The 1966 Heitz Vineyard Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon was an epic bottle, a testament to the heights that Napa can achieve, pun intended!  There was a minty and sexy nose that seeped caramel and eucalyptus.  There was this great herbal complexity that was so expressive.  Insane expression!  ‘So good’ was written over and over in my notes.  The palate was creamy, long and smooth with tasty and fresh caramel flavors.  Divine stuff (98).

The 1966 Guigal La Mouline seemed like a great place to finish.  The acidity on this bottle was impressive, and the violet and white pepper were dancing with the stars together.  It was another ‘so good’ wine, and at this point I was officially done (98+).

Magnum of 1961 Dom Perignon Charles and Diana Wedding Cuvee.  This was a come to Jesus wine, and I’m not sure how anyone who attended that wedding didn’t have a religious experience or a baby.  Either or.  This was one of the, if not the, greatest bottle of Champagne I ever had.  It was electric on the palate, bringing the zippedy, doo dah and beautiful day all in one.  It was so young but had such maturity and wisdom to its flavors.  Bready, meaty, oily and long, this was rich, decadent and full of itself, as in its finish and length.  So good as in so great (99M).

DRC Romanée-Conti 2015 had a deep, dark nose with lots of stalky and rocky fruit and a whiff of good wood from the forest.  Red and purple flowers were abundant in this deep wine.  Its palate was rich and long, and while still young it didn’t feel too young.  There was lots of garden goodness to the palate in a royal way.  There was a great, tight, rusty edge and loads of acidity on its “luscious palate of extraordinary power,” noted one.  James Suckling noted “dried strawberry and baby fat - for a baby that goes to the gym” 😂 (98pts)

We inched into the reds with a 1937 Haut Brion. While the 1930s is generally considered a lost decade when it comes to Bordeaux, this HB showed admirably. It had a complex nose with aromas of caramel, bookshelf, mocha and some forest. Its palate was creamy and lush, fresh yet mature. There were candle wax kisses to its palate and nice leather on its finish, along with a touch of signature gravel. Secondary flavors of celery soda and molasses rounded out this toasty Haut Brion (94).

Happy New Year!  May 2023 be one of your best and brightest years ever.  I couldn’t think of a better way to ring in a new year than an article about arguably the greatest wine day I have ever had.  I will let you be the judge.  Part I.

The 1964 Dom Perignon was a touch pinchy and weedy at first, but the bread, butter and honey came and joined the party shortly. No bubbles but great White Burgundy, Bernard insisted. There were citrus, dust and straw edges and a touch of the cat’s meow (pee) that crept out in the glass. It was still excellent, but definitely better a decade prior when it blew me away after being re-released, or perhaps that was just this bottle (94).

The 1990 Romanée Conti sent off a signal that there was trouble in Gotham, but the Batman came to the rescue for DRC and the 1990 vintage with a spectacular bottle of 1990 DRC Romanee Conti!  Now this was the alpha 1990 DRC that I remembered, but never quite like this.  It is not often I get to taste “RC RC,” and this bottle delivered everything I could possibly ask for.  It was deeper and darker than anything day or night.  It had this leathery intensity in its nose, a nose that unfurled in spectacular fashion.  Its finish was also long and intense, such a strong finish, practically endless!  This was clearly a special wine, a mouthful like no other in Burgundy.  It was a black hole of greatness, leaving me mesmerized with its rich and honeyed palate.  There was a bunch of illegible notes at the end, but one note clearly stood out: ‘ENERGY!!!’ (99).