWOTN by a nose over the Lafon. The Ramonet wines have such intensity, and that little minty thing is there here as well, just a hint of reduction and background oak led me to guess Lafon Mersault-Perrieres, turns out that was next… ah well, this wine was right up there, wow.
2015 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières - Quite surprised at the lack of classic Lafon reductive notes, and from memory this was fairly pop’n’pour as well. Assume the slightly bigger 2015 vintage a factor in that, yet the acid line was strong and the wine in excellent condition. I so love Lafon.
2017 Benjamin Leroux Corton-Charlemagne (Screwcap) - Showed well, albeit a touch restrained (i.e young) even after a 2 hours decant. Oak not too prominent and the wine had good power and length. Should cellar very well.
2016 Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières - Opinions differed as to preference for the Leroux or this Boillot. I preferred this, but I am quite the M-Perrieres fan. More bite from the acid and again nicely restrained oak, a welcome characteristic of all the wines so far tonight.
1998 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes – Mostly red ripe fruits, nice fine tannic feel, quite pretty on the nose. Some aged elements evident, but still youthful and fairly primary overall. I was guessing in the mid 90’s. Needs time to show its best but I loved the depth on this, each swirl revealed different layers of interest, quality wine.
2014 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques – Hint of funk (yum), more aged than you may expect for 2014, but I liked it more for that. Balanced and just so enjoyable to drink. Whilst I love old wines I think this best opened over the next 5 years.
2017 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens – Really held its own in this lineup, good producer and I liked that extra element of CdB tannic grip. Young but quite approachable and layered.
2004 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche – My particularly generous friend has showed a bunch of 2004 Red Burgundy wines from good producers (inc other DRC) over the past year or two, I’m a total convert and a big fan, they have swallowed whatever ‘greenish’ characters they may have had and now the savoury tertiary characters are coming to the fore. This was vibrant, pretty and long, yes all those desirable Burg characters. Maybe a touch down on the mid-palate but the finish was very good. Stalk elements were minimal, fruit wasn’t powerful but it had a real confidence to it. Can still remember it so well, always a good sign, memorable wine.
1980 Penfolds Bin 80A Coonawarra – The 90A and 80A are both special release Aussie classics. A blend of Coonawarra Cabernet with Kalimna (Barossa) Shiraz, typically around 80/20 blend I think. Corks and storage always an issue for old Australian wines, this one had been treated with respect and the cork held up well. The leaner but ripe Cabernet fruit gives way to the soft plushness of the Shiraz, giving wine both structure, lightness and real weight. Effortless power.
1970 Château Palmer – Two friends sourced this at short notice which was very kind, yes the birth year wine. Touch of metallic brett the only minor detractor from a deep and complex wine, yet still felt a touch restrained and youthful! A real treat.
1991 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain – The two Dunns were served together, again both blind. I did prefer the 1991, perhaps unsurprisingly given the ageworthy nature of good Napa wines. Still young, yet developing well, felt very classically structured, not too ripe, everything well judged. I’d heard a lot about this label and was so excited to see them revealed side by side.
2001 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain – Perhaps a bit young still, yet not far away from drinking well. Again like the 1991 showed great balance and my kind of winemaking style, letting the fruit and structure mingle without letting oak get in the way.
2006 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut – Refresher? OK why not… I love this Champagne, do see some variability but this bottle was in good form.
2010 Joh. Jos. Prüm Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel – So good to have some sweet wines to match the two dessert courses, this pair of Prum GK just topped off a stunning night of wine. Still young and unresolved, these were both excellent with the two desserts.
2010 Joh. Jos. Prüm Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel - Hard to pick between this and the Bernkasteler, think I preferred this slightly, just a touch of extra acid zip. These GK Prums are top notch, the weight and balance of the 2010 vintage showing through, just need another 30 years!
Thanks to the crew at Bentley for handling everything about the night so well, food was top notch. Hope we’re not banned for ‘accidentally’ BYO’ing fresh truffle… it was one of my guests, not me!!! (Yes I loved it!!!)
I was both truly humbled and stunned by the generosity shown me by my small group of friends on this special day, thank you to those who came along, treated me so well and made me feel so, so lucky. I was aware that I could never have everyone there I ideally wanted, so I offer my regrets to those I couldn’t include for so many reasons, primarily due to Covid rules limiting the group to 10. Special mention to my lovely wife for being such a trooper and tolerating 6 hours of endless wine banter without a single complaint. And thanks too to Dave for the always amazing pictures and typing all the wines out! Nice momento of a truly magical evening.
Cheers
Tim