This year’s La Paulee was in San Francisco, and on the Friday night before the big gala, a few lucky gentlemen were invited to dinner at Quince, thanks to the efforts of Tom Terrific and Dapper Dave. Magnums were the theme, and Burgundy was the given. There weren’t too many wines to forgive, as almost everything showed spectacularly. Accordingly, this was an evening no one would forget.

We started with a 1992 Dauvissat Chablis Preuses, and it was it singing. It had a gorgeous nose full of rainwater and yeasty yellow fruit. This was a gamy wine, with aromas of oyster shells, minerals and sun-dried citrus. There was a lot going on, and Dapper Dave commented how this was ‘as good an aged Dauvissat as you can ask for.’ Balanced, delicious, rich and decadent, it sure was (95M).

The 1993 Carillon Bienvenues Batard Montrachet was the only bottle that was slightly off. It was smoky, with white glassy fruit. While smooth and satiny at first, it started to crack up in the glass, as its diamond qualities became zirconia rather quickly, and oxidation emerged (92A-M).

A 1995 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier Montrachet proudly carried the flag for Anne-Claude, who passed away earlier this year. Deep orange and rust penetrated the nose, along with heavy cream and more orange peel. The Distinguished Gentleman called it ‘strikingly great,’ and it was long and classy with nice grit on its finish. There was a dollop of honey in its maturing flavor profile. This nutty Chevy was rock solid (95M).

A 1992 Drouhin Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche followed, and it was very sweet in the nose. It managed to keep it all together, and wasn’t as sweet on the palate. This was a round, satiny and smooth wine, just beautiful and showing that the vintage still has something to say…here and there (94M).

The 1990 Ramonet Batard Montrachet crushed everything so far. ‘Super’ summed it up well. It was very nutty with pure waterfall aromas. It was like ‘Welcome to the Jungle.’ There was a great combination of earth and caramel happening, and Say It Ain’t Joe called it ‘killer.’ This was Ramonet at its finest, and there weren’t many witnesses left after this longer, bigger and better wine (96+M).

The 1991 Ramonet Montrachet followed, and while terroir often trumps vintage, the 1991 couldn’t keep up. It was still excellent, ‘fully in the zone,’ per Dapper. This was much more mature than the 1990, a quality of the vintage for whites. This was earthy, yeasty, gamy and smooth, although someone found it ‘taut and youthful’ (93M).

We crossed the bridge to the world of Pinot Noir, and we began with a world dominator, a magnum of 1988 Roumier Bonnes Mares Vieilles Vignes. This wine was worth the trip to San Francisco. Dapper Dave noted, ‘crazy velvet,’ and he wasn’t talking about Big Boy’s pants lol. Actually, it was thanks to Big Boy that we had this incredibly rare wine. This magnum left all the hens teethless, as only Big Boy could and still can do. My notes started, ‘spectacular wine, out of control great.’ I am getting goosebumps just writing about it again. Its nose had sappy, red cherry fruit with bright bing and traces of citrus. Dave felt it was just entering its plateau. Its palate was long and extraordinary, gritty and powerful. This was a spicy hot mama that left me licking my lips after its last kiss good night. It was so good that it left me concentrated all over (99M).

The 1985 DRC Romanee St. Vivant that followed was dealt a tough hand. It didn’t help itself with its dirty nose, consistent with the bottle I also sampled this year. It still had sappy and seepy red fruit in its dirty nose and leathery palate. While rich and earthy, it got dirtier in the glass, bordering on Tootsie Roll (94M).

A 1978 Clair Dau Bonnes Mares was also rich and earthy, on the greater side than the previous wine. There was great citrus smack to its heavy and honeyed palate. This magnum showed 1978’s sweetness at its finest (95M).

The 1979 DRC Richebourg had an incredible nose full of cedar, cherry oil, honey and cream. There was great acidity to its palate, which had more menthol and cola flavors. This was a spectacular wine, lip smackingly great, and clearly the second best magnum of the night so far (97M).

The 1982 Rousseau Chambertin was flirty and delicious, just right, so to speak. Its finish was still powerful, slightly alcoholic yet rich like Warbucks. There was nothing wrong, just everything right in this mature, tasty Rousseau (94M).

The last magnum on this starry evening would be served blind. Big boy was still in the house, and he was finishing up with a bang. This was a rusty, spicy and zippy wine. It kept me licking the roof of my mouth, and the first guess was ‘1969.’ It wasn’t ’69, but it was a good guess. That rusty and acidity style was all ’69, but others preferred a different position. 1964 and 1959 both entered the conversation, and so did La Tache. Neil Diamonds lassoed the bull with a ’70s DRC’ guess. The wine was a stunning magnum of 1970 DRC Romanee Conti. Producer, producer, producer. This wine was wicked, possessing peel, both of the fruit variety and the see you later one, too (97M).

And many of us would see each other again the night after at La Paulee gala. I have covered this great celebration of Burgundy with full notes in my younger years, but I am not as young as I used to be. So here are the scores for the 30 wines for which I wrote something down, the over/under on wines tasted that aren’t listed is four.

A few brief comments about the night. The Roulot was out of jero thanks to Sir Robert, and another perfect example of why Roulot is now considered one of the world’s greatest white winemakers. Ramonets continued to shock and awe, that mid-seventies to mid-nineties era has very little competition when it comes to white Burgundy. DRC continues to prove bottle after bottle why it is largely considered the greatest producer in the world. There was an overabundance of riches on this night, which would continue late into the evening, but the three standouts were the Liger Belair, the 1990 Roumier and the Meo-Camuzet. Everyone knows by now how great I think Louis Michel’s wines are, and it was exciting to see this young buck stand out amongst the older crowd, wine wise, that is. That is generally a handicap for most wines, serving a younger wine against older ones, but not for Louis Michel. The wines of Liger Belair are both delicious in their youth while still possessing enormous potential. I cannot wait to follow future vintages for decades to come. The 1990 Roumier followed the footsteps of the VV magnum quite admirably. Everything was in the right place, and the wine still felt young. It seized the attention of my palate and delivered a bar that was not met for the rest of the evening….with perhaps one exception, an exception all the more exceptional based on its 1er cru terroir. The 1986 Meo Boudots was an incredible wine, and why not? It was made by Henri Jayer, after all. From 1985-1988, Henri was the winemaker for Meo-Camuzet, making these vintages absolute jewels for Jayer lovers. However, some of these bottles were filtered versus unfiltered, and the unfiltered ones are the best, at least in my opinion. So there is variation. Regardless, this bottle was thrilling, and another testament to the legend that is Henri Jayer.

That’s the happy recap, at least all that’s fit for print.

There was only one white wine served on this night, but what a white wine it was, a 1999 Coche-Dury Corton Charlemagne. How good is that? I rhetorically asked myself, already knowing the answer. The Mogul cooed how ‘silky’ it was. Make no mistake about it, this was a rich and decadent wine with that signature Coche popcorn kernel. I couldn’t stop drinking it; it was that tasty. Its wintry spice had me writing, ‘soooooo good!’ It was round, rich and continuously getting better with each sip, with just the perfect amount of sweetness. Having just done a vertical of twenty vintages of Coche a couple weeks prior, I have to say it felt like it stood out even more on its own. I hope my score was consistent lol (97+).

Unfortunately, a 1959 Ausone was not in the greatest condition. It was clearly advanced and porty, and Gentleman Jim found ‘celery’ in it, along with ‘molasses.’ It was still drinkable, morphing into lots of caramel, but considering the company at the table, no one was drinking it much (92A).

The 1985 Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes was a gargantuan wine. ‘Super’ was quickly followed by ‘duper’ in my notes. There was mega concentration in this freakishly great wine. If sausage were a beverage, and you were a sausage lover, this wine would be the shit, or the tits, which one is better? I guess tits are better lol. Sausage, tits, this wine had everything in the right places. Ok, I’ll stop there, or am I too late already. Cola and black fruits almost created this black hole of wine domination. This was a ‘wow’ wine, heavy duty and super rich. No one could deny this was one of the greatest wines ever made. I wish there were more vintages like this (98).

The 1964 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle was another spectacular wine. The shadow of the 1961 La Chapelle is so large that everything prior and thereafter until the 1978 is practically ignored in the market, but let me tell you there are so many phenomenal old La Chapelles just waiting to be discovered. The ’64 was monumental, and got an immediate ‘incredible’ from Gentleman Jim. This was rich and decadent, as good as anything we had on this starry night. This ’64 might even have outshined certain bottles of ’61. The Mogul likened it to ‘the gates of hell meeting sweet nectar.’ Hell yeah (98).

2015 was a very good year. Except for me writing articles about tasting wines. I went on a hiatus, a sabbatical, a leave of absence if you will, but I wasn’t absent. I just looked over an entire year of tasting notes, handwritten, of course, and it filled me with lots of great memories, joy and a few “where the f*@k was I’s?”

I just realized that I need to remember to date and location stamp where I am when I am at a serious tasting, but I think I knew where I was about 80-90% of the time. Is that good lol? 120 flights and 300,000+ miles will do that to a man.

My original plan was to get back in the writing saddle and set the bar with my greatest memories of 2015. Seven weeks later, I realize that may be a bit too ambitious for me currently. Am I getting older, busier or better? Fret not, I am still drinking better, and about a month ago in Hong Kong saw me at my first great tasting of the year. The Sifu was the host, and for those that love their fine wine, there is no better host in Hong Kong, and arguably the world.

I had told the Sifu earlier in the week that I would be bringing a pair of 2011 White Burgundies: a Lafon Montrachet and a Bouchard Chevalier La Cabotte. Not bad for a dinner party right? I handed them over to him upon arrival, and he quickly handed them over to one of his staff, never to be seen again. Based on the wines that would follow, that would be quite alright.

The fourth wine was clearly another Bordeaux. It was classic in every sense of the word, a super wine that was so well-knit. I was thinking 1975 La Mission, but it was a 1961 Mouton Rothschild. ‘Sleek and silky,’ this wine was the most pure, the youngest and with the most potential. It had true grit and true elegance. This was a ‘wow’ wine, although the first bottle served was clearly better. It takes two to make a wine dinner go right, you know (96).

What could possibly be next? We were in the palm of The Sifu’s hand right now, mere puppets in his show. He could have served us anything at this point, but he served us a 1978 DRC La Tache. Sifu, I love you man. Its nose was deep and dark, black, blue and purple. It was so rich and so great, decadent Burgundy at its finest. The word ‘decadent’ kept coming up, which is a good thing. Kisses of cedar and garden had me asking myself in my notes, ‘Is it DRC?’ It was another ‘wow’ bottle from The Sifu (98).

I know I haven’t been writing, but I definitely have been drinking. Bottoms up!

Now not many people can invite eight guests to a dinner party, ask everyone their birthyear, and come up with eleven wines from five different vintages from six different wine regions. This is a true drinker’s collection, and what makes this ‘A Great American Cellar.’ On to the wines…

The 1971 Krug Champagne was next, his first experience with truly great Champagne back in 1982, and ‘it has gotten even better.’ This was pure apple pie, in a dry and sophisticated way, with supporting aromas of bread crust and honey. Round and long, this was a perfect bottle, emitting butter crumb flavors with a smoky and toasty personality. It got more and more buttery with time in the glass, and cream soda and earth switched sides of the court well and often. That was my birthyear, by the way (97).

The 1958 Clos des Lambrays had a lot of metal at first, but there was some surprisingly great fruit underneath. There was a bit of a reconditioning debate that ensued, but this ended up clean and pretty with pleasant red fruit. This was the vintage of both our hosts (92).

The 1947 Clos des Lambrays was a stunner. It had a fabulous nose that was super aromatic with great spice. Mint, painted wall, autumn and lovely red fruit blended into its great aroma and flavor profile. Appealing grill qualities emerged in this gritty, cherry bomb of a wine (96).

The cellar was now an impressive ’10 for 10,’ as one guest put it. There was one wine to go. Our cellar’s story came full circle with a bottle of 1971 Von Simmern Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen Trockenbeerenauslese. Say that ten times quickly! Thankfully, we didn’t have to, as our mouths were already full of this decadent nectar, which almost looked like a Burgundy at the right angle. But this was no Burgundy. This was a rich, deep wine with loads of coffee, petrol, forest, molasses and oil. There was this Milanese edge to its motor oil, and this was a butterball of a mouthful of sweet wine (96).

The evening was a perfect snapshot of this Great American Cellar, a true drinker’s cellar that will continue to reward hundreds of new drinkers over the next 35 years. I look forward to sharing many more great nights together with this true connoisseur accordingly, and with bottles from his cellar with many of you!