A jeroboam of 2000 Roulot Meursault Perrieres luckily followed next. This would be the second jero of Roulot I had this year, and I would happily have more. This was a delicious wine, clean like the vintage, friendly and tasty. Like a typical Roulot wine, it was sheer drinking pleasure, although this was a wine from an atypically great vineyard. It had that classic Roulot kiss of ‘je ne sais quoi,’ except it was easy to know if you know Roulot. Roulot’s a living legend and I’ll tell you why; everyone wants to be him, and he’s still alive (96J).

We sat down to a 1979 Krug Collection magnum, and I was under-impressed by the particular magnum served to me. This is usually quite reliable, and there was nice fruit and freshness, but yeast, mildew and weediness were too prevalent. There were some rich buttery qualities, but when it came to this magnum, I wish I never met her at all (90M?).

The Punisher punished us all with a jero of 1985 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier Montrachet. Its nose was raining honey, and its personality was definitely gamey. The color was darker as older white Burgs are prone to be, and the wine was A-OK. While more obvious at first, there was no doubting this wine was very tropical. It was oily and rich, and JS found it definitively ‘Leflaive.’ It was flyer than a piece of paper bearing my name (95J).

The 1974 Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva was also delicious, but more mature. There were lots of cracker aromas, including wheat, rye and graham. This was fleshy, but also a bit muddy, and possessed lots more chocolate. 1974 is definitely a vintage to drink up when it comes to Italy, but it got better, we ordered another round (94).

The 1978 Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva was rock solid and classic in every which way. It was long and smooth, solid and laser-like with its precision. This was outstanding juice. I didn’t write much more to read all about it, but it got the job done. I’m not a businessman; I’m a business, man (96).

There was a moment of silence for the great Paul Pontallier of Chateau Margaux, who recently passed away unexpectedly from cancer, and we toasted him with magnums of 1983 Margaux. He was a great man, and one of the greatest ambassadors for wine to ever walk the Earth. He will be missed.

When it came to the final flight, it wasn’t about where we been, but where we’re about to go. A jeroboam of 1961 Latour was so youthful, it still seemed like infanticide! Black fruits and wheat dominated the nose, and violet and smoke were the supporting actors. The wine was rich, sumptuous and decadent but shy. The Mogul similarly found it ‘inside of itself,’ aka introverted. There was still depth to this behemoth, but it probably would have been just right at six in the morning (95+J).

It was an amazing night that ultimately ended at about 3am, or so I heard, as I had to leave Cinderella style when the clock struck midnight, as I had an auction the next day. This was an epic night, one that showed that wine dreams do come true. Eternal thanks to Sir Robert for such a memorable evening. I will always sip from your cup ’til it runneth over. Holy Grail!

When in Hong Kong, it is always a great pleasure to be a guest of honor of The Emperor. Alexander The Great and I came straight from Singapore for dinner in Hong Kong, and we were running 15 minutes late due to the natural course of events. Thankfully, The Emperor has an open door policy, and he did not remove our seats from the table for tardiness. If he did, I would have missed an incredible wine night fit for an emperor, The Emperor, to be exact.

The next wine was also from 1959, and ‘the best bottle I ever had,’ per Dr. Feelgood. I think he meant the particular wine, but it could have been every bottle ever as this 1959 Lafite Rothschild was staggeringly good. This was classic in every sense of the word. The cedar, the wheat, the pencil…this was a rich and thick wine that was as good as Bordeaux gets. Sebastien found it ‘deep,’ and there was super sweet fruit with a dry edge. The Emperor found it ‘flawless’ (99).

The four most experienced palates voted for the Lafite, while the Haut Brion got two votes. Bordeaux showed why it is still great, just give it some time. Long live The Emperor.

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).