A stunning flight of La Romanee highlighted this fantastic dinner. The menu was superb. We started with one of the best 750 bottles of 71 Dom (a personal favorite) I have had recently — the second bottle (opened at the end of dinner) was almost as good — lots of energy and that fantastic caramel apple on both. The 1937 Gilette was just a fantastic bottle — really elegant and balanced — after 21, 37 is my fave year for Sauternes. Next were three of my favorite (non-burgundy) white wines — and, in my opinion the three best years of Haut Brion Blanc: 82, 85 and the super rare 89. The 89 was, for me, a 100 point wine — next came the 82 and then the 85. Haut Brion Blanc hit a peak in the 80s, and if you have a chance to try any of these vintages, they are wines of a lifetime. Next I did some of my favorite Calif wines. They all showed extremely well, especially the (legendary) 1971 Ridge Montebello. The 69 Heitz Marthas Vineyard was my number two — although, to be fair, in this group the 1991 Ridge was a youngster with extradinary power. Big surprise was the 1985 Groth, a fantastic bottle (this is the very first Robert Parker 100 point wine). Next up we did 1985 Burgs — and the big surprise was that one of my all time favorite wines, the 1985 Leroy Hospice De Beaune, Cuvee De Madeleine Collignon, was outshone by the 1988 Bouchard Hospice De Beaune Cuvee De Madeleine — we all got these two reversed. The 1985 Drouhin Chambertin is a sleeper — and the 85 Clos Des Lambrays is my favorite Lambrays. The flight of the night was La Romanee — the 53 La Romanee was wine of the night — ethereal, with energy, balance and power, but rose petals. The 59 was Bouchard and on its own, would have been the wine of the night, as would have been the 62.
