- 2000 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut - France, Champagne (1/15/2008)
The nose is mineral and citrussy, but open and full of ripe fruit and lemon curd - a strange combination of tightness and much ripeness. The palate is better focussed: very tight, citrussy, elegant and nicely austere - perhaps even a bit tannic (?)... I quite enjoyed this! - 2000 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut Rosé - France, Champagne (1/15/2008)
Very pale pink. Floral and mineral nose, elegant yet with nice Pinot aromatics. The mousse is a bit frothy at the moment, but otherwise the taste is wonderful. It has strong fruit, bright acidity and is lively and mineral. Surprisingly approachable for a young Cristal! Very nice.
We continued with two interesting whites:
- 2004 Domaine Ramonet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru (1/15/2008)
Two bottles in tonight's tasting: The first was very oaky, but underneath the oak was a lovely citrussy but very ripe expression of Chardonnay. It was paradoxically creamy yet intensely citrussy and mineral. This was a very exciting wine to taste, but with more oak than I can handle.
The second bottle was even more about the oak notes. The importer and I wondered if there might already be POX showing? Not obviously corked, but flat on the nose and palate, lifeless. - 2004 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru (1/15/2008)
The nose was more noticably oaky than I remember '01-'03 to have been at the same stage (I admit that I think my tastes have grown more oakaphobic meanwhile). It is still a wonderfully mineral and intense wine with bright acidity. Very good, but more oak influenced than I would have hoped.
And then we had the red DRCs. I found the '04s to be a little like the '01s in their general profile, except heavier and more alcoholic (though I didn't note what the alcohols were). I also didn't find these to have as much stemmy aromas the previous vintages - did they use less stems this year?
- 2004 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru (1/15/2008)
A fairly dark toned nose for this plot. It is deep and pure and has some very attractive earthy/cuban cigar aromas. It is lively, elegant, strongly mineral and has good grip, but isn't as intense as the other DRC '04s tonight. It still is a wonderful expression of pure Pinosity. Very good. - 2004 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands-Echezeaux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru (1/15/2008)
This started out a bit weird with a prominent note of peanut butter on the nose. Gladly it opened up to become a masculine style of Pinot with much dark fruit, ripe but still pleasantly vegetal. Tight palate, but bright and intensely mineral, more red toned in fruit than the nose promised. Long and mineral. Promising. - 2004 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru (1/15/2008)
Of the DRC '04s, this brought the greatest joy to me tonight. This was a more feminine, elegant, red toned style than most of the line-up. It was bright, beetrooty, earthy and quite the ideal of what I look for in Burgundy. The palate was red toned, perfectly delineated, pin point acidity, mineral and savoury. Long. Exquisite. - 2004 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru (1/15/2008)
A very dark toned and masculine nose, the most obviously oaky (even to the point of being chocolatey) of the '04 DRCs - brooding. I did like the vegetal hint on the nose and that it posessed great Pinosity, but for my tastes it was the least attractive scent tonight. The palate, however, was quite wonderful, though in a brutish and masculine style of Pinosity. Dark and brooding. A very impressive wine, but not really the style I seek in Burgundy. - 2004 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru (1/15/2008)
A beautiful nose, very spicy, rather oak influenced at the moment, but with a charming Pinosity underneath. This was a rather strange wine in the DRC line-up for being so extrovert and even flamboyant. Ripe and sweet, not as bright as some of the other DRCs, but with a very appealing soft and spicy Pinosity. Weighty, masculine and flamboyant, but not such a brute as the Richebourg was! Very good. - 2004 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée-Conti Grand Cru (1/15/2008)
Quite an exquisite wine: bright but rather dark toned in fruit, pure Pinosity, lots of minerals. The palate is bright and pure, a fairly light style but very intense, very mineral, highly acidic and with an endless aftertaste. Wonderful.
Then we had an appendix of two Vogüés:
- 2004 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru (1/15/2008)
A very flamboyant and estery nose of banana and dark fruit. The palate was also very dark and sweet - impressive, but not really a style of Burgundy I hope for. - 2004 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru (1/15/2008)
I usually find Vogüé too flamboyant for my tastes, but this was a beautiful wine. It was red toned, more elegant than usual, bright and mineral. It has good, ripe fruit, but is more vibrant and red toned than I remember previous vintages to have been. Very nice!
With dinner of guinea fowl in a roquefort sauce we had a blind Burgundy (the pairing worked better than it sounded to me, and was quite wonderful):
- 2003 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Clos de la Roche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru (1/15/2008)
A lovely nose of extreme minerality, very ripe but red toned Pinosity. The palate wasn't as beautiful as the nose as it was a bit thick, sweet and not as acidic as I would hope, but it was all still in balance. Lovely minerality on the finish. Served blind: my guess was a ripe year like '02 (rather than over-ripe, lol!) from Côtes de Beaune. Oops. Quite astonishing for an '03, and very good.
For dessert we had a few mature and maturing Ports:
- 1900 Krohn Porto Colheita - Portugal, Douro, Porto (1/15/2008)
Bottled 1996. Brown. The nose was delightfully rancioed, with a great sweetness and earthiness. It seems quite young for a Colheita of this age, as though it has rancioed aromas, it isn't as bright and citrussy as the other older Colheitas I've had. Sweet and supremely intense, good acidity, integrated alcohol. A wonderful wine. - 1980 Quinta do Noval Porto Vintage Nacional - Portugal, Douro, Porto (1/15/2008)
The nose is rather elegant, lively but attractively aged. It has a very charming note of green tea on the nose. The palate is of moderate sweetness+, with good acidity for a VP. All the pieces fall in place so effortlessly - a great port! I enjoyed this immensely now, but I am sure it will continue to age well. - 1987 Quinta do Noval Porto Vintage Nacional - Portugal, Douro, Porto (1/15/2008)
A figgy and primary nose, but otherwise very similar in style to the 1980 with the same attractive green tea notes and dark but elegant fruit. Moderate in sweetness, very primary in fruit, upright in its structure - nice, but primary. - 2002 Pierre Gimonnet Champagne Blanc de Blancs 1er Cru - France, Champagne (1/15/2008)
Ripe fruit, but also a strong minerality - quite a voluptious style of Bl de Bl. Elegant mousse. A contradictory palate of crispness but extreme fruitiness. Mineral and long. Very nice!
