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While Greater China and the USA are the two lions sharing most of the free market’s fine and rare wine in the world today, there is a third lion, perhaps more of a cub when it comes to its wine, but one that already knows how to roar. I try to go to Brazil at least twice a year, as the passion, energy and culture of the Brazilian people is a true joy to share. Of course, it is more joyous when there are bottles of wine on the table, and the most joyous when they are the world’s finest and rarest.

One of my first and dearest friends in Brazil is known as The Ringmaster. The name is self-explanatory, and The Ringmaster once again planted a seed for a tremendous day to grow into one of the most memorable meals I have had all year. The Maestro was our host, a man who loves wine as much as any that I have ever met, and his spectacular apartment in Sao Paulo was the setting for a lunch that went well into the evening.

The second Krug in this flight I guessed correctly, with it being a 1990 Krug Clos du Mesnil. There was immediately more oak noticeable in the nose. It had the most power of the flight, but it was a bit dirty and clumsy by comparison to the first Champagne. It was rich and round with soda and cracker qualities, and the vanilla came in as the oak morphed a bit in the glass (95+).

The 1988 Krug Clos du Mesnil was delicious; it was the most ready to go and approachable, which is why I thought it was the 1990 regular. It was quite tasty with citrus and toffee twists, along with pleasant spices and a nice mahogany or interior wood quality. However, it was lighter than the first two! The ’88 has long been one of my favorite Krug vintages, so I was surprised with its more demure personality. It got more limey in the glass (95).

At first, I preferred the 1999 Ramonet Montrachet, whose mintier nose was a giveaway for Ramonet. It felt a lot more wound up and intense than the DRC in the beginning. There was great spice and super spine here, a bit in the S&M direction, as the wine whipped my palate into submission (97).

The 1999 Lafon Montrachet was unfortunately oxidized (DQ), so The Maestro quickly disappeared to his cellar for a mystery white to replace it. He noted ‘sesame’ in the nose, while The Ringmaster found ‘peach marmalade.’ It was leaner than the 1999 and reminded me of the 2000 vintage a bit, but in a much younger way. My guesses were all over the place, and I was thinking older than it really was. The Traveling Man guessed 2009, and he was a lot closer to the actual vintage of this 2012 DRC Montrachet. It was still baby juice compared to the 1999s; I recommend waiting at least ten years before cracking those DRC Montys (94+).

The 1988 Leroy Richebourg was much richer with a cherry cough syrup thing happening, not in a negative way. It was rich and almost syrupy, oily and long with loads of black fruits on its finish. At first, I found the two Richebourgs qualitatively equal despite being stylistically different (both around 95 points), but after some time in the glass, I agreed with Dr. Feelgood that the DRC was the better wine (94).

Interestingly, the second C du P was a bit yeasty and weird at first. There was this dirty pool water thing as the Rayas giggled its way into my heart. The 1990 Bonneau Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve des Celestins was clearly stronger and blacker; it flexed a lot more muscle and sprinkled a lot of pepper around the nose. Its dirty qualities transformed into oats and cereal, along with a lot of farm goodness. In the end, the Celestins was deeper, longer and more complex (96+).

The North was, as you might guess, a Chave La Chapelle throwdown. The 1978 Chave Hermitage had a sweet and perfumed nose with light pepper, gorgeous violet and whiffs of bacon, all in the right places. This was very classic, very rich and very round (96).

As good as the Chave was, the 1978 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle was one of the wines of the day so far. There was so much animal here with loads of menthol. The was a gamey and meaty wine that was absolutely delicious and oh so good. ‘GREAT’ summed it up (98).

The 1959 Mouton Rothschild was stronger and longer, clearly the better bottle. Its cassis, chocolate and mint were divinely proportioned and present. This was a red wine that was actually a cheese killer ”“ usually cheese kills red wines but not this time. This was a classic claret, with that unique Mouton style, in a perfect place (98).

A ‘serious’ blind wine was served next, and the Romanee Conti guesses came quickly. There was this autumnal oil to the nose, along with sweet brown sugar, menthol, gingerbread and more spice. This was a ‘crazy time’ wine. More sweet brown sugar and oats played together nicely on the palate, and this lip smacking red had a citrus spank to its finish that hurt so good. It wasn’t from the 1990s, not 1980s, had to be 1978 RC, I mused. It was a stunningly good bottle of 1988 DRC Romanee Conti. Wow. I was impressed, not only how good, but how much more ready it was than I thought an ’88 would be. I need to investigate a few more from this vintage in early 2018 (98+)!