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Big Boy has a lot of monopolies. One of them is great wine events in the month of December. Tradition always has me chez Rosania on New Year’s Eve, and previous articles of his incredible events to ring in the New Year have already been published for the last few years. After 2009, someone needs to call the FTC, because this past New Year’s Eve, it officially got out of hand, in the greatest sense possible.

I arrived a bit late and missed a handful of things, like 1989 Krug, 1989 Krug Clos du Mesnil and 1979 Pommery. Oh, well. Other commitments had me on the tardy side, but I was able to get in the swing of things rather quickly. By the time I arrived, Slover, who was to be helping everyone keep up with the onslaught of wines all night, was already a couple blocks away in Lenox Hill Hospital from a sabering accident. It just goes to show all you kids out there that sabering is not something that should be done unless under proper adult supervision. Four stitches later, however, Slover had admirably recovered and was back at wine control, albeit a little limp-wristed for the rest of the evening.

Every wine was served out of at least magnum, with a few Jeros making their way into the lineup later in the evening. The theme of the evening was vintages ending in the year ‘9,’ which is probably the luckiest number when it comes to vintages of the last 100 years.

The first wine on which I laid my lips was a 1979 Krug Collection. It was the same as it ever was, still very young and at least a decade away from being approachable if you ask me. Its finish requires rocket fuel, as it has that much power and acidity. Hints of milk and wood were a bit out of sync from other recent experiences. Gentleman Jim noted, ‘light in its flavors like an Angel Food Cake.’ Indeed, the 1979 Krug Collection is all about the backside at the moment, but there is enough there to merit an outstanding rating, although this particular magnum didn’t make me want to add a ‘plus’ sign as usual (95M).

A 1979 Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill was a bit disappointing. Nothing was wrong with the bottle, but it seemed to lack that boom boom pow. As Big Boy observed, ‘it was a little light and didn’t pop.’ The nose was stone city. The palate was long, gritty and grainy with white fruits and wheat, but I expected more from this normally outstanding cuvee (92M).

The ‘regular’ 1979 Krug was fantastic. The nose was big, bready and toasty with hints of egg, varnish and mahogany. It was deep, open, rich and expressive with lots of meaty, gamy fruit. The palate also had great fruit and finish; its flavors were open and hinting at key lime, while its length was still impressive, indicating that the words ‘Collection’ and ‘Clos du Mesnil’ are not necessary for a Krug to be ageworthy (96M).

It was time for some red wines, and Big Boy was in a Pomerol state of mind. We warmed up with the 1989 Petrus. Man, I love this wine. 1989 is clearly the greatest modern-day Petrus, the one against which all others should be measured. We’ll see how vintages like 1998, 2000 and 2005 develop, but they will all have to answer to this vintage. The ’89 was unreal as always, even more of a behemoth out of magnum, infantile in its initial expression, and all the more brooding. There was still fruit showing, and its acidity was hidden at first but slowly uncoiled to reveal regality. Big Boy observed its ‘vahlrona chocolate.’ This wine was quite hedonistic, packed and stacked with chocolate, plums and earth, adding up to near-perfection again (99M).

The Petrus was paired with a 1989 Lafleur out of double-magnum. Dapper Dave noted, ‘leaner but more open, great.’ He preferred the nose of the Lafleur and the palate of the Petrus. The Lafleur was definitely more fragrant, with hints of olive to go with classic Pomerol fruit. I was surprised by the Lafleur’s approachability, especially since it was out of double magnum, and even more so since this wine has blown me away with its power on more than one occasion out of standard bottle. There was long acidity and chalky flavors here, and the crowd observed ‘porcini’ and ‘Nebbiolo cherry.’ It was still outstanding, but this wine should be in that 97-99 point category, and this double magnum wasn’t (95D).

A pair of 1949 magnums were next, also from the Holy Land known as Pomerol. When it comes to magnums of 1940s Pomerols, you either believe or you don’t, so all non-believers can feel free to skip the next two paragraphs. Anyone who was treated to a glass of either wine, however, would find it difficult to say anything negative or defamatory about either of these two nectars.

The first was a 1949 Clos L’Eglise Clinet, which had what I would call a ‘typical’ Nicolas Pomerol profile. Both magnums were Nicolas bottles, by the way. Plum, olive and lots of chocolate were in the nose; its core was sweet and musky. The palate was quite similar, very satiny and smooth, polished and chocolaty, easy and delicious (94M).

The 1949 Latour a Pomerol was another beauty, although I wanted to see what others had to say first, so I put Slover on the spot. ‘Smells great,’ was his first reaction, ‘lots of olive. The color seems youthful, but the palate is so relaxed it could be that old, amazing.’ Every sip I took, this wine became more impressive, and not because it gained power in the glass. Like a wine of this age should, it unfolded different layers as opposed to gaining steam. The classic Pomerol was there, particularly the olive and plum, with more cassis and less chocolate than the L’Eglise. It was sheer deliciousness, even more so than the L’Eglise Clinet because its fruit was purer. The L a P was decadent but light on its feet. Gorgeous and pretty were two words that came to mind in describing this ancient wonder. That hint of fresh garden unfolded, and the Latour a Pomerol left the L’Eglise behind. Hints of slate also unfolded, as did ‘Mexican coffee’ per someone. Arriba arriba (96M).

A perfect magnum of 1979 Louis Roederer Cristal snuck in right before Midnight. Aromas of sweet golden corn and yellow straw combined with ‘creamsicle’ ones, per Dapper Dave. It was elegant yet powerful, absolutely sizzling on the palate with its racy acidity and expressive bubbles. Creamy and somehow integrated despite all that fizz, the 1979 was another example of why Cristal is not just a name (96+M).

Midnight struck, and Big Boy gave one of his notorious speeches. There were many warm and fuzzy things said, one of which wasn’t ‘I can’t wait to get rid of this f’ing decade’ lol. Out came a Rehoboam of 1959 Moet. I think that is somewhere between Jero and Methusaleh, just don’t miss that right turn in Reims. I am pretty sure this was the first one of these opened in 2010, and possibly the last one that ever will be. The nose was clean with light citrus and apple with pinches of musk, anise and truffle. The palate was a bit tangy for me, its bubbles just hanging on despite the fact that there was no oxidation here. Its wine-like personality was very oily, but its flavors just didn’t do it for me. I like to stick to the pre-Dom Perignon Moets, personally (88R).

There were a couple more bubblies before we went to Burgundy. A 1979 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rose was race car city at first, fresh and zippy both in the nose and palate of this perfectly stored magnum. ‘Zippedy doo dah’ summed it up. There were nice, secondary strawberry aromas, but the palate was tight and almost a bit mean, super dry and rocket-like in its finish. Olof thundered in from the North, took off his horns and aptly came up with ‘a little white asparagus, platinum and copper.’ He then proceeded to impale someone who disagreed with him. Someone else appreciated its ‘good stank.’ Kayne West would have described it as ‘bright funky earthy fresh,’ as I wrote, and Big Boy lobbied for 96 points, but I told him it just wasn’t showing enough yet for that (95+M).

A jeroboam of 1949 Pommery was coffee city. It was mature and rich with luscious, earthy and dirty white chocolate flavors. These old Pommerys can be all-star material, but even bottles that aren’t at their best are still always good everyday players. This jero was a touch mature but still creamy and lush, arguably slightly affected but still excellent (93J).

It was time for some Burgundy, and Big Boy delivered a 1-2 knockout punch that would have settled this whole Mayweather-Pacquiao BS by leaving them both lying on the canvas, wondering what hit them. A magnum of 1969 Rousseau Chambertin, the one and only in Rob’s collection, was incredible. Wendy was going crazy over it; this was as excited as I have ever seen her over a given wine, and as the honorary ‘Angry Woman,’ she has seen a lot of greatness for sure. Rousseau undoubtedly made the wines of the vintage in 1969; what he did in this year is nothing short of spectacular given how most other wines from the vintage are showing. Words like ‘unreal, great, rich and spectacular’ graced my notes. The fruit and finish were both extraordinary. Citrus and rose blended together with tomato and rust to form an exemplary combination that left my palate watering for more. It remains a benchmark wine not only for 1969, but also for Burgundy (97M).

The wine that followed took it up another notch. The jero of 1959 La Tache quickly laid claim to wine of 2010 with its incredible nose. It was and LT all the way, one of the best examples of this wine that I have ever had. I have rated it as high as 99 points, but that was over five years ago and I have not had it hit the heights ever since until now. Smoke, mesquite, rose, rust, tomato, citrus, iron, cola, vine and more rust were all balanced by great acidity. This wine was so intense it made Big Boy look passive. Secondary aromas and flavors of bouillon joined the party, as did ‘perfect violet’ per Wendy. One couldn’t deny the style or greatness of here; kudos once again to the greatest producer of wine in the world (98+J).

A half-dozen Champagnes slowly rounded out the evening, which was ultimately to end at 4am. We came down back to earth with a magnum of 1970 Veuve Clicquot Rose. Its nose was yeasty and full of vitamins, mature and warm. I noted flavors of orange blossom and tangerine, while Cliff found ‘orange Sunkist wedges.’ Wendy called it ‘a bit tropical, watermelon and persimmon”¦confectionary’ (93M).

The 1949 Louis Roederer was quickly crowned ‘Champagne of the night’ by the King of Champagne. Anyone who disagreed would quickly be banished from the kingdom, so good thing he was right. Rizzo observed ‘butter toffee,’ and it was housed in vanilla city. Hints of root beer, coconut liqueur and ‘salt water taffy’ per Cliff rounded out its exotic nose. Its flavors were all about the butter ”“ that butter toffee, butter rum and even butterscotch got into the game, all dry and all great (97M).

The crown of Champagne of the night didn’t last long, as I liked the magnum of 1959 Pol Roger even a touch more. Its nose was crystal clear with divine yellow fruits. Its palate was fantastic; it was big and smooth, force without mass. It was deliciously buttery without any of the sweet butter qualities and kinkiness of the ’49 Roederer. It was classic in the ‘Fall’ sense of the word, Yankees style (97+M).

A 1959 Veuve Clicquot was outstanding. It tasted (and looked) more recently disgorged than not. It was strong, long and full of song. Well, that’s what I wrote. It was getting to that point in the evening where I was about to be full of something else 🙂 (95M).

The 1969 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne was exotically good, as usual for old C de C’s. Butterscotch and lemon/lime were present in this fresh and well-stored magnum. I can’t exactly read what I wrote, it looks something like ‘anal’ and ‘great,’ but since my memory is fuzzy around this point, let’s hope it wasn’t exactly that lol (95+M).

The 1929 Louis Roederer was ‘unreal great.’ I wish I could tell you more about it, but the pen had officially fallen off the page. I do remember that it was a continuance in style of the 1949, though less exotic and more mellow, definitely close to divine (96M).

Oh, what a night, and thanks again to the most generous host in the world today. Here’s to 2010 being another year filled with great friends and great bottles