90s wine dinner

WINE TALK
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Hello friends!

This is my inaugural post, sorry if I break any rules.

A little about me: I have lived in Washington, DC for the past 10 years and divide my time between the capital and Nantucket, MA. I started collecting wine two years ago and already have a sizeable cellar. I will make a separate post asking what in the hail I should do with the 54 magnums of Didier-Fornerol I accidentally ordered from Thatcher’s soon but in the meantime, I’m hosting a 90s wine dinner for 6 at the behest of certain instagram friends who I let choose the theme. We are going to Albi, a Levantive restaurant with one (1) Michelin star and doing their chef’s table on Oct 26.

I reached out to my wine consultant and they chose these bottles for me:

1990 Dom Perignon

1990 Philipponnat Reserve Special Brut

1990 Château Rayas Blanc

1994 Weingut Hermann Ludes Auslese

1997 Trimbach Clos St. Hune

1998 Domaine Fourrier Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru VV

1999 Domaine d’Angerville Volnay 1er Les Caillerets 1.5L

1999 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard

1997 Chateau d’Yquem

What say you? Would you come to this? Think the Philipponnat is too random? Any others you would have me source? I am 90% white burgundy so this list makes me a bit squeamish. I have asked the restaurant to try and source some 90s Musar, both white and red, as supplements but we will see. I intend to have a lot of wine leftover to give to the staff.

All the best for those with any helpful insights. :slight_smile:
Christian Conner

Instagram is @the_king_drinks, I typically post and discuss wine in my stories.

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Also, any thoughts on decanting any of these or how early to open would be greatly appreciated!

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So, welcome and all that…but 54 magnums!?!
I’ll fade that 1999 Domain d’Angerville as WOTN
Bz

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You know, if you’re buying that much wine from a single retailer they may be willing to swap them out for 750s…

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Go big or go home, right?

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Respect.

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Way to bury the lede.

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Are the wines in the line up wines you have or wines you are sourcing? If sourcing, I’d probably make some different choices but depends on budget, etc

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To be fair, I expected that, of all places, a wine forum would be the place where big boy orders would raise few if any eyebrows.

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Love to hear your choices. I already purchased these but can always switch them up. Budget isn’t an issue as much as findability.

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out of character for this crowd if you don’t. Couple questions: how many people, more menu specifics, and are they wine knowledgeable?

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that is pretty funny. I once ordered a case of 2011 Henri Boillot Corton Charlemagne 3 separate times.

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6 people

Levantive restaurant so there will be hummus, probably lamb or chicken grilled or roasted in the hearth, excellent desserts (think labneh soft serve with pomegranate), foie of some sort, pumpkin stuffed with rice.

I will have 2 wine nerds (one is a wine professional, the other with lots of allemand experience) excluding myself, one person who likes wine but is trying to cut out empty calories so they’ll be asking for small pours, and two folks who would probably characterize themselves as natural wine buffs who are willing to try anything but I haven’t had dinner with them before so they’re a crapshoot. They did specifically ask for rieslings.

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I’d move the Auslese just before Yquem, forget the Phillipponat and Rayas. And hold the Cornas till you see if it is needed.

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I’m interested in why you suggest ditching both the Pilipponnat and the Rayas.

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Given the restaurant I support your idea of going for the white and red Musar.

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I can but hope that the good gods grace me with these most worthy bottles - a Levantine for a Levantine, as they say.

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Serious (not snarky) questions - what is a wine consultant and what do they do for you? I hadn’t heard of that before.

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Good question. I have been buying so much wine from so many disparate places that I was a bit frazzled and, upon inquiring about the future availability of a certain wine critic’s imminent releases, was told that most would go to private clients of a particular importer and online retailer. After some further questioning, we determined that I fit the bill based on my budget and my wine collecting impulses to have them take me on as a client. As a client, and I am a very new client, I get priority for any new retail that would otherwise hit the online store, current release offers, access to highly allocated bottles, invites to their wine dinners, and inventory management. They’re also making a wine list for me of my cellared bottles so that guests at my house can flip through it as if they were in a restaurant, leatherbound book and all.