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Hollywood’s own Jefery Levy had invited a small group of friends to come to his new house in LA and celebrate with a cellar raid of anything already in his cellar, which was the first room Jef had dealt with when moving in; obviously, he is one with his priorities straight. a close friend of mine and Matt, always ready to hit where it hurts when it comes to a good cellar raid, were well rested and prepared for an evening of yo ho ho-ing and many bottles of wine, along with Mark, Arthur, Dave, Graham, Steve, Dalia and Chris Tucker, the star of the Rush Hour movies, along with a few others.

If I remember correctly, it was a close friend of mine’s birthday or pretty close to it, so we started with a bottle from his birth year, a 1976 Krug. The Krug had a great, toasty nose with bready and caramel overtones, great seltzer, and a rich and creamy profile. Dalia noted ‘strawberry flavors’ and was 100% correct. There were also caramel flavors, nice grit, and the bubbly was long and balanced, perhaps on a plateau but still with some ascension to it. It was in a really good spot; its acidity was long and fine, and it was rich, meaty, toasty and full of white meat and oil flavors. a close friend of mine gave it ‘5 stars’ (95).

We followed with a 1982 Krug, which had a similar style with the bread and caramel, but it seemed a bit flat in the nose and didn’t have the lift in the mouth, more seltzer and almost watery. It was a flat and affected bottle (DQ).

We had to follow up with one more bubbly accordingly, a 1983 Cristal, which was very fresh and delicate, light on its feet with a lot of seltzer, citrus peel, minerals and a pungent kick. Fresh, very smooth, elegant, but not what I remember when I had it recently out of magnum, the 1983 Cristal was lighter out of bottle but still had some extra acidity (93).

The cellar raid officially begun with a 1959 Mouton Rothschild, which had a great nose, similar to the one I had at Picasso in Las Vegas five days prior, as well as the one I had shortly thereafter at Picholine that I wrote about last week. Its nose was incredibly rich, meaty, honeyed and nutty with carob, caramel, meat, and dripping with coffee fruit. There was also a wealth of rich cassis and grape fruit (not grapefruit!). Dalia pegged ‘white vanilla cream,’ while Phil, a man who knows his wine very well, called it ‘milk.’ There was a similar story on the palate, which was also rich and meaty, as well as smooth, supple and with cedar and slate kisses on its finish but lacking a lot of tannin, but just enough to keep the wine in perspective. It was very close to the other bottle at Picasso, having more fruit but less vigor on its back side. Its rich caramel flavors were ‘pure’ according to a close friend of mine. Graham, also with us in Vegas along with a close friend of mine and Big Boy, was ‘leaning here’ as to his preference between the bottles. This bottle’s palate had more fruit, and that means a lot at age 47 (96).

What better way to follow up the 1959 Mouton is there than a 1961 Latour? This bottle was a great Latour, very fresh and youthful in its nose, dripping with plum and cassis fruit and supporting minerals, slate, walnut and earth. It possessed rich, pure, sweet Bordeaux fruit and had a long finish that was also balanced. Rich, smooth and long, with mature sweet fruit, carob and earth flavors, its tannins were polished and its acidity superb. Dalia got ‘butter.’ A second bottle proved slatier with more tannin and vigor but not the fruit of first one, and although it did get richer with time, Dave found it ‘more powdery’ (97).

The 1961 Palmer was a good place to go next. It also had a rich and creamy nose full of ripe fruit, with an earthy balance and a kiss of benevolent natural gas. Its fruit got sexier and sexier, dark fruits, ‘black currants and pear,’ Dalia observed, while a close friend of mine called her pear ‘more like Lychee. I love this wine, so Burgundian.’ The palate was rich, creamy and long and possessed the best fruit so far. It was so lush and rich, full of mouth-filling fruit and kiss of olive. Wow (98).

A 1955 Trotanoy also had really rich and luscious fruit. We were really on a roll thanks to Jefery’s cellar! Phil commented that the ’55 was ‘better than any 1961 Trotanoy that I have ever had and Trotanoy’s my favorite.’ It was full of red cherry fruit, ‘cafe au lait avec chocolate,’ Dalia added while Phil noted ‘Persian sour cherry and brine from acidity.’ Plums, chocolate, minerals and slate were all to be found on its rich palate, which was tangy and with more sour cherry than the nose, as I instantly saw what Phil was referring to. It was very briary with lots of citric vigor and vim to the palate, busty, fresh and tangy (96).

We changed gears to a 1947 Lopez de Heredia Rioja Gran Riserva Vina Bosconia. It had great cigar aromas along with chocolate and that Spanish leather. Dalia found ‘black olive,’ and there was also earth and graham cracker in its meaty and long nose. The palate had earth, dry vanilla and cedary flavors, and this bottle was much better than the last bottle I had had. There were also great leather flavors and a touch of what I call ‘Spanish egg.’ The Rioja held its own amongst its more distinguished counterparts (93).

The 1975 La Mission Haut Brion was another great nose. I said that I have had nothing but good luck with this sometimes maligned wine, but Matt countered the opposite was true for himself, although he conceded that this was a good one. There was lots of earth, iron, cedar and minerals in the nose. Dalia found ‘green herbs, romaine in French’ and ‘green and brown figs.’ She does have an amazing, innate ability to identify aromas and flavors for someone who does not drink that often. She is always a welcome and fresh perspective. Rich and long, with lots of spice and t ‘n a and vigor to the palate, a close friend of mine humbugged that the ’75 was ‘too tannic, and the wine will dry out.’ Graham also found it ‘bitter.’ I thought that while it was finish-heavy on the palate, it still had plenty of rich fruit to match its very dry vigor, which I loved (97+).

Matt quickly hailed the 1961 La Mission Haut Brion the ‘Wine of the Night.’ Dalia noted ‘red peppers and parsley or garlic,’ whichI saw. There was rich, chunky fruit, dripping black and purple ones, and lots of iron, minerals and cedar. ‘Some lemon cream in the back,’ Dalia cooed. The wine had a divine balance of its wood components, practically perfect. The palate was superb; its acidity blew away the other 1961’s and made me want to downgrade every other wine. Its acidity was that superior. There was great t ‘n a, great vigor, and it was indeed ‘WOTN.’ Phil stuck with the 1955 Trotanoy, but the cedar and mineral flavors of the La Miss were ridiculous. It was a magical bottle that makes tasting old wine so worthwhile and the occasional off bottle a distant and forgotten memory (99).

We started to wind down with the 1983 Lafleur. Phil quickly called it ‘not for me; it doesn’t have the subtlety.’ The 1983 is always a wine with super ripe, Zin-like fruit and this bottle was no exception. Dalia noted ‘hazelnut and pistachio,’ and when I added ‘menthol and mint,’ she corrected me with ‘Moroccan mint.’ Yes, ma’am! Its brambly, Zinny fruit was ‘sunny’ to Dave, and Dalia, who was on fire by this point, added ‘honey and very dark chocolate, cocoa.’ Its rich, Zinfandel wannabe palate still had lots of minerals and rock flavors, and while the palate was very overripe, it was still excellent, but you have to have a bit of a sweet tooth to enjoy (93).

A couple of negociant Burgs rounded out the night. A 1945 Morin Pere & Fils Musigny had a rich, nutty and chapitalized nose. Its palate was honeyed, rich and with sweet cherry, rose and earth flavors. Sweet rich and tasty, it still had good acidity and a nice finish, with some length, meat and intensity although most likely reconditioned (92).

The 1949 T. Moillard Chambolle Musigny was another negociant bottling and had a beautiful nose with a nice elder quality of sweet chapitalized fruit and slaty minterals. Honeyed and with red cherry fruit, it also had a bright citrus musk. Its palate was rich, a touch watered down but extremely tasty and 100% excellent. Rich, meaty and long with excellent definition on the finish with minerals and slate, this 1949 Chambolle was actually just short of outstanding and 100% delicious. Back in the days, the quality of village wines was much better (93).

Some boys were getting a little frisky, so I decided to call it a night before it got ugly. Well, actually, it almost did, but that is another story. Thank you and nice work, Jefery. Keep buying at those Acker Auctions 🙂 !!!