The Wine List:
1979 Cristal
1989 Batard-Montrachet- Ramonet
1990 Chassagne-Montrachet "les Vergers"- Georges Deleger
1972 Bonnes-Mares- Roumier
1985 Mazis-Chambertin- Leroy
1987 Vosne-Romanee Cros Parantoux- Henri Jayer
1988 Musigny Vieilles Vignes- Comte de Vogue
1988 Charmes-Chambertin- Rousseau
1988 Gevrey-Chambertin "Clos St. Jacques"- Rousseau
1988 Vosne-Romanee "Les Beaumonts"- Leroy
1989 Echezeaux- Georges & Henri Jayer
1989 Vosne-Romanee "Cros Parantoux"- Rouget
1989 Echezeaux- Rouget
1987 Haut Brion Blanc
1952 Chateau Petrus
1959 Chateau Pape Clement (Magnum)
1983 Chateau Margaux
1971 Chateau Suduiraut
1993 Chave Hermitage
1979 Sassicaia
1989 Barolo Cascina Francia- Giaicomo Conterno
1967 Chateau Trotanoy
1979 Chateau Margaux
1970 Vega Sicilia Unico
1966 Ockfener Bockstein Auslese- Dr. Fischer
1994 Meursault Charmes "Vieilles Vignes"- Verget
1994 Corton-Charlemagne "Vieilles Vignes"- Verget
1990 Riesling Clos Ste. Hune- Trimbach

1979 Cristal

I have always wanted to age Cristal to see where it goes, but have never had the combination of requisite patience and available slush fund to follow the wine through a decade or so in the cellar. So it was with great expectations that I approached a glass of 1979 Cristal. The nose was wonderful, with scents of fresh baked bread, apple, grilled almonds, minerals, and toast. Medium-full, round, elegant, and very stylish on the palate, with fine bubbles and fresh acidity still framing the wine nicely. However, as fine as the flavors were in the mid-palate, the wine still tailed off a bit on the finish. DonÅt get me wrong, this was still a superb bottle of Champagne, but wines such as Krug, Dom Perignon, and Salon all age considerably better. Drink up. 1996-2000. 89.

1989 Batard-Montrachet- Ramonet

Ramonet has succeeded in 1989 like few vignerons, harnessing the super-ripe raw materials of this torrid vintage and fashioning a powerful group of wines that display clean, precise aromatics and reigned-in alcohol. In a vintage that is tremendously overrated, Ramonet has turned out wines that are stellar. His 1989 Batard is one of the handful of absolute superstars in 1989: a signature Ramonet nose of peppermint, pear, golden delicious apples, buttercups, loads of minerals, and sweet vanillin oak. Deep, rich, and just packed with fruit on the palate, with tremendous length, juicy acidity, and along, complex, profound finish. With so many 1989s displaying overripe, honeyed tropical fruit flavors and plenty of heat on the finish, it is wonderful to taste a clean and well-balanced wine from this vintage. Ramonet belongs on the short list of great successes in 1989, along with Jadot, Coche and Lafon. Brilliant wine with potential for further evolution. 1996-2005. 95+.

1990 Chassagne-Montrachet "Les Vergers"- Georges Deleger

This wine has really hit its peak since the last time I tasted it (about nine months ago). The nose is classic, a point Chassagne displaying wonderful freshness and complexity: buttered apples, pear, lemon, minerals, hints of toast, honey, and sweet vanillin oak. Medium-full on the palate, with lovely delineation, a fine core of fruit, zesty acidity, and a long, complex finish. While this wine does not possess the extraordinary depth of wines such as RamonetÅs Ruchottes or LafonÅs Charmes, it is still an excellent Premier Cru for drinking over the next five years. 1996-2001 90.

1972 Bonnes-Mares- Roumier

I have had this wine on three or four occasions, and I always remember it as showing better than this particular bottle. Perhaps, as with the 1981 Beaucastel, (served at the same dinnner) overzealous hosts left this wine in decanter too long. In any case, the nose was quite complex, but nowhere near as explosive as usual, with scents of cherry, cassis, sous bois, vinesmoke, mustard, venison, coffee, minerals, and cedary wood. Full-bodied, but very resolved and easy going on the palate, with a decent core of fruit, but tailing off a bit on the finish, To be fair to the wine, this followed three curry courses (only the last showed any serious heat), so perhaps the inherent delicacy of a wine of this age was overmatched. This bottle is from the same source as a few in my cellar, and I will swear up and down that my bottles have a lot more drive in them than this particular bottle. Drink this one up. Pristine bottles: 1996-2005. 90-92.

1985 Mazis-Chambertin- Leroy

In its youth, this was one of the finest Burgundies I had ever tasted. At age twelve, it is moving along at a fine rate, but was simply outclassed and out-finessed by the 1987 Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux served ahead of it. It was not that this wine was just more backward than the Jayer (it was not), but rather that the Jayer possessed a freshness of perfume an inner core of fruit with which this wine could not compete. Not that this was a disappointing wine, not by any means. The nose is superb: deep cassis, plum, meaty tones, chocolate, herbs, iodine, vinesmoke, minerals, toasty oak, and a subtle vegetal streak that runs through the wines of Mazis. Very full and powerful on the palate, with a great core of fruit, moderate tannins, and a long, powerful finish. This is a great wine that is just about hitting its peak, but will keep for another couple of decades with no problem. As the gentleman who kindly brought this bottle said, Ñafter the Hanky J, this comes off like drinking Bordeaux.É A great wine from a great producer, but there can be only one master. 1996-2020. 94.

1987 Vosne-Romanee Cros Parantoux- Henri Jayer

1987 is a vintage that displays bright red fruit, medium-bodied formats, and plenty of acidity to keep the wines fresh and bouncy. At ten years of age, many of the less exalted wines are beginning to turn the corner, with their zesty acidities now starting to get the edge on the remaining fruit. However, at the very top quality level, there are a handful of producersÅ wines that are not even ready. JayerÅs wines are at the head of this list. While still young and fairly tight on the palate, the nose on this beautiful wine really came on with time in the glass: scents of sweet raspberry, plum, Vosne spice, duck, minerals, coffee, floral tones, and cedary wood just explode from the glass. On the palate the wine is medium-full on the attack, but the turbocharger kicks in on the mid-palate, and this wine roars out with stunning grip and length. It is still a good four or five years away from its peak, but even in its adolescence, it possesses such perfect focus and balance that it is a sheer joy to drink. The lucky holders of these bottles would be well-advised to wait until early in the next century to revel in the fruit. 2000-2015. 97.

1988 Musigny Vieilles Vignes- Comte de Vogue

I have to laugh every time I taste this wine and think of Robert ParkerÅs claim that this wine is in serious decline. Something is in serious decline... This is an excellent De Vogue Moose, that may ultimately eclipse the fine 1985 (another woefully underrated Moose!), but which is still a few years from its peak. The nose is wonderful, with scents of sweet cherry, quince, vinesmoke, herb tones, coffee, minerals, mustard seed, and cedary, spicy wood wafting from the glass. On the palate, the wine is medium-full, deep and concentrated, with a fine core of sweet fruit, bright acids, fine tannins, and a long, complex finish. While still three to four years away from its apogee, this wine is already pretty tasty to drink, though it will get appreciably better over the next decade or two. Fine stuff. 2000-2020. 92+.

1988 Charmes-Chambertin- Rousseau

Another fine showing for this wine: intense aromas of strawberry jam, coffee, meaty undertones, herbs, minerals, and cedary wood on the nose. Full-bodied, and quite sweet on the palate, with a lovely core of fruit, zesty acidity, softish tannins, and along, tangy finish. The color of this cru at Chez Rousseau is always quite light, and the 1988 is no exception, but the wine is still quite deep and intensely flavored. The finest Rousseau Charmes I have yet tasted! 2000-2020. 92.

1988 Gevrey-Chambertin "Clos St. Jacques"- Rousseau

This is one of my favorite 1988s, though after the 1952 Petrus, it was a bit swamped. I have to admit I pulled the cork on this knowing it would be a sacrificial lamb, but figuring it would at least allow the 1971 Haut Brion to show well. The nose was still quite lovely, with scents of cherry, raspberry, coffee, grilled meats, nuts, herb tones, minerals, and cedary, spicy wood. For tasters who have been weaned on the much more intensely Ñblack fruityÉ versions of this wine in 1989 and 1990, the red fruit tone of this wine will come as quite a surprise. Medium-full and very intensely flavored on the palate, with tremendous intensity of flavor, moderate tannins, fine acidity, and a long, complex, powerful finish. This wine is still four to six years away from peaking, but it will be stellar stuff when it gets there. 2000-2025. 93.

1988 Vosne-Romanee "Les Beaumonts"- Leroy

This wine is quite closed at the present time, but even in its shut down state, it is one extraordinary bottle of wine. It takes a good half an hour to soften up on the finish, and though the nose is wonderful after fifteen minutes, it does not really hit on all cylinders until it has been open at least an hour. However, when it has been given the requisite time in decanter, it is an immense wine of First Growth depth and complexity. The nose offers up scents of cassis, plum, prune, woodsmoke, game, herb tones, minerals, French roast, and cedary wood. Huge and palate-staining on the palate, with perfect focus and balance, tremendous extract, firm tannins, bouncy acidity, and a long, powerful, tannic and extremely long finish. This can be one of the few ÑvaluesÉ in the Leroy portfolio, as it is often priced at a similar level to many of the Grand Crus in Vosne-Romanee, and it is at least that good! A profound wine that deserves at least another decade in the cellar. It will be drinkable before, but like this bottle, it will be admired as much for its potential as its pleasure at the time. Just forget it in a corner of the cellar until 2005, and reward yourself with a seminal bottle of Pinot. 2005-2035. 96+.

1989 Echezeaux- Georges & Henri Jayer

These three 1989 Burgundies were served as a flight with a course of seared striped bass in a port reduction sauce finished with chanterelles. The dish was so great, I had difficulty focusing on these three natural beauties until I had run my last crust of bread around the sauce! With one wonder safely tucked into the synapses, I moved to tackle the other three awaiting my attention. I had a very clear preference for this wine over the other two, though not by a wide margin. For me, this wine offered so much more promise than the other two wines, while at the same time, easily holding its own for current drinking. The nose was a bit tight (these wines were, after all, extremely young, and it was certainly an example of merciless infanticide to be popping them now), but offered up scents of sweet plums, cassis, violets, hints of venison, grilled nuts, herb tones, minerals, and toasty new oak. On the palate the wine was extremely tightly-knit and well-focused, with a huge core of fruit, zesty acidity, great sweetness and depth, and a long, complex, fairly tannic finish. Stunning now, but this wine will be so much better in five to ten years, that you will not find me popping another bottle of this any time soon! Very young, very profound juice! 2002-2025. 97.

1989 Vosne-Romanee "Cros Parantoux"- Rouget

This was my second favorite wine of the flight, and the overall crowd favorite. The nose is much more exotic and dramatic than the Georges Jayer Echezeaux, but I think it lacks just that extra bit of mid-palate fruit held in reserve. Eight to ten years out, that will give the Jayer Echezeaux the edge. But, that said, whatÅs not to like? The nose explodes from the glass with scents of sweet raspberry, plum, woodsmoke, exotic spices, duck, coffee, minerals, floral notes, herb tones, and toasty new oak. On the palate the wine displays the quintessential Pinot tang of great Vosne-Romanee, a huge dollop of sweet, roasted fruit, plenty of tannins, and a long, complex. powerful finish. A great, great wine that only suffered (ever so slightly) by the company. 2000-2025. 95.

1989 Echezeaux- Rouget

This was easily the most forward wine of the flight, and though it too had its staunch defenders, it was a distant third on my scorecard. The nose is cut in a much more classic, gamey Echezeaux way, with scents of sweet cassis, plums, game, bonfires, grilled nuts, herbs, chocolate, earth, pepper, and toasty new oak. Deep, rich, and very opulent on the palate, with great depth, modest tannins, and a long, broad, lush finish. The great mid-palate depth of the previous two wines was not to be found here, with the wine much broader and more appealing now, but without the great reserves of fruit to carry it to magical heights at its apogee. Still lovely stuff (I should never drink anything worse!), but given an option on all three, I would grab the first two wines. 1998-2015. 93.

1987 Haut Brion Blanc

Just a stunning showing for this wine. This is a very, very good Haut Brion Blanc that has already hit its plateau of maturity at age nine. The color is quite golden already. The nose opens up to reveal scents of toasted coconut, mission figs, waxy tones, petrol, lemon, herbs, and sweet vanillin oak. Very complex and very aristocratic. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, round and beautifully delineated, with plenty of acidity to give the wine cut and freshness. However, this wine greets one with open arms, and is clearly drinking at its magical plateau. It shows no signs of imminent decline, but there is no reason to defer gratification any longer. This wine is in the zone! 1996-2002. 93.

1952 Chateau Petrus

After having tasted the 1952 Trotanoy, I was extremely interested in tasting (mild understatement?) other 1952 right bank wines. The ‘52 Petrus was everything I could have hoped for and more. The nose was profound, with a combination of Petrus power and Petrus exotica: scents of ripe plums, quince, fresh sage, pomegranate, chocolate, menthol, black truffle, earth, and toasty oak explode from the glass. Deep, full, and just packed on the palate, with a huge core of fruit, great focus and structure, and a long, moderately tannic finish. This wine towers over the somewhat chunky, four-square 1959! A great, great Petrus form what must be a great Pomerol vintage! 1996-2025. 97.

1959 Chateau Pape Clement (Magnum)

Just a wonderful showing for this perennially underrated Graves estate. Pape Clement in ‘59 has turned out one of the loveliest middleweights I have had the pleasure to taste. The nose is sweet and captivating, with scents of plummy fruit, roses, tobacco, chocolate, herbs, earth, and a touch of new wood wafting from the glass. Medium-bodied, round, sweet and beautifully structured on the palate, with layers of ripe fruit, fine focus, melting tannins, and along, complex, creamy finish. This wine is totally a point, but with years of life ahead of it. 1959 Pape Clement is emphatically not a wine about power and flash, but about harmony, sweetness, elegance, and length. This could get lost in a tasting of ‘59 blockbusters, but set off with an extraordinary dish of tender squab on a bed of lentils, it was an epiphany. 1996-2010. 94 (88 points for those whose preferences run towards brazen power and decadence over complexity and breed).

1983 Chateau Margaux

This has been a stunning, albeit unconventional Margaux since its inception. While its power and depth have always been inspired, it has had its share of critics for its alleged lack of classic Margaux perfume and suppleness. While I never downgraded this wine for its atypical nature, I was very pleased to see the wine just beginning to approach its apogee with hints of violets and sweet berries starting to come to the fore. Undoubtedly, when this wine really hits on all cylinders, it will be a sweet perfumed masterpiece of epic proportions. The nose is beginning to show some of its magic, with scents of sweet cassis, blackberry, violet, tobacco, hints of black truffle, minerals, and toasty new oak. Deep, full, and just packed with fruit, but with a creaminess to the mid-palate that is just starting to show, and which will become even more pronounced as the years go by. This is a huge, potentially very opulent and velvety Margaux that is one of the legendary wines of the golden decade of the 1980s. There are still plenty of tannins to resolve on the finish, but this wine is starting to make its move! I will not touch my bottles of this for another ten to twelve years, but those who prefer not to defer gratification would certainly not be wasting a bottle to pop it over the next couple of years. Profound stuff. 1998-2035. 97.

1971 Chateau Suduiraut

From the days of Suduiraut's slump. This is a big, old-fashioned Sauternes with a lovely nose, but not much nuance left on the palate. The enticing bouquet offers up scents of apricot, creme Brulees, leather, honey, marmalade, almonds and vanillin oak. However, after the promise of the nose, the wine is a bit of a letdown on the palate, with decent concentration, but essentially just a chunky, four-square wine that is glaringly lacking in acidity. Flat, dull, and ponderous on the finish. Drink up. 84.

1993 Chave Hermitage

In an abysmal vintage in the northern Rhone like 1993, only a winemaker/magician of ChaveÅs immense talent could come up with a wine of this quality. When one realizes that another of the superstars in Hermitage, Jaboulet, did not even release their flagship La Chapelle in 1993, one realizes the enormous adversity that Chave was able to overcome to turn out this beautiful wine. The nose is a stunning, total turn-on, with scents of crushed raspberries, plum, chocolate, grilled meats, herb tones, mushroom, wood smoke, and toasty oak exploding from the glass. Full-bodied, forward and lush on the palate, with a huge wave of fruit, great silkiness, and plenty of grip on the finish. While this wine does not possess ChaveÅs customary rock hard core of fruit in reserve, it is one big, lush, sexy wine fro drinking over the next five to seven years. Optimally, I would give this two years in the cellar to add further complexity, and then drink it with wild abandon over the ensuing five years. A sumptuous, serious Chave that requires very little patience...for a change! 1998-2003. 92+.

1979 Sassicaia

This was one of the most complex, Bordeaux-like Sassicaias I have yet tasted, with the soil flavors taking equal billing with the lovely fruit. The nose offered up scents of sweet cassis, cigar box, herb tones, woodsmoke, earth, and toasty new oak. Deep, full, and completely ready on the palate, with layers of fruit, fine delineation and length, and melting tannins on the finish. This vintage of Sassicaia did not share the sheer opulence of fruit of vintages such as 1985, but this allowed the terroir to come through quite strongly. As fine as the great wines of 1982, 1985, and 1990 will ultimately be, this beautiful, harmonious synthesis of soil, fruit, and sun in the 1979 may never be replicated in the bigger vintages. Time will tell. In any case, this was a fine wine. 1996-2002. 91.

1989 Barolo Cascina Francia- Giaicomo Conterno

This is one of my favorite producers in all of Piemonte, and his 1989 is as stunning as one would expect. Wjile the 1990 Cascina Francia is very Burgundian in terms of its aromatic profile and texture, the 1989 seems to be cut more in a Bordeaux style. Could Conterno's decision to not make a Montefortino cuvee in 1989 have given this wine even more strucutre and backbone? The nose is stunning: tarry, tobaccoey tones vie with sweet, liqueur-like cherry tones, licorice, herbs, coffee, minerals, and cedary wood as the aromas churn from the glass. Big, backward, and quite profound on the palate, with layers of fruit, fine acidity, and plenty of firm, chewy tannins on the finish. A good twelve years away from drinkability, but destined to be a legendary bottle of Barolo. You take Gaja, I'll take Giaicomo, and we'll see whoÅs still playing in October! 2005-2025. 94.

1967 Chateau Trotanoy

Trotanoy in its heyday was one of the great, great wines of Bordeaux. The 1967 is a compelling example of how profound this chateau was at its zenith, and stands as one of the amazing examples of an "off vintage" Bordeaux. To compare the quality of this wine to such recent efforts as 1985 is depressing. Here was the first wine we caught at its absolute apogee. The nose is stunning: scents of roasted plums, cassis, grilled meats, herb tones, coffee, earth, smoke, and cedary wood explode from the glass. Deep, full, and packed on the palate, with layers of ripe fruit, great focus and length, and tremendous opulence on the finish. This is such a revelation for the vintage, and one of the great, great Trotanoys. A joy to drink, and nowhere near its point of decline! 1996-2004. 94.

1979 Chateau Margaux

A lovely, albeit nasty, curveball. Like the 1978 Margaux, this wine possesses almost California-like components on the nose: minty, cassis, tobacco, herb tones, minerals, violets, coffee, and toasty new oak. Still quite adolescent in terms of flavor and aromatic development. Full-bodied and quite powerful on the palate; again, clearly very young and primary still. Moderate tannins and fine acidity on the finish promise a super drink ten years down the road. A great Margaux that is developing at a snail's pace, especially for a 1979. 2002- 2040. 92+.

1970 Vega Sicilia Unico

What can you say? Clearly the red wine of the night, and decanted five hours before serving! A gorgeous nose of roasted plums, black cherry, chocolate, a touch of prune, minerals, herbs, and sweet vanillin oak soars from the glass. Only the '66 Latour can match this wine for sheer weight and depth of fruit, but the Latour seems a bit gangly and unlovely by comparison at the present time. Full-bodied, but laser-like in its focus and structure, as much a First Growth in terms of breed and polish as any wine on this evening. Just a bit of tannin still on the finish. A great, great wine with years and years of life ahead of it. Not as huge and powerful as the 1968, but perhaps a bit more polished and elegant. Analogous to the comparison between 1947 and 1949 Cheval Blanc? 1996-2020. 97+

1966 Ockfener Bockstein Auslese- Dr. Fischer

A very interesting, pretty wine. Quite dry at thirty years of age, with a nose of lemon, corn kernel, new leather, and salty soil tones. Full-bodied, and a bit creamy from botrytis, but with barely enough acidity to give the wine some shape and brightness. Clearly on its way down, but going out gracefully. I would enjoy this wine with a fish course. Drink up. 85.

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A Treat from Steve Tanzer July 26, 1996

1994 Meursault Charmes "Vieilles Vignes"- Verget

I had ranked Verget up near the top of white Burgundy producers before these three wines, but never quite up there with the likes of Dominique Lafon and Jean-Marie Coche. However, it is time to re-evaluate! Compared to the early showings of Verget's top 1992s, this wine is a notable step up in terms of freshness and lightness of step. And yet, it is even more concentrated than Verget's top '92 Premier Crus! Quintessential Meursault on the nose: buttered apples, lemon, hazelnuts, loads of minerals, spring flowers, and a whiff of new vanillin oak in the top register. Deep, rich, and very snappy on the palate, with a great core of fruit, zesty acidity, flawless structure and focus, and a huge, mouthful of fruit on the finish. This is absolutely delicious to drink now, but it has all the constituent components to age gracefully for five to seven more years. This is show-stopping stuff! 1996-2004. 95.

1994 Corton-Charlemagne "Vieilles Vignes"- Verget

A freak of the vintage, Jean-Marie Guffens was able to leave this hanging on the vine until mid-October, thus taking advantage of the great burst of sun at the end of the vintage. As a result, this wine possesses a level of ripeness that is extraordinary for 1994. The great ripeness of fruit, this wine is not a classic, "mineral-infused" Corton-Charlemagne, but rather a wine that reminds one more of a big Batard-Montrachet. The nose is quite closed and brooding, with scents of ripe pears, pineapple, honey, wheat toast, butter, vanillin oak, and a beguiling, herbal undertone. Deep, powerful, and still quite adolescent on the palate, with tight acids, great extract, and a long, brooding finish. At first taste, I thought the Meursault Charmes was even longer; however, when one goes back to the Meursault after this wine, it comes off as a bit light! This is a great, great wine (wine of the vintage?) that clearly needs three or four years to really hit its stride. It should drink magnificently for another decade or more after that. 2000-2015. 96+.

1990 Riesling Clos Ste. Hune- Trimbach

I had ranked Verget up near the top of white Burgundy producers before these three wines, but never quite up there with the likes of Dominique Lafon and Jean-Marie Coche. However, it is time to re-evaluate! Compared to the early showings of Verget's top 1992s, this wine is a notable step up in terms of freshness and lightness of step. And yet, it is even more concentrated than Verget's top '92 Premier Crus! Quintessential Meursault on the nose: buttered apples, lemon, hazelnuts, loads of minerals, spring flowers, and a whiff of new vanillin oak in the top register. Deep, rich, and very snappy on the palate, with a great core of fruit, zesty acidity, flawless structure and focus, and a huge, mouthful of fruit on the finish. This is absolutely delicious to drink now, but it has all the constituent components to age gracefully for five to seven more years. This is show-stopping stuff! 1996-2004. 95.