By: AJ McClellan
Wednesday was one of those Graileys days that just seem to happen from time to time and they are always spectacular! We had Richard Beaumont in, the national sales director for Dom Perignon, and with him he brought a few fantastic bottle of Dom Perignon – The 95 Dom Rose and 98 Dom P2. Not to be outdone the members that we had here rose to the challenge and started opening some truly remarkable wines!!
1998 Dom Perignon P2 -The first wine opened for the day. A little muted out of the bottle but after an hour in the glass the wine picked up some sweet fruit on the nose with kiwi on the palate. This wine has improved remarkably with time in the glass. Candied lemon rind with limestone dust sprinkled on top.
1995 Dom Perignon Rose – Bright red cherry on the nose with Washington apple and cranberry. The minerality it presented was accompanied by a cleansing acidity that left a clean finish of blooming summer flowers.
1971 Dom Perignon Oenotheque - Expressive notes of sourdough with a sour fruit note. Quince and caramelized pear on the nose with over ripe Granny Smith apple and crushed limestone. The palate is lightly effervescent with a strong undercurrent of minerality and sour fruits. Long finish!
1976 Dom Perignon Oenotheque – Very light on its feet for its age. I will mention that I have noticed there is a lot of bottle variation with the older third tier Oenotheques. That being said, this one was fantastic! A slight green note of bamboo forest and hemp are prevalent on the nose along with cherry pith and caramel. The palate has a powerful overtone of pomegranate and French baguette. Long finish on a great powerful wine. The nose is almost sweet while the palate is slightly sour. A fun polarizing wine that is like solving a Rubik’s cube with your palate.
After we went through all the Dom we started into some other stunning Champagnes! A special shout out goes out for the 1995 Cristal Rose which might have stolen the wine of the night! The wine showed oxidative cherry with powerful yeast and sour tannins. I particularly enjoyed the gravely minerality and robust weight of the wine once it had some time in the glass. Sweet fruit on the finish paired with sour tannins giving a fun complexity to the back end that was only enhanced by a bouquet of light spring flowers.
NV Jacques Selosse Rose - Old brandy cherry, with powerful brioche and some leather/tar notes. A rough floral nuance on the nose like prickly rose thorns. The wine is vinous on the palate with old tanned leather, wild strawberries, and freshly baked bread. Drinking this wine gives me the feeling of sunbathing on a warm fall evening.
After the bubbles we started popping a slew of other great wines. Below are my highlights but there were several other stunning wines that we tasted…
1986 Leroy Estournelles St Jacques - An immediate note of iron on the nose. The palate was powerful for an older bottle of wine but still refined. Soft moss on the nose with lovely forest floor on the palate. Like taking a nap next to a mossy brook. Iron and bark with a slight green note that diffuses through the wine. Lots of forest floor and earthy minerality. Very long 45 second plus. After some time in the glass the wine changed to show black tea and rich black plums.
1999 Ausone – Out of the bottle the wine shows bold black fruit with sweet plums, beautiful purple flowers, and purple bubblegum. The palate has tight tannins that are still accessible with red raspberry and dark cherry. The alcohol is a little powerful for only 13%, I think it needs more time in the bottle to integrate.
1997 Hudelot Noellat Richebourg – Sour cherry on the nose with loads of crushed rock and pickle juice on the back. Sea breeze and pleasant black fruit mingle with stony minerality and dried floral notes.
Other wines tasted include 2000 Marcassin Marcassin Pinot Noir, NV Pierre Paillard, 2007 Arnaud Ente Meursault, 1990 Chapoutier Ermitage, and 1990 Trapet Chambertin.