Spencer organized our tasting group's end of year dinner at the Mill at 2T last night; lots of fun with great company and an excess of wines. Kept rough impressions, but didn't record all the wines (hopefully David or others can fill in on the Cote-Rotie, Ridge magnum or the port).
2002 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Coeur de Cuvée
Remarkably creamy and buttery; comes across much softer than most Champagnes with a gentle mousse, an incredible impression of richness and creaminess in the mouth and gentle white fruited and doughy flavours accented with butter and vanilla notes.
2005 F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd 'M'
This is a powerhouse. Layers of rich white fruits, verdant greenery, fresh herbs, faint oily, spicy and minerally accents, all conveyed with incredible power and palate-staining intensity. It's very impressive but not a wine I'd want to drink more than a glass of right now - will give my other bottle some time in the cellar and hope the fruit/intensity calms down with a few years.
1967 Château Cos d'Estournel
Very pleasant aromatics; mature leather, cedar and mossy earth over gentle red fruited flavours. It's a little faded in the mouth with the fruit flavours a little tired and frail, but there's still nice acidity beneath and it's quite enjoyable.
1964 Château Rausan-Ségla
Over the hill.
1971 Giacomo Conterno Barolo
Started out very musty and it cleared up a little with air, though never really blowing off. There's some developed red fruit beneath, a strange chlorine/poolwater element and I thought corked - others disagreed.
1975 Château Montrose
Pretty hard and austere. Restrained mature red fruits, developed cedary and leathery notes, but there's not much richness to the fruit, powerful acidity and while it's a solid old Bordeaux and works nicely with the beef short ribs, it's not particularly pleasurable.
1990 Château Léoville Barton
In a great place right now, with a core of fresh dark fruited and cassis flavours framed by developing cedar, earth, graphite and floral elements. Complex, powerful and nuanced, drinking very well now but the fruit, density and fine grained tannic structure suggests there's plenty of time still ahead.
1985 Château Léoville Las Cases
Apparently not from a perfectly pristine bottle, but still a very good showing. Fresh red and dark fruits, savoury earthy and cedary notes with high toned floral/herbal accents on a finessed, medium weight frame. There's bright acidity underneath, tannins mostly resolved but the finish seems a little clipped.
1990 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
A complete package. Layers of savoury red fruits, Provencal herbs, mushrooms, forestal earthy notes and just a touch of leathery funk in a package that simultaneously conveys remarkable power, finesse and elegance. There's amazing depth here, great balance and a long, resonant finish. Phenomenal wine.
2006 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes
Nothing new to add to my previous comments on this. This is one of the most incredible young Northern Rhones I've had, already showcasing vivid black pepper, meaty, leathery and violet scents around a core of red and dark fruits, conveying flavour with a remarkable sense of purity and freshness. The balance and depth here are amazing, and I can only imagine what this will turn into with time as it's still very young right now.
2007 Tenuta San Guido Bolgheri Sassicaia Sassicaia
Hard to really enjoy this one so young with the oak still very prominent and yet to integrate with the rest of the flavours. There's a powerful core of red and dark fruits, faint floral and spicy scents that emerge with some air, but a powerful oaky patina on top of everything right now. Needs a lot of time.
Fun evening, thanks again all.
