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We reconvened the next night for the first of two DRC friendly evenings, the first being the more intimate of the two, an eighteen vintage vertical of DRC Montrachet. I can safely say there was no better place to be in the wine world on this night!

We began the evening with a magnum of 1975 Dom Perignon that was super fresh out of the gate, flirtatious and flirting with outstanding. It was an excellent start to an excellent evening, and while ’75 is not in the same category as many other of the better vintages that surround it, good bottles are quite pleasurable (94M).

The 1969 Krug was another fresh bottle with lots of apple juice action. This was a superb and zippy Champagne, in outstanding territory for sure and almost even more (96).

The Punisher seemed to think the 2012 DRC Montrachet was still quite young, but I was enthralled with this admittedly still wound-up wine. Its deep, buttery nose had great stony spice and musk. It was rich, decadent and intense and yes, a bit young, but still quite showy. It had a strong finish. Someone commented that it was great but ‘just young’ (96+).

The 2005 DRC Montrachet displayed some more milky and yeasty aromas. It was tight and a bit pins and needles-y. There was some intensity, but it was more restrained despite its dried caramel flavors and a touch of butterscotch. Someone hailed it as ‘a great bottle of 2005’ (for this wine), and while I was not sure it will improve much, I knew that it definitely will age (95+).

The 2004 DRC Montrachet was the most floral and so sweet, decadent, lush, and creamy. Mmmmm delicious stuff. Since I just reviewed it the night before, I kept my notes short. The Ambassador was feeling like opening up new trade relations and gave it 99 points lol, but he wasn’t too far off (97).

We carried on with 2001 DRC Montrachet, which was grassy and gamy with pungency as well. There were lots of waterfall aromas. The palate was much richer than the ’04 and also sweet on the botrytis side, but not as much as the ’08. The Ambassador hailed this vintage as ‘smokin,’ but to me it didn’t have the depth on the finish to be at the tippy top of the point scales. Christian noted the wine’s great lift (96+).

I have always loved the 2000 vintage of this wine, but the 2000 DRC Montrachet might be finally turning a corner and past its prime. This bottle was more mature than memory served me, with lots of waterfall and subpar flesh. It was a bit alcoholic on the finish. This was a gamy, yeasty, chalky and stony wine. Someone called it ‘still good but not the same as it was’ (93).

The 1993 DRC Montrachet was the Miss Congeniality of the night, as it was delicious and a right down the middle fastball of a Monty. It had great butterscotch, pecan and toffee flavors, still all bridled and reined in that proper equestrian way. Christian found it ‘super sexy,’ or his eyes might have been off the table lol. It was also Hollywood Jef’s favorite, getting 99 points from him. On Sunset Boulevard, that’s locally known as a JL ‘fully erect’ lol (96).

The 1998 DRC Montrachet had a musky and wintry nose. It was delicate, feminine and floral on its nose, but its palate was briny and spiny. This was an excellent Montrachet but just short of outstanding (94).

The 1997 DRC Montrachet was delicious and so good right now, a veritable right thurrr. This was a great Montrachet, surprisingly intense and punching way above its weight class with massive acidity. 1997 was an excellent vintage for whites, but nothing I have ever had from that year was this powerful (96)!

The color on the 1995 DRC Montrachet was a bit dark, but the palate was still excellent. It tasted what I wrote as ‘normal,’ but it felt a step behind the best wines. Its palate was drier with lots of caramel flavors (94).

The 1991 DRC Montrachet was a solid wine, a bit square but nice and pleasing. Its palate was intense despite the weaker vintage tag, at least for the whites (93).

The Ambassador exclaimed that the 1990 DRC Montrachet was ‘spectacular!’ That was true, and this was surely the best wine of the night so far. It had incredible balance in a muscular way and was rich and intense with another ‘so’ long finish that kept unfurling. The Attorney General didn’t like it so much, which caused me to write ‘WTF LOL.’ Hollywood Jef declared that it was like the ‘sweetest pussy ever,’ and I can’t quite read my writing after that, but he either said ‘other than’ or ‘better than my wife’ lol. Yes, it was that time of the night (98).

The 1985 DRC Montrachet was also great, are you sensing a theme? It had nectar-like honeysuckle aromas and flavors to match with delicious and decadent rainwater and butter flavors as well. This was in a great spot (97).

The 1979 DRC Montrachet was unfortunately (DQ),completely shot as in cooked/oxidized/gone etc.

The 1973 DRC Montrachet was still pleasant but a little light and square. I appreciated its delicacy and floral edges, but it was no match for the ’78 (93).

And that was that. The next night was the main event at Hollywood Jef’s home in Beverly Hills, where over sixty people came to enjoy and share nothing but wines from DRC. It’s not often you get Wolfgang Puck and Masa at the same party, but this was Hollywood Jef, after all. Everyone seemed to gather around the dining room table that might have sit twelve comfortably, but it also seemed to fit sixty bottles quite nicely. I tasted thirty-two:

For a recap, 1999 La Tache ruled the roost, again, and The Rev blessed that sentiment. There are few DRC wines that are better, and even though it is relatively young, it is and has always been incredible. The ’99 RC needs some more time, but it will catch up. The ’88 RC showed why RC RC needs thirty years anyway before they get interesting, and this was an intense spanking of a wine. The ’02 and ’91 LTs were awesome, and the 1985 DRC Richebourg was in a great spot, and the 1996 Richebourg was just starting to come out of its shell, kicking its way out for sure. The 1957 Riche was delicious and another in a long line of ’57 DRCs delivering in the presence of Bad Boy. The 1947 Richebourg was the oldest wine on the table, outstanding and holding on in an autumnal way with band-aid, leather, chalk and black fruits. Ok I have been writing all afternoon, and it is Sunday. The rest were what we thought they were. Hey Hollywood, I have a suggestion for you: 1961s for 61. Call me : )