Birthday Wines

Birthdays are a great excuse to spend times with those that matter most and time spent with those that matter most is most often more special than the wines we share.

Night #1: It’s been too long since we got to hug these amazing humans! So we went all out for this weekend.
This mini-vertical was tasted in reverse order starting with the 2013, a bout 30 minutes later we opened the 2012, and about an hour later we opened the 2011; leaving enough in each to taste them again the day after. Initially I preferred the 2013 as it was a little less “weighty” than the 2012. It was interesting tasting these all the same night.
2011 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons - leaner, a bit more linear, and still a lovely bottle of Champagne. However, it was not in the same league as the other two vintages. Having said that, I’m glad I bought this, and I still loved it.
2012 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons - Exceptional and a wine I’m glad to have more bottles of as I think it will be interesting to follow over the next few years.
2013 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons - The total package, restraint, verve, and depth. It was splitting hairs, because both the 2012 & 2013 were such exceptional wines.

2017 Emrich-Schönleber Halenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs - Oh $hit. This was really freaking amazing. Well, it looks like I’ll need to be buying this wine now. This was elegant, poised, beautiful, and reminded me of the Wittmann Morstein, yet a bit more reserved & more about finesse than the power that Morstein sometimes shows.
2019 Emrich-Schönleber Halenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs - This was lovely, and I really liked it on day two as well. However, it was not as complete as the 2017.
2019 Goodfellow Family Cellars Chardonnay Richard’s Cuvee Whistling Ridge Vineyard - Well this is flat out lovely. One of the best Chardonnays I’ve had from the US. It will be interesting to see what this is like with some age on it. I hope to age one of these bad boys for the 20 year anniversary.

2010 Cameron Rouge Clos Electrique - This was so funky, I loved it. It was in a sweet spot, and was firing on all cylinders and for my thoughts it was in a prime drinking window. If I had more bottles, I’d probably open one tonight. Yes, it was that good.

2010 Domaine Castagnier Clos St. Denis - This is one producer that’s new, but I’ve enjoyed the wines I’ve had. Sadly, for me there was a bitterness that I’m going to attribute to sediment and a long car ride. It was good, and the quality was obvious, but I’ll not be bringing one of these to open after it’s been on a 5 hour car ride.


Night Two - Leftovers and

1989 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Demi-Sec - This worked so well with our Ramen dinner that had a bit more heat in it than expected.

1964 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Viña Real Reserva Especial - If all aged bottles showed this well, we would be very happy folks. This was opened by Doug for my 45th birthday. It’s in such a lovely condition. In some ways it reminds me a bit of an older Musar, with dried red fruits & decaying floral tones, it’s just silk & elegance for hours. It’s also a wine we got a chance to taste back in June of 2017 as well.

2008 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut - Believe the hype…and yes, it’s worth every penny at the current asking price. This might have been my favorite wine I’ve had from the 2008 vintage.

2017 Domaine Guiberteau Saumur Blanc Brézé - If you don’t know, these are super special. However, I’ve had some pre-mox problems with them in the past. So I try to drink them within a year from purchase…but damn I love this wine.

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Nice!

Thanks for the notes Kirk. Really excited to receive my 2017 Emrich-Schönleber Halenberg GGs, was unsure whether to test run one of them or let them all sleep for awhile.

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I would definitely open one soon. It’s in a really wonderful place.

This was a great weekend, with great company and wines. I have some brief impressions.

2013 Péters Chétillons – Gorgeous young Champange, so I understand the praise I’ve seen. I have no regrets about having opened one this early, but its best days are well in the future, and I will wait quite a while before opening another bottle. There’s a surprising amount of fruit there right now, so much that it seems to cover up some of the mineral and autolytic notes that I usually find more strongly in this wine. Those are there too, though, and there’s clearly a ton of depth and potential here.

2012 Péters Chétillons – More classic showing for my taste, if a bit more powerful as well. Baked goods and stony minerality come through in spades. I preferred this to the '13 for current drinking. The '13 may eventually surpass this one. Either way, they’re both great Champagnes, and I will try to be very patient with the couple of bottles of each that I have.

2011 Péters Chétillons – As Kirk said, leaner than the other two vintages. I really liked this, but it’s not in the league of these other vintages. I think the 2012 L’Esprit is at least as good, and maybe slightly better, for a lot less money. This was still a joy to drink, and very informative to have with these other vintages.

2017 Emrich-Schönleber Halenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs – I knew this wine by reputation only. I can totally see why people put it among the best GGs, and I agree. This wine was absolutely spectacular, the best Riesling I have had in quite some time. There’s an attention-demanding level of complexity, with such evolution in the glass that few wines in any category ever have. Broad spectrum of fruit, striking minerality, strong but well integrated acidity, this is the total package. I am sure this will evolve well for at least a couple of decades, maybe longer, but I don’t think it gets better than it is now, just different.

2019 Emrich-Schönleber Halenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs – Very serious wine that suffered a bit next to the '17, but I fully trust that the materials are all here for this to be at least near the same level, maybe at it, once the wine opens up a bit more with time in the cellar. I tried it on day 3 without the '17 alongside, and I was impressed.

2019 Goodfellow Family Cellars Chardonnay Richard’s Cuvee Whistling Ridge Vineyard – My first Goodfellow. I see why these get a lot of attention around here. It has that flintiness in a very good way, adding complexity but not distracting from the rest of what is a very focused and complete wine. I look forward to trying more Goodfellow Chardonnays.

2010 Cameron Rouge Clos Electrique – Lots of dark soil notes, floral, really complex. There’s a core of dark fruit allowing the more savory elements to shine without overwhelming. Ripe but not overripe. This is impressive. I don’t know why I haven’t been buying Cameron all along. I always really enjoy them.

2010 Domaine Castagnier Clos St. Denis – Red fruits and baking spice, similar quality to the Cameron, which is saying something. Nice value for GC Burg that tastes like GC Burg.

1989 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Demi-Sec – Nicely developed with plenty of fruit left. Powerful Vouvray, even at this age. Nice.

1964 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Viña Real Reserva Especial – Fully mature, seamless, beautiful wine. I love aged Rioja, and I love this producer. The oak doesn’t stand out nearly as much as it does with most other Rioja producers, to me, even when the wines are older. Prices on these keep creeping up, deservedly.

2008 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut – My god, this is great. Like many people, I’ve held off on buying because of the price, but it’s really worth the $190-$200 that it’s going for. There’s a combination of flint, stone, and autolysis that all seems to meld together, with such unbelievable focus and depth, always reminding me that this is top quality Chardonnay and top quality Champagne. The '96 that I had a couple of years ago is my benchmark, maybe the best BdB I’ve had. This may surpass it with time.

2017 Domaine Guiberteau Saumur Blanc Brézé – Great showing, drink it young.

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I can’t wait for more chances to gather in the fall, hopefully things continue to improve with a reduction in covid cases. It was so good to see the four of you, I am certain the wines tasted even better because it has been far, far too long.

[cheers.gif] … Happy Birthday Kirk!

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Same here, and I’m sure you’re right about the setting making the wines taste better.

Thank you Sir!

Happy birthday and thanks for the notes. I’m really curious about this statement because I haven’t had any issues with pre-mox and Guiberteau but I did have some with Huet back in the day.

Were your off bottles purchased through “official” channels imported by Becky Wasserman? I ask because a recent 2016 Brézé was painfully young as was a prior bottle of 2014 Guichaux. A 2015 Brézé was more open and generous, but still quite young. I just wonder (hope) that your off bottles were grey market and that something else was going on.

Happy Birthday, Kirk! Nice way to celebrate it. Cheers.

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Yes, they were bought from “official” channels. Unfortunately I experienced it twice with the 2010 Clos de Carmes, and once the 2014 Breze. I really love these wines, and I would be more than happy if this wasn’t a concern…but 3 out of 15 bottles is higher than I’m willing to risk. On top of that, even after I had a pre-moxed 2010, I then opened up one bottle that was tight as a drum a year later.

These are probably some of my favorite white wines and I would be buying more if there was not a premox concern.

Happy Birthday.

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I’ve seen it a few times as well, with Brézé and Carmes. All Becky Wasserman imports from very reputable retailers, shipped to me in cool weather. Multiple vintages, too.

Happy birthday Kirk.
Great stuff. [cheers.gif]

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Well, that is a huge bummer, but thanks for the info. I’ll keep my buying on the smaller side and check in frequently.