The theme was vintage ending in “8” and the wines were are spectacular. We began with 1988 Krug and 1988 Lanson — of course, the 88 Krug blew the roof off. We then had two whites — pretty quickly identified as 98 Haut Brion Blanc (one of my favorite white wines) and 98 Laville (which I have never liked as much as the haut Brion Blanc). Haut Brion Blanc hit it out of the park in the 80s, but this 98 was an unexpected pleasure — extremely vibrant and full of life – we all loved it.
The next flight was 78 and 98 White Burgundy. There was an ultra perfect bottle of 78 Ramonet Batard Montrachet — this is the second time I have had the great luck to drink a perfect bottle in the past 12 months — utterly mind blowingly delicious – and a textbook example of how beautiful old Montrachet can be — if you happen to get a well stored bottle by a great maker. The Leflaive 78 was second — I prefer my Leflaive old, and this bottle was rockin.
The next flight was all 1928 Bordeaux — this wines were extraordinary in their sweetness — the tannins were completely resolved but the wines were all still completely in tact. At first it was a bit tricky to ID, mainly because of the sweetness. If you get well stored bottles, 1928 is a fantastic bordeaux year.
Next up was one of my favorite wines, Guigal La Landonne. All three were exquisite, but I rated them in order of vintage: the 1978 Guigals are probably the best year of Guigals ever made, and this bottle was a great example of that. In the last five years, the 1988 Guigals have come around — I know because this is Gia Coppolas birth year and I usually bring a bottle up to Napa when we celebrate her bithday on New Years. And 1998 was a great year for all Rhones, and this bottle was the one that, just based on the nose, made me say Rhone; Guigal.
Finally, an insane grande finale of Red Burgundies from 1978. Standouts were the incredible Drouhin Clos De Beze and the 1978 Rousseau Charmes — both were full of energy, with incredible noses and primary, secondary and tertiary flavors of subtle and beautiful fruit that went on and on.
Josiah and his team at Citrin (esp Chef Ken and Somm Matthew) continue to rock every dinner we do there — I now call Citrin the unofficial “ROPP commissary” — this dinner was no exception — extraordinarily well-planned by host Mr. Wender and executed by the team at Citrin, one of the most memorable ROPPs in recent years.
