2020 Skerpioen

Drinks at Domaine Wine Cellars.

2020 Sadie Family Skerpioen - flinty and mineral on the nose but with ripeness. Initially served without being chilled so the acidity was still there, and remained grippy on the palate. With aeration this showed more floral notes along with a little tropical notes and acetone. Palate got less grippy and more crisp after chilling.

Chavost, Clape, and friends

Dinner at Petrus.

Chavost Eurêka!, dégorgée décembre 2021 - very fragrant and lovely floral notes... or was that the hotel perfume? Some minerality on the nose. Pretty elegant.

2010 Roulot Meursault Meix Chavaux - aired for just under 2 hours prior to serving. Big nose of toast, really flinty. Good acidity here. Nice and buttery after about 2 hours, and after 3½ hours there was some vanilla oak on the nose.

1972 Daniel Rion Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes - popped and served. Nose of leather, a little barnyard, brett, eucalyptus, a little prunes. Very nice on the palate, and while it was elegant the wine was not too light. After 30 minutes some black olives emerged.

1970 Lafleur - unfortunately kinda over-aerated. Bretty, a little medicinal, leather, smoke, prunes. I could smell the acidity.

1983 August Clape Cornas, en magnum - opened and not decanted just 1 hour before serving. This was sooooo beautiful, sooooo fragrant, with lots of bacon fat, smoke, grilled meats, some leather, and plums. Suddenly there was a whiff of dusty chalk but thankfully this faded. Plateaued about 1½ hours after opening, but remained lovely with lots of eucalyptus. Some 3 hours after opening there were some black olives, with less sweet fruit and more smoke.

Full post on dinner is here.

85 Chave

Dinner at La Maison.

1985 Chave Hermitage Rouge - decanting and served. Initially not open, with some leather notes showing. Improved after 15 minutes and the nose was pretty fragrant. After 1½ hours the acidity was a little higher. Drinking reasonably well but not spectacular.

Full post on dinner is here.

02 Solaia and Ornellaia

Dinner at Testina.

2003 Antinori Solaia - opened for 1 hour then decanted and served. Initial nose was bigger with more smoky notes and a lot more cedar. Also showing more medicinal notes on the palate. Later on also developed notes of pencil lead. This wine was more consistent throughout the evening and didn't improve much.

2003 Ornellaia - opened for 1 hour then decanted and served. Very minty, smoky, black fruits. The alcohol was more apparent on the nose, and initially the wine felt a little more closed. Showed better about 2½ hours after opening, and turned out very nice and elegant. About 3½ hours after opening there were additional notes of coffee. While this was more shy at first, by the end of the evening this had clearly surpassed the Solaia and showing better.

Full post on dinner is here.

Sparkling and Burg night

Dinner at Wing.

2014 Ultramarine Heintz Vineyard Blanc de Noirs, disgorged Nov 15, 2018 - somewhat fragrant, a little caramelized sugar, nice mousse. More rounded with a decent palate.

2014 Ultramarine Heintz Vineyard Blanc de Blancs, disgorged Nov 18, 2018 - acidity was definitely much higher, a little more mineral, and more grippy on the palate.

1959 Hessische Staatsweingüter Kloster Eberbach Hochheimer Domdechaney Riesling Spätlese Cabinet Naturrein - classic nose oe petrol, very oxidized, very round and soft on the palate. After more than 2 hours this opened up and got better.

1964 Hospices de Beaune Meursault 1er Cru Charmes Cuvée Albert Grivault, par Bouchard - oxidized with some notes of straw, very soft on the palate.

2008 Roulot Meursault Les Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir - good balance between ripeness with the acidity.

2010 Cecile Tremblay Vosne-Romanée Vieilles Vignes - served after opening for 2 hours or so. Really fragrant with some leather notes along with black cherries.

2019 Jérôme Galeyrand Bourgogne Aligoté Le Cran - flinty on the nose, some ripeness here.

Full post on dinner is here.

L'If and more

Dinner at Spaghetti House.

Herbert Beaufort Carte d'Or Tradition - a bit yeasty, ripe on the palate.

2014 L'If - served 30 minutes after opening. Fragrant nose of dried herbs and sweet vanilla.

2015 NUN Passito di Pantelleria - lots of orange blossom, eucalyptus, honey, and grape jelly.

Full post on dinner is here.

Kracher and Extra Old Veuve

Drinks at a friend's home.

1999 Alois Kracher Nummer 10 Welschriesling Trockenbeerenauslese Nouvelle Vague, from half bottle - very, very sweet, with honey, orange blossom, medjool dates. Sooo unctuous, sooo viscous. Lovely but wondering whether it was too simple on the finish. After more aeration the complexity improved.

Dinner at Raw Bar No. 8.

Veuve Clicquot Extra Brut Extra Old, dégorgée fevrier 2021 - slightly dry but not too bad. Some ripeness here when it warmed up. With more air this got a little grippy, and got a little bitter on the finish.

2017 Pataille Chapitre

Drinking at home.

2017 Sylvain Pataille Bourgogne Le Chapitre - lots of leather, smoked meats, plums, black fruits. Kinda pungent and stinky with some sulfur. Showed some eucalyptus after more than an hour, and became more fragrant.