Whites

• 1995 Henriot Champagne Cuvée des Enchanteleurs Brut - France, Champagne (1/27/2008)
  Still a baby but showing well regardless, this has a big, beautiful nose of ripe fruit, roasted nut and cream brulee aromas. With air, this showed additional complexity with toasted bread and earthy, mushroom notes showing up on the finish. Medium bodied in the mouth, this is rich with creamy fruit and a long finish. Still very tight but shows impressive depth, precision and balance. (93 pts.)
• 1999 Ridge Chardonnay Monte Bello - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (1/27/2008)
  This really improved with air and at its best, shows an exotic, buttery nose of tropical fruit, buttered popcorn, marzipan, and citrus aromas. Full bodied with a fabulous, smooth, full texture, nice balance and a long finish. This was borderline undrinkable at first but really smoothed out with air and lost some of the over the top butter aromas that dominated the first glass and had me looking for something else to drink. Every time I came back to this though, it seemed more restrained, complex and interesting and by the last glass, I thought it was stunning. (92 pts.)
• N.V. Roederer Estate Brut Anderson Valley - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (1/26/2008)
  This was from a magnum and was surprisingly tight on the first day and it wasn’t until late into the second day that this started to shine. Packed with lemon, citrus, toasted bread and mineral notes, this is a clean, crisp, medium boded sparkler that shows nice complexity, texture and length on the finish. (90 pts.)

Reds

• 1992 Château Haut-Bages Averous - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (1/25/2008)
  This shows nice, mature cab aromas to go with forest floor,earth and decaying leaf notes. There’s a slight herbaceous edge but despite this, it’s well balanced, smooth, easy drinking and possess still kicking fruit. (82 pts.)
• 2005 Pax Cuvée Moriah - USA, California, Sonoma County (1/26/2008)
  Wow, a tough wine to figure out and this really needed some air to calm down and show well. The nose is big, piercing and high toned with ripe plum, blackberry and licorice scents mixed, or shall I say completely soaked in, huge floral and exotic spice aromas. Medium bodied with nice balance, rich fruit, noticeable acidity and a tannic, long finish. (90 pts.)
• 2001 Ridge Lytton Springs - USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley (1/26/2008)
  These never fail to impress and this was no exception. The nose possesses beautiful dark fruit, plum and roast herb aromas that are backed up by earth, spice, cedar and dust notes. While showing ripe fruit, this is balanced and could easily pass for a southern Rhone. It’s medium bodied and has a soft, mouth filling texture that carries into a nice finish with sweet fruit. (92 pts.)
• 1998 Vincent Girardin Pommard 1er Cru Les Chanlins Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru (1/26/2008)
  This possesses a complex nose of earthy cherry fruit, saddle leather, underbrush and sappy stem notes. Medium bodied with a slightly weak midpalate, this fleshed out with air and was well balanced with a streamlined, precise texture and a medium length finish. (88 pts.)
• 1999 Arcadian Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands (1/26/2008)
  Youthful and ripe, this shows clean cherry laced fruit aromas mixed with cedar, spice and earth notes. There’s nice character and complexity to the wine and if it wasn’t for the burg sitting in a glass next to it, would have seemed very old world, albeit from a warm vintage. Medium bodied with a great texture, this has sweet fruit, great balance and a medium to long finish. (91 pts.)
• 1997 Barone Ricasoli Casalferro Toscana IGT - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT (1/27/2008)
  While this bottle was tight and stubbornly backwards, it possesses enough power, depth and structure to make me think this will open up with additional bottle age. The nose takes some coaxing but reveals rich, deep, decadent cherry fruit notes that are backed up by pot roast, mocha and dried flower aromas. The palate is medium to full bodied with integrated, toasty oak flavors that are buffeted by plenty of rich fruit, a nice texture and a medium to long finish. There’s some real weight and depth to this wine and I think it’s only going to get better. (92 pts.)
• 1983 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (1/25/2008)
  A beautiful bottle that is drinking perfectly. The nose is stunningly ripe and rich with cassis, earth and cedar notes being supported by coffee, spice and tobacco aromas. This continued to open up in the glass and was outstanding through out the evening. The palate is medium bodied with rich fruit, a smooth, drink me now texture, awesome balance and a long, clean finish. A great wine and thank you Sean! (94 pts.)
• 1996 Domaine de la Mordorée Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de la Reine des Bois - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (1/27/2008)
  An outstanding wine that possesses a ripe, exotic nose of high toned plum and blackberry fruit, roasted herbs, earth, licorice and dried floral aromatics. With air, the nose gained intensity and lost some of the high toned notes but it never lost that exotic, ripe and roasted herb profile. The palate is stunning with medium to full body, an awesome rich and smooth texture, impeccable balance and a long, fruit filled finish. This wasn’t decanted but came off as fairly young and in hindsight, might have benefited from a long double decant or a couple hours in the decanter. (93 pts.)
• 2006 Glaetzer Shiraz Amon-Ra Barossa Valley - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (1/27/2008)
  A borderline perfect wine in my opinion, this is a phenomenally concentrated, massive wine that holds everything together with fantastic balance and a light, seamless and almost elegant texture. The nose is packed with amazing levels of dark fruit; cassis, blackberry and earth aromas are backed up by licorice, vanilla and tar notes and for all its size, there’s not a hint of heat. The palate is full bodied and has glass staining concentration but the palate has a light, airy feel that keeps this restrained, balanced and a killer drink right now. With air, the fruit definitely shows more sweetness but is pure, clean and rich. This finishes with amazing amounts of juicy fruit and length. I think this is as good as the 2005 but is more in the style of the 2003 and 2004. (98 pts.)
• 2001 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino (1/27/2008)
  Corked. NR (flawed)

2001 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley
This is some stunning stuff that blends amazing concentration and power with a balanced, elegant character, all without a trace of heat. The nose shows deep, rich dark fruit aromas of cassis, blackberry and subtle blueberry notes with loamy earth, licorice and integrated wood components showing up in the background. A seriously big wine that is smooth, perfectly balanced and borderline elegant. Full bodied with a lush, viscous and glass staining texture, killer precision and awesome depth. Despite the size, this had a light mouth feel that made this a joy to drink and carried into a long long finish. (97 pts.)

2005 Domaine Jasmin Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
The nose is pure raspberries, flowers and minerals at first but with some air, subtle oak and spice aromas start to emerge. Unsurprisingly tight, but still showing pure fruit, lots of structure and impressive balance, the palate is medium bodied with high acidity that’s balanced by a gorgeous, smooth and balanced texture that keeps this wine enjoyable and seemingly high class. Structured, textured and long, this is a beautiful wine that I would love to drink again in 10 years. (91 pts.)