LA TACHE AND '96 CHAMPAGNE - Atlanta (11/4/2022)
Arrival
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1996 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Les Clos Saint-Hilaire - France, Champagne
Cloying sweetness. Good on its own, which is great that we started with it. Hard to pair with food, but enjoyable to drink -
1996 Gosset Champagne Brut Grand Millésime - France, Champagne
From mag. Good balance. Very drinkable. Lots of balance between the fruit with a touch of sweetness and acid backbone. Drink or hold.
Flight 1
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1996 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut - France, Champagne
Searing acidity. Really on point, but does calm down with some air. The fruit is there, but this tastes painfully young. Stock up while you can, but don't open for at least another 10 years. -
1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut - France, Champagne
WOFT for me. I just love the Krug brioche and yeasty notes. I feel like those balance out the beautiful acidity. Fruit is mild, but the mousse is incredible. -
1996 Dom Pérignon Champagne Oenothèque - France, Champagne
Sadly a clear last on the flight. It just doesn't have the power or depth. We all agreed, it's a great Wednesday night Champagne. -
1996 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut - France, Champagne
Great mousse and solid BdB flavor. Enjoyable and balanced. Shows great class and a solid wine in the flight.
Flight 2
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1976 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
Decanted and filtered to remove cork bits. Great acid with some fruit remaining. Bright and crisp and very enjoyable. Best near the beginning as additional time did not improve and would have been better if we hadn't had to decant it so early to remove the cork pieces. -
1988 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
Pop and rest. WOTN. Incredible nose, bursting from the glass. Palate was clean and balanced with fruit and acid in tow. So many layers and so, extremely sexy. Sexy beyond sexy. You just can't get that layer from Cali Cab. -
1996 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
Pop and rest. Deep and dark. Lots of depth and deep fruit, but opened up over time to reveal a very enjoyable balance. Needs lots of air right now, but is incredibly enjoyable with spice and dark fruit. -
1988 Vigot-Battault Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Gaudichots - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
Quick decant. Interesting to try this unicorn. Tastes nothing like the LT next to it, but clearly a quality wine. Lots more cherries, less spice and tastes quite young actually. Would be hard to pick this out of a lineup as Vosne, it was almost more like a Chambertin.
Flight 3
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1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
Pop and rest. WOTF. Many had the '01 as favorite here, but I really enjoyed this bottle. Dark and brooding, but a sensual depth and lots of balance. I went back to this bottle all night long for just another sip as it really held on for hours and hours of enjoyment. -
2001 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
Pop and rest. Beautiful and balanced. Incredible nose. Can't go wrong here. Many felt this was WOTF, but I had it a close second. It was all there and had tons of beauty, but I love the muscular power of the '99. -
2002 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
Pop and rest. Lots of fruit. So incredibly young. This has balance and so many years and years of life left in it. Let your stash rest for at least another 7-9 years to experience maximum enjoyment. My wife had this one as WOTF.
Intermezzo
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2004 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut - France, Champagne
PnP. Such precision. Really shows the Salon majesty in so many levels. Great, but yet unfortunately second in the flight. -
2004 Krug Champagne Clos du Mesnil - France, Champagne
PnP. Incredible. Love the yeasty Krug notes, but also so many layers and depth. Lots of acidity. Just really rises above the average vintage. Beautiful.
Flight 4
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2012 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
Decanted 3 hours. Absolutely bursting from the glass. Tons of floral notes with red fruit. Incredibly enjoyable to drink and WOTF. -
2017 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
Decanted 3 hours. This is all there, but for the long haul. Only showing promise at this point. Solid acid on the palate with floral notes on the nose. It may be shutting down a bit from last year, but still is an incredible wine with all the balance you want. -
2019 Domaine Francois Lamarche La Grande Rue - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Grande Rue Grand Cru
Decanted 3 hours. Different from LT, but clearly a well-made wine and held its own in the flight. Obviously young and primary, but pleasantly surprised everyone that there's lots there for aging and interesting to drink at the moment.
I uploaded the good ones now.