BYOB at REPUBLIQUE — April 3, 2018

We started with a Mag of 2002 Gosset Celebris which was really fresh and vibrant, with great acidity.  Next were three two Lafon Meursaults — (a 2004 was corked) and an 2005 Boilot Meursault.  All three were quite good — and could have been opened a few hours earlier and decanted (especially the 2013).  I liked them in order of year — Lafon Meursault Perrieres is maybe my third favorite Perrieres (after Coche and Roulot).

Next we did three Montrachets, 2 Bouchard and a Boilot Batard.  Everyone loved the 2008 Bouchard which had great balance — it was extremely elegant; however, I also really liked the 05 and the Boilot Batard was the surprise of the flight.

Next we did 2001 Burgundies.  Two CDRs and two Richebourgs — the Meo Camuzet Richebourg was the wine of the flight for me — and it just kept getting better and better.  Meo Camuzet makes a Richebourg that is phenom, right up there with DRC (and prices to match).  The 2001 Burgundy Vintage is a very lean vintage (the weather was cool), and leans vintages, for me, tend to be more transparent, and also a little more angular.

Our last flight was bordeaux:  1981 Petrus, 1983 Cheval Blanc, 1989 Palmer and 1990 Conseillante.  The 81 was corked; however, (BIG TIP HERE) we took some plastic wrap and put it in the decanter and mixed it up for a while and voila:  no more VCA.  But, not a great year for Petrus.  The 83 Cheval was interesting and pretty good but not great like some of the great Chevals.  The 89 Palmer was not as good as I remember it being — maybe a slightly off bottle?  Not sure.  The 90 Con was very good for this wine — and I believe this is a great deal, too.  All in all, the bord flight was very interesting, but didnt blow me away.

The final wine was what everyone agreed was the WINE OF THE NIGHT:  a 1983 Egon’s Scharzhofberger BA — not too sweet, with perfect acidity and amazing balance — this was an incredible bottle, we all agreed.