Dinner with friends and a stunning 2005 Vieille Julienne
To celebrate a birthday, we meet some good friends at a favorite local restaurant and were treated to some rock star course and some great bottles.
Champagne and starters
Is there a better N.V. Champagne out there? I loved the N.V. Henriot Champagne Blanc Souverain Brut Pur Chardonnay and it’s worth setting a couple aside to see what happens. Very fine, creamy, balanced and classy.
- N.V. Henriot Champagne Blanc Souverain Brut Pur Chardonnay - France, Champagne
One of the best NV I’ve had, this is outstanding with rich, ripe fruit, paine grille, yeast and mineral aromas, a beautifully textured, medium to full bodied palate and a long finish. This really shows some class on the finish. (92 pts.) - 2005 Georges Roblin et Fils Sancerre Château de Maimbray - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
While this shows impressive fruit, there’s awesome minerality, flint and stone notes backed up by lip smacking grassy and citrus notes. Medium bodied and while the palate started off with a slight hole in the middle, it filled in with air. (90 pts.)
Main courses..
The 1994 Beaulieu Vineyard Tapestry Reserve was the first bottle I put in my cellar. Close to 10 years in a passive cellar and just showing beautifully. The 2005 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a rock star bottle. I tasted this at the domain next to the 2005 Reserve and thought it held its own. Big, powerful and tannic, this has stunning fruit and while I keep saying I won’t drink another bottle for 10 years, I doubt my ability to actually follow through with it.
- 1994 Beaulieu Vineyard Tapestry Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley
Showing ripe cassis, tobacco, and earth aromas, this is just starting to show some nice complexity and maturity. The palate is still rocking with beautiful richness, impressive balance and a long finish and I wouldn’t hesitate to hold this 10+ more years. (92 pts.) - 2005 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
One of my favorite wines from the vintage, this is a big, concentrated and burly wine with gobs of crushed berries, raspberry and cassis fruit that’s mixed with plenty of earth, graphite and minerals. The palate is full bore, structured, concentrated, tannic and amazingly long. Just a rock star bottle of wine and I only wish I had more. 95+ (95 pts.)
Sauternes
- 2003 Château Lamothe Guignard - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Ripe, lush and soft, this shows honeyed tropical fruit and crème brulee notes on the nose. Full bodied on the palate, it has a full, rich texture, nice balance and plenty of sweetness that carries out to the finish. (92 pts.)