Pre-BF dinner at Leo Frokic's place to welcome Kimberly Cabot, Steve Saxon and Todd French from the west coast. A really fun night with great company, no shortage of good wine and Leo's cooking was fantastic as always.
2007 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Les Preuses
From magnum. Very elegant; fresh floral, stony and chalky flavour elements around a core of tart pear and citrus fruits, nicely balanced with bright acids and good length, very tasty.
1988 Louis Jadot Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles
From magnum. Really lovely; rich white fruits, savoury truffle-like flavours and other developed notes merging into one seamless whole. Fantastic balance and length, delicious.
1999 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne
From magnum. Lovely aromatics with pear and apple fruit accented by yeasty and bready flavours; very rich on the palate with plenty of depth and power, but a little soft and leaves me wanting a bit more acidity.
2008 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer Riesling feinherb
Slightly tight and unyielding at first with the fruit reticent, but with time it opens up nicely to show bright green apple and pear fruit accented with fresh floral, herbal and minerally notes on a frame that's lean, very precise and almost dry.
1999 Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlemagne
From magnum, Very rich and forward with bright apple and white fruited flavours, but on the back end there's a faintly oxidative aspect; something slightly bready and surprisingly advanced that suggests this should be drunk soon.
2005 Ponsot Chambolle-Musigny Les Charmes
Full of red fruited flavours seasoned with touches of spice and earth. This is surprisingly accessible for an '05; the flavours are very primary and sappy right now with a nice tannin/acid spine beneath and a polished, finessed texture. Very nice.
2006 Glaetzer Anaparenna
Note to Jay Hack: See, I could drink it! Unabashedly Australian; a powerhouse with minty and dark chocolate notes around a core of ripe plummy and berried fruit. There's a touch of warmth on the back end, but otherwise it's nicely balanced with the flavours never feeling heavy or overripe and finishing with impressive length.
1999 Simon Bize Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Vergelesses
From magnum; surprisingly advanced for a '99 with black tea, earth and some oxidative elements in the aromatics. It's a little disjointed on the palate, with a core of red fruits and more oxidative flavour elements around the fruit. Eh.
1977 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
Comes across like a classic left bank Bordeaux with an aroma of cigar smoke leading into a palate showing restrained red fruited and cassis flavours framed by cedar and tobacco leaf elements. Very polished and finessed, drinking very nicely right now.
1998 Louis Jadot Clos St. Denis
Drinking really beautifully right now, a core of primary Pinot fruit framed by the start of developing flavours; there's a wonderful aroma here combining all sorts of earthy, floral and spicy elements into an amazing scent and really impressive balance and length. Stunning!
1999 Simon Bize Latricieres-Chambertin
Really nice; combining primary deep red fruited flavours with savoury leathery, faintly meaty and spicy notes on a very elegant frame. It still comes across very young in terms of flavours, but it's very easy to drink with a very polished texture and the tannins barely noticeable beneath the rich fruit.
2007 Jacques Puffeney Pinot Noir Arbois
Slightly rustic with brambly red fruited flavours over ferric/rusty and earthy notes and a spine of bright acids and grainy tannins; with air this opens and becomes more perfumed and floral aromatically as the tannins soften. Very nice.
1993 Roagna Barolo Riserva La Rocca e La Pira
Delicious stuff with a classic Barolo tar and rose petal perfume, and a seamless combination of red fruits, cedar, floral, earthy and tarry notes on the palate. Still a little tannic and angular on the back end, but no complaints about getting to drink this now.
2006 Cabot Syrah Kimberly's
Rich plummy fruit tinged with leathery and faintly meaty notes, very ripe but nicely balanced with the 15.3% alcohol barely noticeable.
2007 Dujac Vosne-Romanee Aux Malconsorts
From magnum. Stunning stuff, starts out with an incredible scent combining all sorts of floral elements with orange peel, red fruits and baking spices. There's tremendous complexity and depth on the palate, and at the same time it's very light and finessed with the acidity keeping it very refreshing and precise. Fantastic.
2002 Emrich Schonleber Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen Riesling Spatlese
Surprisingly developed for an '02 (then again it's a Dee Vine buy); aromas of smoke and petrol leading into a palate full of rich white fruited flavours accented by developed smoky and burnished elements. There's nice acidity balancing the sweetness here, but it finishes a little short for my liking.
1990 Domaine Deletang Montlouis Grand Reserve Tris Moelleux Les Petits Boulay
Full of ripe Chenin fruit; quince, apple and apricot framed by rich honeyed flavours. Not overly complex, but quite sweet and nicely balanced with good acidity and impressive length.
