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Happy New Year Everyone! May 2014 be your best year yet. Life can often be measured in extremes; good and evil, love and hate, black and white, make that red and white. And on one special night before Christmas, a group of New York’s finest wine lovers got together in the nest of its finest new restaurant, Charlie Bird, with a lineup of extraordinary wines, made all the more extraordinary by the people who brought them. This was a special group of friends and wine lovers that go way, way back, a group that has collectively accounted for many great memories. It was only fitting to spend one Christmas night with all of them, living and loving.
Yummy Bird Food
That’s what I have tried to do, live wine and love wine, and Champagne is always a good place to start. And so we began with a spectacular 1947 Krug Collection magnum. There were only four possible people in the world that would have brought this out of magnum, and Wolfgang was still in Europe. Three of the others were at this dinner, but Big Boy will get the credit. What an incredible magnum this was, possessing a great nose full of creamy vanilla fruit and sex. The King of Champagne (one of Big Boy’s many aliases) was already finding ‘tertiary’ aromas. This was a rich, long, round and delicious magnum, with just enough fizz to make it more interesting than the most interesting man in the world. I mean, obviously the guy would drink fine wine, right? The bar had been set high, early (98M).
A trio of Bollygood started with an affected 1949 Bollinger. There was an immediate note of paint thinner, never a great sign. However, the palate had great texture, still rich with nice spritz. It was long and could have been an incredible wine, but it was an affected bottle (94A).
The 1961 Bollinger was solid as a rock. Someone noted ‘shellfish and minerality,’ comparing it to a great Chablis. It was classy and long with nice citrus flavors, ‘wine of the flight’ per BB (96).
Bond. James Bond.
The 1966 Bollinger came close to the ’61. It was rich and full with more orange flavors, but it didn’t quite have the length or acid of the ’66. It was still outstanding (95).
We segued to the reds with a couple of white magnums, thanks to Big Mike and The Punisher, in that order. These two whites made me wish more people brought white wines to events, it’s ok . Especially when the whites are like a magnum of 1949 Haut Brion Blanc…f*ck me very much, talk about rare. This was a combination of bloody rare and crime scene bloody. ‘Christmas tree’ came from the crowd. Sir Robert Bohr found it ‘waxy with lanolin.’ There was this cray cray glue-like complexity to the nose, and a ‘wow how you like me now?’ oomph to the palate. It was full of honey flavors, in a perfect spot. It was like this insane mix of potpourri and a Rocky Mountain high. Lady Agah noted, ‘little Japanese white mushrooms,’ you know, those emoji lol. It was still so sweet and so great, Big Boy contributed ‘apricots’ while another ‘white pineapple’ (97M).
The Punisher was actually a surprise guest. He was invited, but his way of confirming was ‘what time?’ I now know better. He was accordingly and mercifully left off the email chain before dinner; I am sure Big Mike would have gladly traded places. Thankfully, The Punisher always has at least two bottles and two magnums on him, one of which was the 1986 Domaine Leflaive Batard Montrachet, in magnum. It had typical 1986 to it, with sweet corn and honey oozing from its nose, make that candy corn. Its palate was rich and sweet with more honey. It had a mature finish; this wine was on a plateau, but it wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, at least out of magnum (95M).
He Went Thataway
The Red Burgundies on this night were not so starry, beginning with an oxidized 1952 Vogue Musigny Vieilles Vignes. I could see how a good bottle would be great, but this wasn’t one of them (DQ).
A 1952 DRC Richebourg was a better showing for this secretly fabulous vintage for red Burgundy. The Riche had lots of red rover fruit and fresh garden aromas. It was round, lush and creamy with a softer finish yet long acid. It got better in the glass and was fuller than the 1940 La Tache that would follow. The ’52 DRC got ‘The Empty Glass Toast’ from La Machina, formerly known as The Cardinal, but we’ll get to that a bit later. (94).
The 1943 DRC Richebourg was oxidized, ‘awkward but powerful’ (DQ).
Now for that 1940 DRC La Tache, the last bottle of red Burgundy on this night. It was an unusually short and sweet appearance for the Pinots; the original theme of ‘1940s’ probably had something to do with it. This rare 1940 had an elegant nose, but it clearly didn’t have the weight of a great vintage. There was a hint of VA here as well, but its palate was balanced and elegant with flavors of rose and red fruits. It was a lovely wine (91).
DRC Doozies
It was on to our featured attraction of Bordeaux with a 1928 Cos d’Estournel thanks to The Rev. It was a bottle that was reconditioned in 1988. La Machina noted ‘catcher’s mitt.’ That’s pronounced the Spanish way, La Maqueena or Makeena, I can’t remember exactly, but some of you may remember him as The Cardinal, and those of you that really know him, including everyone at this dinner, remember him as King Angry. He gave up the throne for religion, but he never could quite fully repent, and now he is half-man, half-machine, possibly the first cyborg of his kind. Back to the Cos, which had a nice, deep nose that was very nutty and buttery. There were aromas of cocoa butter, cedar, carob and sweet fruit. The palate had some heavy cream qualities and was tasty and smooth with a hint of citrus (93).
A Kiss of Cos
The 1928 Haut Brion that followed was a bit controversial, good at first revealing signature coffee and espresso in the nose, but turning quickly sour on the palate to the point of (DQ).
A 1945 Latour reaffirmed the fact that 1945 is likely the greatest vintage of all-time. This was a spectacular bottle with a rich, sweet nose full of cassis, black fruit and walnut. It kept getting richer, deeper and blacker. There was amazing ‘fruit concentration’ per one, along with delicious chocolate flavors. Big Mike found it ‘very rich,’ while La Machina noted ‘a touch of gym socks.’ Gentleman Jim found it more like ‘panties.’ It was about that time (98).
The 1945 Lafite Rothschild was outstanding in its own right, a Shylock selection. It was another great nose, full of cedar, chocolate, cassis and other classic aromas. Its palate was elegant, long and fine, but there was still meat on dem bones. It was really tasty and classy, but no match for the Latour (95).
The Greatest of All Time?
It was coming Noah’s Ark style, two by two, and next up was a 1948 La Mission Haut Brion. It got a ‘great’ from La Machina, possessing excellent aromas of wheat, white smoke, carob and light toasted nuts. This was a rich wine, as good as the vintage gets in the Left Bank. That’s a La Mission characteristic, to exceed expectations in tougher or tricky years. Gentleman Jim noted ‘hazelnuts’ and also found it ‘rich and tasty’ (95).
Riding Dirty
The 1948 Latour was simple and easy by comparison, round and soft with tender black fruits. Easy, soft and simple reappeared in my notes (90).
Time was flying by, and it was already 1949, a 1949 Mouton Rothschild, to be precise. This was another great nose, thick with coffee grinds and a pinch of green bean. This bottle was courtesy of Bad Boy, aka Bruce The Returner. Since he was only the third owner since release, he wasn’t returning this one . This was rich and fleshy with nice grit in the mouth. There were tobacco flavors, wet, brown and green ones all rolled in one. This was right on the border of outstanding, so I rounded up (95).
Mouton Madness
Our first Right Banker was a solid 1952 Cheval Blanc. It had a great nose, full of rich spice and decidedly different. It felt heavy in a loading up for winter way, dark red in hue. Its palate was softer and easier, round with some vim. There was still some oily, meaty and gamey goodness in this tasty wine (94).
It was another winning showing for La Miss with the paired 1952 La Mission Haut Brion. Its nose was great, with lots of asphalt melting out of it. This was another rich and tasty wine that was big and black with its midnight fruit. There was hot summer sweat here, even though it was the heart of December (95).
We were almost finished with the Bordeaux, but we had to have a couple ’61s to close. 1928-1961 is a pretty good lesson when it comes to Bordeaux, and the 1961 Haut Brion was up for the final chapter. Its nose was full of slate and meaty fruit, along with tobacco, forest and mint. Its palate was also minty, and it had some good horsey to it. This was a bottle reconditioned in 1980 or 1982, I couldn’t quite read it. This was a long, smooth and satiny wine (96).
The 1961 Mouton Rothschild was up for the ’61 Challenge. It also had a minty nose, but in a different way than the HB. The Mouton felt richer and was more minty, showing flashes of ’47 and ’74 Heitz on top (96).
A 1971 Petrus from an OWC finished our Bordeaux in fine fashion, it had a similar gamey and coconutty nose to a recent 1970, although the ’70 outweighs the ’71. The ’71 was still rich and long, an outstanding wine as well (95).
OWC Me
Big Mike dropped the hammer with a near-perfect bottle of 1961 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle. This was a sick wine, with a nose more intense than anything prior. This was a city unto itself, so intricate and so complex with so many nooks and crannies. There were great roasted menthol flavors here, and hearty alcohol to match. This was a beautiful monster, as good as it gets (99).
A magnum of 1978 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle was the right idea, but unfortunately slightly corked. It was rich and solid overall, but masked. Meat, asphalt and acid stood out (95A-M).
Out With a Bang Zoom
Everyone started to stumble out one by one, but those of us that were left were treated to a perfect bottle of 1979 Salon thanks to Bad Boy. That’s what we call ‘and one’ (97).
It was the happiest of holiday parties. 2014 was starting to feel pretty good.
In Vino Veritas,
JK
