There’s a lot of great wine lovers that live north of the border, eh? Without question, one of Canada’s finest would be a gentleman named Frank. For those of you that know Frank, you would know that you might find him at Barberian’s, Canada’s finest steakhouse. And of course, Frank would be drinking Burgundy, as that is his passion, so Burgundy we all brought.

The first flight was interesting but not thrilling, and the last Chardonnay of this night stole the show white, so to speak, at least for now. The 1999 JN Gagnard Batard Montrachet had a white chocolate nose with wheat and smoke aromas. It was big and rich with a muscular, meaty finish. The terroir of Batard stood out, and this ’99 had more body, more flavors and more balance. It was mo’ better. Honeysuckle and a hint of brown spices rounded out this impressive white (94).

We moved to the next duel, a pair of 2002s. When it comes to the conversation of great vintages of the past fifteen years, this vintage tends to get overlooked, but it belongs in the conversation. The first shot was fired by the 2002 Drouhin Musigny, which had a great 2002 nose. There was pure red fruit, along with great clove and tobacco notes and a pinch of Mary Jane. This was a mmm, mmm good wine with a twist of lime rounding out its nose. Its rich, saucy and meaty palate was heavy yet agile. ‘Great tannins’ and ‘soaring’ came from the crowd. The only negative was that it shut down with some time in the glass (95+).

The 2002 Mugnier Bonnes Mares that followed had nice perfume along with winter and matchbox to its flinty, stony nose. It showed some skin, just enough to keep it interesting, and it was beautiful, long and smooth. The moral of the story of the last two flights was that 2002 is greater than 1996 (93).

It was only appropriate that the 1993 DRC La Tache was last. I have had this wine many times, and it has often been thrilling, but also often been square and unyielding. Fortunately, this bottle was the former. Cedar and mahogany took center stage as they are prone to do with ’93 DRCs, but there was also rich, make that wealthy, fruit with red rose and some touches of tomato. This was a long and balanced wine that had proper portions of fruit and finish. Citrus, cigar and vegetable goodness rounded out the palate. The wine got better and better and better (96+).

It is always nice to see great wine camaraderie amongst new faces in new places, and thanks to Frank, I made a few more amis on this fun, magical evening. All lovers of Burgundy are friends of mine.

Every day, every one of us plays the role of judge. We judge people when we interact with them, we judge people when we read about them, we judge people when we look at them without knowing a thing about them. Then there are real judges, the ones that lay down the law, so to speak. But when it comes to wine, there is only one Judge, but he lays down bottles. And after reviewing the thousands of cases over which he presides, I can safely call him ‘Your Honor.’

A quartet of ancient Margauxs followed, as in the appellation and not the Chateau, save one. The 1929 Cheateau La Colonilla sounded more like a reason to visit the doctor than a wine. Old banana wood and mesquite came out of its sickly nose. Tree bark was there and still fresh, but the palate was a bit tangy, although it possessed nice fruit. It was generous like a good ’29 should be, but there was fungus under its nails and more tang without the Shanghai. The Judge observed ‘incense’ while I found cocoa. It was interesting and good in a perverse way (87).

Sebastien likened the 1928 Margaux to ‘an artist’s studio,’ as he smelled canvas and palette. It was spot on! There was also some George Clintonesque chocolate city there as well. The palate continued that theme in lush, tasty and long fashion. The Judge admired its meatiness, and I its salty finish. Sebastien found its salt to be that of a langoustine, ie of a brinier nature. Chateau Margaux clearly stood out from the rest of the pack (95).

A 1937 Gruaud Larose also had a salty nose, a la seawater from the ocean. It had a soft and smooth palate that was easy, luscious and tender. The goose made it even more loose, or better, I guess that is all about relativity (93).

Hong Kong has many connoisseurs, but only one wine ‘Sifu’ aka wine master. A recent, casual lunch reminded me why. There aren’t many lunches that start with a wine from 1907, but this was the Sifu, I tried to tell you! Technically, it was a 1907 Graf au Bitz Eltviller Klumbchen Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese. In German, that translates to ‘Go F Yourself, Frenchie.’ Don’t shoot the translator, ok? This was finally a TBA that I could love, because it finished dryly! So it only takes 106 years, got it. The mental note was made. This was a wow wine that was still fresh, but aromas of hazelnut, game, apricot, peach and petrol all came across maturely. There was a ‘density’ to its tea-like flavors. The Sifu enjoyed its ‘fruit juice’ qualities. Divine, delicious and magical all came to mind. The Failo, aka ‘Fat Boss,’ likened drinking it to ‘like getting out of the shower.’ I think I would have preferred if his skinny secretary said it first (96).

The 1990 Trotanoy was garden fresh with dusty cocoa, citrus and a waterfall of plum aromas. This was shy, yet tasty and long. It was a touch closed but still smooth and inviting (93).

1975 La Mission Haut Brion has been one of my favorite wines from the ’70s for a while, but this bottle wasn’t quite as flamboyant as recent memories. It was a bit shut down. It opened slowly but not surely into aromas of coffee, wheat, earth and a pinch of chocolate. It was tight and while I’ve had better bottles, it was still solid (95).

The closer was a killer, courtesy of one of Burgundy’s hottest producers. Every wine I drink from Louis-Michel Liger-Belair is delicious; even his Vosne Romanee makes me warm and fuzzy. His 2006 Liger-Belair La Romanee made me downright hot and bothered. James Suckling noted ‘roses’ while Tucker was more feeling the ‘peonies.’ Its nose was amazing; there was so much greatness happening here. Its palate had what I would call latent acidity, because its fruit was so good and covered up the crime scene. There was a kiss of rubber, as in a Lamborghini leaving you in the dust. Its palate was so rich and so much better than anything and every other red we tasted before. It was deeper, rounder and longer yet still so friendly and fresh. A recent conversation with Aubert de Villaine about Louis-Michel had Aubert calling him ‘a good addition to Burgundy.’ Those words don’t come easily when it comes to the Godfather (96).

There are many women wine lovers in the world, but very few actual collectors. I’m not sure why, nor will I dare venture to guess. I’ll leave that to the sociology professors. However, I recently had the good fortune of reacquainting myself with a woman who not only loves wine, but also collects. And when I was invited down into her cellar, it was clear that this was no ordinary collection; this was a collection fit for a Queen.

Bottle after bottle of the best of the best littered the shelves of her temperature-controlled cellar, one that was about to go through an expansion actually. Cases littered the aisles like roadblocks; there wasn’t much room left, for sure. We did our damnedest to make more room in the cellar, but our efforts went unnoticed in the basement. They were, however, quite appreciated in the dining room.

The dueling theme continued with our next flight, beginning with a 1978 DRC La Tache. This was an extraordinary bottle, with a nose full of mint, menthol, rose, earth, iron, blood and tomato. This was fabulous wine, long and delicate yet intense. There was a touch of good green in this so fine and so long red. A kiss of bouillon rounded out its complex finish. It’s tough to imagine it getting any better, but it isn’t going to get any worse any time soon, either (96).

We should have served the 1972 DRC La Tache beforehand, but the ’78 somehow made its way around first, and no one turned it down, of course. It felt like the ’72 was out plowing in the vineyard all summer while the ’78 was the one entertaining at the Domaine. The Hedonist observed that ‘it would have been hot were it not for its younger sister.’ After that ’78, this was square and dirty, with a touch of garbage and alley compromising its blacker fruit (89).

The Queen wasn’t impressed with the 1990 Vogue Musigny that she brought, and neither have many Burgundy connoisseurs for a while now. I don’t consider myself a hater, but this has always been a weird wine. It was initially milky and stemmy, but it did improve to reveal some dark, meaty fruit. Bran, wheat and oat joined the party. Its palate was square with blacker fruit. There was tang on its finish, but it was thin in the middle. I wish I was like that (92).

The 1993 Drouhin Musigny was quite tight and acidic, very iron fisty in its nose. There were forest and blacker fruit aromas, and its palate was mainly about olive, citrus and bread. To be honest, I expected more from this wine, which showed that rubbery, tight side of 1993. It needs more time (93+).