BNO Year-End: Burgundies, Champagne, and Much More!

Santa came early to a gathering of wine friends, who humbly name themselves the BNO, aka "Boys' Night Out". Extravagance is not lacking in these gatherings, and sometimes extravaganza, too. Yet, last night's soirée set a new bar. Bottles of Champagne were popped, white Burgundies were poured, a couple of Yquems were emptied, and an obligatory bottle of Port got decapitated. Still, none of these were worthy enough to be the evening's highlight.

I arrived a bit late and so missed the Champagne toast, but I managed a mouth rinse of the 1990 Pommery Cuvée Louis just when dinner was getting started. A rich, yeasty wine that's evolved and quite elegant.



Among the white Burgundies were a pair of Corton-Charlemagne from Louis Latour, its well-known flagship wine. Except for the richer, fatter quality of the 1990, I thought the two overlapped in flavor. The wine's toasty, honeyed, tropical fruit character was more pronounced in the 1990 compared to the 1998.





Leflaive's 1997 Puligny Pucelles showed as always its magic and why, at least in the case of Leflaive, this premier cru vineyard should be classified grand cru. Intensely floral and smokey on the nose, with flavors that are reticent and angular, like a beam of light that multiples many times on the palate. A spectacular vintage for this wine.



The white Burgundy flight was beefed up in the last minute by the addition of a killer 2004 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne. Vibrant with a youthful sexiness in its fat and luscious fruit.



To accompany the white Burgundies Eric prepared a salad designed to match, a melange of lettuce, avocado and seafood in a citrus dressing. The pairing was as slick as Eric in his tux.



The white Burgundies over, it was time to sneak in the evening's intermezzo, an interloper from the estuaries of the Garonne, a 1978 vintage of the unique dry wine called "Y" or "Ygrec" from one of the most famous wineries in the world, Château d'Yquem. As can be expected, coming from this great Sauternes producer, this is a rich, powerful wine. Toasty and full of honeycomb extract as well as peach, sweet corn, and ginger. An enormous presence in the room.



To tame this beast of a white wine a decadent serving (in my case, servings) of lobster quenelles was offered. I was delirious. I must've mumbled a prayer or something for the Lord to bring me back again to earth, and had to summon all my self-control to stop sipping more "Y" and chowing down more quenelles. Wow! This is the most hedonistic pairing experience ever! Kudos go to both Kevin and Steve for accidentally conspiring to produce this outta this world pairing!



And so finally, with all those preliminaries over, the highlight of the evening got started.



Having five different vintages of Grands Échezeaux spanning almost 40 years is on one hand an unforgettable pleasure and on the other a valuable lesson, especially given four out of the five are from the same producer, DRC. DRC owns more than a third of Grands Échezeaux, a large vineyard with varying nooks and crannies, as this flight showed.

The magnum of Grands Échezeaux in the flight was a 1959 Averys bottling, said to be made from juice purchased from Gustave Gros of Domaine Gros by the highly respected and celebrated Bristol wine merchant, Ronald Avery. Just before our event, this provenance was revealed to Ben and Mayon by none other than the most trustworthy source, John Avery, Ronald's son. Coming from the cellars of Ben and Mayon this '59 was, of course, amazingly youthful. The color was dark, nearly opaque in the center and the scent was clean and fruity. A muscular wine filled with flavors of black cherries and sweet, dark spices like licorice and cinnamon. It's most similar to a Clos de Vougeot, which is what many Grands Échezeaux can taste like, quite understandable given the vineyard is bordered on two sides by Clos de Vougeot. It was almost hands-down the group favorite in the flight. I thought it was remarkable, especially given its unbelievable youthfulness, but a bit too heavy and lacking definition for me.



The other four Grands Échezeaux, all from DRC, have, of course, a striking resemblance to each other, though vintage character and I would guess vineyard conditions during each period weighed in significantly. Suffice it to say the '64 exemplified the singular quality of DRC and the greatness of Grands Échezeaux. In some instances and in the DRC stable specifically, Grands Échezeaux is often compared to another DRC wine, Romanée-Saint-Vivant. Historically, the two DRCs are served together side-by-side. It is interesting how DRC's Grands Échezeaux could share the seductive, feminine qualities of its Romanée-Saint-Vivant even though the two vineyards are so far apart. The answer could be that Musigny, that other famously seductive grand cru often sharing similarities with Romanée-Saint-Vivant, is just above and may have influenced some portions of the Grands Échezeaux vineyard. At any rate, I love the '64, the greatness of the vintage really shows. My notes say, light but intensely colored, very refined, precise, with delicious spicy cherry flavors and a silky texture. In other words, Musigny-like or Romanée-Saint-Vivant-esque in its seductive character.

The '85 DRC Grands Échezeaux is another great wine. It is firm and structured with a richness, concentration, and length that make it taste like an infant next to the '64.

Also another potential legend was the '96 DRC Grands Échezeaux. It shows more structure than fruit, yet the fruit is incredibly refined and precise at such a youthful stage making the wine irresistible and a joy to drink.

The overachieving award in the flight has to go to the '83 DRC Grands Échezeaux as it comes from an irregular vintage unlike the greatness of the other vintages in the flight. True, a hardness was evident in the wine but it's only slight and well compensated for by its glorious floral, spice, and cherry perfume and the intensity and depth of the fruit. This wine is a testament to the consistency of Grands Échezeaux.



Steve's mushroom risotto topped with seared duck breast performed wonders with all these old red Burgundies. A seamless exchange of complimenting flavors and textures between wine and food. A great gift to us and to all these wines, Steve!



A cheese plate at the end came in very handy as there was still much wine left to be sipped.



As Sandy mentioned later, while we were enjoying the Burgundies an unopened bottle quietly stood on the table, patiently waiting for its turn.



It was another Yquem wine, this time the grand vin Sauternes, the 1967 Château d'Yquem. Acknowledged as one of the greatest Yquems ever made, thereby making it one of the greatest wines ever made. I confess a fondness for lighter vintages like the 1994 and 1999, they're very friendly and engaging. The '67 is daunting. Am I worthy enough to appreciate its qualities? A wine as great as this makes me nervous and I feel I might not be up for the challenge. This is very concentrated with a very botrytised nose. The flavor is dense with honeyed fruit and toasted caramel, multilayered and packed to the core. Feel the power. It proved unyielding to me. Next time, perhaps, I can discern it more, especially if given time to sip away.



No BNO gathering is complete without Port at the end, so Kevin usually has the Port tongs nice and hot by the time we finish dinner. This night it was a 1963 Warre's with a Berry Bros Rudd label. I stopped taking notes so my recollection is a bit hazy, but good thing Kevin took good notes:

"Warres (Berry Bros. Original Label) 63. Medium weight, light bricking, medium ruby, incense, boysenberry, elegant, bit of pepper, very very long finish. One of the better 63’s I have had in the last 5 years. Can age forever. (19)



And so another fulfilling year with my BNO brethren is passing by. The consensus is we marked it with the best yet. We are all so blessed and thankful for everyone's friendship and generosity. Hep! Hep!

Ben & Jerry

Collecting wine requires many things--wine knowledge, of course; money, for sure; and enough storage space to make the collection interesting. But these assets wouldn't matter much if one isn't an optimist. Collecting wine is believing that wine will last and taste better with the passage of time, and, above all, that one would live long enough for this experience.

This point was recently demonstrated when two wild optimists I know, Ben and Jerry, organized a wine dinner for Jerry's friends at his home. From their wine cellars, they opened old wines, which I would fondly describe as in a state of optimistic decay.

Bold optimists as they are, what they did takes cojones. Why? Instead of focusing on highly acclaimed vintages, the wine theme was a tribute to the birth years of everyone present. Of course, not everyone's birth year coincided with a great vintage; in fact, about half the people present were born in challenging vintages. Ultimately for Ben and Jerry, optimism in their wines trumps vintage ratings.



During the run-up to the dinner, I noted to both Ben and Jerry the reputation of the vintages they picked out for the wines. I must admit, though I've had nothing but flawless results in the provenance of these wines, I feel uneasy when the vintage is pushed to the edge. 1968 in Bordeaux, 1962 in Germany, and 1950 in the Douro are simply dreadful vintages. What life inhabited these wines had long been snuffed out after decades of delay. Or so one might assume.

Yet, all too often in my experience, good wines from favored sites have shown an infinite capacity to surprise. And I've long observed that wine critics and wine experts frequently get it wrong--a case of hubris and a lack of humility, I would think.

A break in the rainy spring weather allowed a great afternoon start. We immensely enjoyed sipping Champagne on the sunny veranda that offered a picturesque view of the vineyard garden against the bright Santa Clara Valley skyline.



The Bollinger Special Cuvée in magnum, sporting a new label, is a coup de couer from this great Champagne house. I couldn't imagine a more fortuitous start. Electric, full of flavor and yeasty energy, it provided a rousing front act to the 1964 Bollinger RD that followed.



The 1964 Bollinger RD in magnum started life at the time of Madame Lily Bollinger, undoubtedly the most colorful figure in Bollinger's centuries-old history, and, I would think, the one who catapulted the house to greatness. She created the RD (recently disgorged) Champagne in 1961, as well as the house's prestige cuvée Vieille Vignes Françaises Champagne in 1969. Both bottlings are regarded by Champagne enthusiasts as must-haves in practically every vintage they're released.

Champagne ran in Madame Bollinger's veins it seemed. Yet, she's mainly remembered not for her brilliant innovations that made her company successful, but for her famous quote about when to enjoy Champagne:

“I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it—unless I’m thirsty."

From the beginning, the Bollinger RD has defied the dictum that many Champagne enthusiasts cling to, that Champagne must be consumed soon after being disgorged, especially old vintages. Well, this 1964 Bollinger RD was disgorged almost twenty years after its vintage, then aged for close to 30 years post-disgorgement! It was as fresh as the young Bollinger Special Cuvée and was a totally mindblowing Champagne. Flamboyant and more obviously in the RD style than the 1961 we drank last January, yet it's just as elegant and youthful. Expansive and full of vigor. Its bubbles shimmering as they rushed to the surface against a palette of pale gold. An awesome treat!

At the table we got right into business with a couple of old Rhineland marvels. The 1959 Graacher Himmelreich "feine" Auslese, Fuder #13, J. J. Prüm was made prior to the Pradikat system's establishment in 1971. At that time a "feine" designation by a respectable producer such as J.J. Prüm meant a special selection of high quality grapes that were harvested late. 1959 is one the greatest vintages in the Mosel, and the wines have been long-lived. Prüm's Graacher Himmelreich is broader in taste compared to their other prized vineyard, the Weltinger Sonnenuhr. This was just so vibrant and youthful, with layers of flavors that further intensified as it opened up. Beautiful purity, finishing very clean, without a hint of botrytis.



Owned by the Matuschka family since the 12th century, Schloss Vollrads is the oldest existing family-owned winery in the world. This famous estate in the Rheingau has produced many of Germany's greatest Rieslings over the centuries, but the 1962 Schloss Vollrads Auslese comes from a poor vintage for German Rieslings. The cool weather slowed down ripening, producing thin wines lacking substance. It wasn't a complete disaster. Parts of the Rheingau were dry enough for a prolonged hang time, and grapes that were harvested very late produced overachieving wines such as this Auslese. This Riesling was simple, especially next to the 1959, but well formed and still fresh and sweet, with a distinctive rich caramel taste. The finish didn't last long and the wine soon faded in the glass, but it served its purpose well on the table. Impressive for a 1962er!



With the Beef Wellington, two legendary 1958 Napa Cabernet Sauvigons were served--the real deal, the real Napa classics--a Beaulieu Vineyard Napa Cabernet Sauvignon "Private Reserve Georges de Latour" and a Inglenook Napa Cabernet Sauvignon "Cask". Sadly, such exquisite Napa Cabernets have long been extinct, buried and forgotten after the 1970s. It puzzles me why the work of André Tchelistcheff, John Daniel, and George Deuer--the great, pioneering California winemakers behind these wines--are never looked back on by current California winemakers--preferring, instead, to make exaggerated, homogenous wines. Today, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyard exist as legacy brands.

The 1958 BV Napa Cabernet Sauvignon "Private Reserve Georges de Latour" (12.5% alcohol) is unmistakably Napa with its dark berries and soaring notes of mint and eucalyptus. What purity and freshness for a Cabernet over half a century old! I love the fruit's focus and precision, sharp and edgy, and really quite forceful and intense on the palate. I wouldn't think of this as a finesse wine, though its character is quite refined. It shows no subtlety, but expresses masculine rawness, directness and openness. I can't imagine this wine to come from anywhere but California.

Inglenook's 1958 Cabernet Sauvignon "Cask F-10" (13% alcohol) is Inglenook's famous Cask Cabernet, its flagship wine. Inglenook made its best wines between the 1930s and early 1960s under John Daniel. The heart of the Cask Cabernet was the Napanook Vineyard in Oakville. Later, John Daniel sold all the Inglenook vineyards (the bulk, the Home Vineyard in Rutherford, now belongs to Coppola's Rubicon Estate), except this property as he always wanted to keep it in the family. But after he passed away, his daughters sold the heirloom vineyard to Christian Moueix of Dominus Estate. Moueix, of course, is famous for the Bordeaux estate Pétrus that he has run for decades. And I guess it's only appropriate that he ended up with the vineyard because this 1958 Inglenook Cask Cabernet Sauvignon offered Gironde-like class and finesse. It has that haunting autumnal fragrance and sleek lusciousness. Over half a century has passed and this is still clad in fleshy fruit with generous concentration and length. Only the elite Bordeaux wines achieve such sheer glory, and clearly this Napa Cabernet Sauvignon is in that crowd.

We weren't through with the reds (not counting the Port to follow and a stray bottle of Live Oak Pinot Noir from Livermore, which was never drank). A magnum of 1968 Château Latour, Pauillac was opened to honor Jerry's birth year. 1968 is a forgettable year for claret. None of the first growths did anything really notable. Some say 1967 was worse, yet I had a good '67 Margaux and an outstanding '67 Haut-Brion last year, both from Ben's cellar. Wine has taught me to expect to be surprised always. And so I would add this '68 Latour to my voluminous collection of wine surprises. The fruit was still singing--the deep flavor of currants was distinctive, sweet, and remarkably fresh. Ample and sleek as a first-growth should be. The vaunted l'Enclos vineyard certainly came through for this vintage. What caught my attention was its taste on the finish--the autumnal leaves of the '58 Inglenook Cask! One of wine's surprises is its unexpected affinities.

Last on the agenda was the 1950 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port. From a so-so vintage in the Douro, but houses bold enough to declare a Vintage Port usually produce something better than so-so. Quinta do Noval, one of the great Port houses, has a good reputation in this vintage. Indeed this Port was very satisfying. Light and Tawny-like, with a sweet, fruity freshness and a trailing scent of taffy candy. Though it lacks richness and depth to be classic Vintage Port, I do find this 1950 Quinta do Noval desirable for its winning elegance and remarkable freshness. Ben's impeccable cellar comes up aces as always even in some of the bleakest vintages.

As it turned out, we were not quite done yet after the Port. Jerry surprised everyone with an impromptu tribute to Ben and his wife, Mayon, by opening a magnificent wine from their birth year: a pristine bottle of 1929 Château Filhot, Sauternes. '29, of course, is one of the greatest vintages for Sauternes. For Ben and Mayon, this Sauternes also carried a personal note. They are good friends of Alexandre de Lur-Saluces, whose family previously owned not just Château d'Yquem but also Filhot.

How the Lur-Saluces family came to own Filhot is a bit interesting. During the French Revolution, the Filhot estate was sequestered by the state and the head of the aristocratic Filhot family was guillotined. But not long afterwards, the daughter of Filhot, who happened to be married to a Lur-Saluces, managed to get the Sauternes estate back, thus bringing Château Filhot into the Lur-Saluces fold, which included Yquem, de Fargues, Coutet, and others. After more than a century of ownership, the Lur-Saluces family unloaded Filhot in 1935, when phylloxera ravaged the vines, making it a burden to tend to several wine estates.



So like the great Yquem the '29 Filhot is a Lur-Saluces wine, and it definitely lived up to its pedigree. The color still a bright amber. Intensely botrytised. Rich but just ripe and not so unctuous. Its brightness flashing youthful elegance and highlighting the delicious precision. Caramel, poached pear, and orange liqueur. The flavors linger like fresh flowers. Compare this pristine bottle that Jerry opened (above) to the one below from Château Filhot, and you'll get an idea how unbelievably fresh the former is. The maxim--"there are no great old wines, only great old bottles"--is most true.



Jerry and his buddies have been enjoying each other's company and wines over the past ten years. I'm fortunate to be invited on this occasion. When it was his time to host again, Jerry pulled no punches: he teamed up with Ben. The rest, as they say, is history.