While staying over the weekend in Paso Robles to attend a special wine luncheon, we dined at a fine restaurant, BL Brasserie, formerly Bistro Laurent, on our first night.
As usual, we took our own wines and stemware and enjoyed a lovely evening.
MV KRUG GRANDE CUVEE BRUT 169 eme Edition- having a bottle that was consistent with recent previous ones, my notes are unchanged: 375 ml; this smaller bottle went through shifts and changes throughout the evening and finally landed in a good place; it featured an unexpected wild tropical fruit profile that included mandarin, tangerine, guava, kiwi, passion fruit, honeydew melon, citrus, especially lemon and nutty, marzipan; ginger and honey provided nice accents and the oily texture added to the sensorial pleasure; as indicated from the interpretation of the ID code on the back label, this a blend of 146 wines from 11 different years, the youngest coming from 2013 and the oldest, 2000; it`s final composition is 43% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay and 22% Meunier; added to the 2013 base is a 40% blend from their reserves and then all is aged for 7 years.
1995 WILLIAMS SELYEM COASTLANDS VINEYARD SONOMA COAST PINOT NOIR- opened and poured; the color was an attention getting DARK red purple without any signs of aging; the nose offered super inviting aromas of spicy red raspberry and red cherry which continued on to be joined by a nice dollop of blueberry; even a touch of pepper came in and it was just magnificent; it had a really nice texture and a sustained finish; it seemed to grow and expand over the course of the evening and for a new world Pinot that is 27 years old, it has outlived most of its siblings; forget all of that, it was just fantastic and one of the best Burt Williams made wines I’ve ever had. We toasted Burt while recalling numerous wonderful times together.
Cheers,
Blake