Every year, we here at Acker have a fun, holiday tradition – a BYO party at The Tribeca Grill where over 100 people get together and share bottles from their cellars. It is an evening that underscores the essence of wine itself – sharing and love. It is also an evening that can get a bit out of control, as there can be a dizzying amount of wines in the room, not only moving around at any given table, but also moving around the room with their owners. It is always an amazing, random mix of so many great wines, a kinetic winergy rarely equaled.

Last year, somehow the schedule got messed up, and I could not attend. I was determined not to miss it two years in a row, and I flew back from Hong Kong just to make it in time to step off a plane, sleep for four hours, and wake up for dinner. It was worth the effort. Perhaps the jet lag got the best of me, as my record # of tasting notes for this event was 52 this year I had only 26, but what a 26 they were.

It began innocently enough with a 2008 Sauzet Chevalier Montrachet. 2008 White Burgs can be ripe and rich, and this had some yeasty, sweet fruit and a round finish. I wanted a little more out of this wine, which felt a little simple by the usual Sauzet and Chevalier standards (92).

I couldn’t ask for anything more from the 2000 Coche-Dury Meursault Perrieres. What a wine. This was fabulous from first sniff, full and quite rich for 2000. It had signature white fruits and that Coche kink, and it still felt young and ascending. This was a monumental expression of Chardonnay (96).

That was it for the whites yes, it is still a red, red world, although I am a big consumer of white wines personally. We began with Bordeaux a debate would ensue the next night about Bordeaux before Burgundy or Burgundy before Bordeaux, but on this night we went South to North. A 1949 Lafite Rothschild was a little weedy and musty but classic underneath. It was a gentle giant with classic pencil aromas and tender tea flavors. This was a wine enjoying its retirement, although affected by the cork (93A).

A shot of 1990 Vogue Musigny Vieilles Vignes quickly interrupted the Bordeaux courtesy of the Rapmaster, and this was better than usual. This has been a controversial wine for a while now, often coming across stewed, gamey and/or milky, but sometimes not. This was a solid wine, displaying some richness and robust qualities along with roasted red fruits. It was still a bit square and rugged, but I didn’t mind the flavor profile of this particular bottle. Perhaps this wine will always be a tale of two bottles (92).

A 1982 Margaux was classic all the way. It had really nice fruit with fifty shades of black and purple. While there was deep fruit, there was delicate spice and that typical Margaux seductiveness. Its palate was round and lush with nice tannins. This is still grace in a glass (95+).

The 1970 Petrus remains one of my favorite wines from this important Chateau. Why? Well, it’s a great vintage and it’s about the same price as the ‘lesser’ young vintages. The smart money that drinks will stick with the ’70, or other oldies of the sorts. The Petrus had rich fruit and a coconutty kink. This was meaty and chewy accordingly, a rich brew courtesy of some Pomerol witchcraft. Lush and complete, the ’70 sang like a baritone and stung like a bee (96).

A Holiday Flight

We finally made it to the red Burgundies it was a lot of work to get here, but we were primed and ready. The Copperhead signed, sealed and delivered with a 1990 Rousseau Chambertin. This was a ‘wow’ wine, possessing green bean goodness in its nose along with some wet bamboo. There were delicious and rich red fruit flavors that had that green, stalky goodness. The bamboo stayed and had no zled. This was a long, elegant yet substantial wine. Someone mentioned ‘Catherine Deneuve’ (97).

I brought a 1990 Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes. Why would I bring the 1990 Ponsot? Well, it happened to be the best bottle of Burgundy hanging out in the store, and I had just stepped off a 16-hour flight it was an easy decision. Unfortunately, it was slightly corked. If you could get past its corked qualities, there was a rich, beefy and saucy wine that was one of the most concentrated of the night. There were menthol and meat flavors, but this was definitely corked to the point where it was tough to continue. Someone mentioned ‘Brigitte Bardot.’ If I had to guestimate, I would put this wine in the (96A) category. It would definitely be outstanding were it not corked.

1990 Greatness

The 1993 Roumier Chambolle Musigny Amoureuses let me know that 1993s weren’t all shut down at the moment. This had a fantastic nose that was rich and much more complicated than either of the previous ’93s. This had juice that was loose, and it ‘KO’d the Bonne Mares,’ as one guest put it. Although it was clearly better on this night, I wasn’t 100% certain it was the better wine. This was rich, open and dare I say ready. For a 1993 red Burg, that’s almost an insult lol (97).

Seeing Double

I probably took a swallow of another 6-8 wines, but I stopped writing after two of them, an excellent, hearty and solid 1990 Faiveley Chambertin Clos de Beze (94) and a sweet, buttery and corny 2001 Ramonet Batard Montrachet (93).

That’s all folks!

The Ugly Aftermath

It’s tough to find a good bottle of Bordeaux in New York City…an open one, at least. Well, there just happens to be a few good Americans left that still love their Bordeaux…old and mature, of course. Thanks to The Mogul, who is probably atop the Bordeaux drinking charts in the USA, many of New York’s wine cognoscenti were reminded of just how good a great old Bordeaux can be, or visa versa.

True to form, The Mogul got up and excused himself from his own dinner, leaving us all in blissful shock and awe. He had another date after dinner. Actually, he had two.

I don’t really keep up with all the wines I drink. Not sure if that is a problem, I kind of look at it as a pleasure. Writing gives me joy, but sometimes joy is best kept behind closed doors lol. Not sure if I am getting wiser, but I am definitely getting older, but as long as there is wine on my dinner table, it’s all good.

So September saw me taking two trips to Asia in the same week. I am the worst travel agent, by the way. By the time I came back and gave birth to October’s HK sale, Fall was in full swing. Everyone was back in New York, and my first official week back had me seeing a few familiar faces such as The Don, The Rev, The Inspector and The Queen. Yes, if you don’t have a ‘The’ in front of your name, then you aren’t the one lol. I have a new one on the way, by the way, my fourth and final chapter. Thinking about naming him Kareem Abdul Kapon, has a nice ring to it.

The 2007 Lafon Meursault Perrieres was smooth and direct like NFL Sundays. It had clean fruit, white with a touch of yellow along diamonds and minerals. There was nice flex to its muscle in this cut and fit white (94).

A stellar bottle of 1986 Leflaive Bienvenues Batard Montrachet made one of my nights. It had just the right amount of sweetness, not over top like many siblings from the vintage, ‘deelish’ came to mind. This was an impressive and lingering ’86, still young and still tight, just how I like it (95).

A 1999 Roumier Bonnes Mares was another ballgame, delivering a game-winning hit. This was still young, hinting at its wealth, but it kept its wallet in its pocket. There were cascades of red, purple and black fruit but none on obvious display. It had flesh without being fleshy, and flavor without being fruity. Earth and cedar sprinted up and down its sidelines, trying to get in the game. I loved the wine, but it still felt way too soon (95).

We began with the Rhone, so let’s end with it. A 1995 Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf du Pape was a bit shut down, simpler than I expected, not the usual extrovert. It didn’t get better over a long evening, either. Hopefully this was just any given bottle or any given phase, it just wasn’t any giving wine on this night (92).

It was a busy week, indeed, although no Bordeaux, but The Mogul would take care of that rather quickly and in the finest of fashions…

Burgundy is a nice place to be. Food, wine, friendship, it really seems to all come together in Pinot harmony. It is even nicer when the friends at the dinner table are some of the great winemakers and representatives in all of Burgundy. They all brought their own wines, of course, and we brought a few others from both inside and outside the region, as we figured they could use a change of pace. We served the wines we brought blind, to add a bit of fun and test the experienced palates of our guests and their spouses.

There were a couple of whites, and neither was a Chardonnay. After some discussion, Sylvain, aka ‘The Scholar,’ deduced that this was a white from Didier Dageneau. Impressive! It was, indeed, a 2009 Dageneau Pouilly Fume Silex. This was full-bodied and heavy for a Sauvignon Blanc, reminding me of a Montrachet in its unique way. The flavors of the grape were not pungent or overstated in this big and classy white (93).

The next white was easily identifiable as a Riesling; it was a surprisingly good 1994 Fritz Haag Braunburger Juffer Riesling Spatlese. Why surprisingly? Well, it was 1994, a vintage I don’t remember meaning much, and it wasn’t destructively sweet. Time had mellowed its sugar. I love Riesling, but dry Riesling, so I tend to shy away from Spatleses and Ausleses, preferring the younger ‘GG’s aiming for a drier style. However, with age, the Spats and Ausleses start to dry. Perhaps twenty years for a Spat, and 30+ for an Aus? I don’t confess to know 100%, I should do an older Riesling tasting soon. Back to the wine, which had aromas of wool, sweet petrol and peach. Its palate was full with sweet flesh but a dry finish. There were nice flavors to this ‘still young’ wine (93).

We were back to mystery territory, which happened to be the same terroir. This wine was clearly more mature, also gamy but similar with its wheaty nose. Eric found it ‘very elegant,’ and everyone was loving the extra age and resulting blossoming. This 1989 Drouhin Bonnes Mares was rich, creamy and long, but in the end, the Vogue surged past it ever so slightly (93).

We ended with a pair of ambassadors from some of those ‘other’ regions in France. Sylvain admired the first wine’s ‘Burgundy nose’ and continued ‘old yet fresh.’ There was a lot of chocolate to its creamy nose. The palate was rich and heavy but a touch clumsy. There were flavors of wheat, earth and mushrooms in this 1947 Rouget, a Pomerol. It had fairly nice acidity still for the hot vintage of 1947 (93).

In the end, the 2002s were still bottle strong and showing even better, just a small addendum to this wonderful evening. It will always be a good night when in Burgundy with friends.