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2024 saw lots of great nights and lots of great bottles shared all over the world. Amazingly, most of the wines highlighted below were sampled this past Fall. It just goes to show you that no matter how good a year you are having, there is always time to make it a better one! I definitely missed a few notes along the way this year as my diligence in this regard became a bit overdue, but I still kept track of the significant majority of the great dinners I had the privilege to attend or the pleasure to organize. Some wines sampled had different scores on different nights, the biggest variability for me being the 1999 Rousseau Chambertin, but always remember that every bottle and every night is different.

I consider 97-99 points “greatest wines of my life” category, and I kept this article to 98 and 99 this year, as I need to be more efficient with my time lol. Speaking of which, I have been influenced by the influencers also known as my children, so I stay a little more current and post occasional tasting notes on Instagram, for those of you that have apps you can tune in @john.kapon. I hope you had many great wines as well this year, and I look forward to making 2025 even better, hopefully with many of you!

First, just a list of the 98-pointers, listed from oldest to youngest because older is always better! I keep telling myself that 😊 Looking at this list again, I am starting to feel stingy, especially for the oldies, but 98 is what I wrote, so 98 points it is:

And now, for the main event, the seventeen wines I gave 99 points to this year. And for those of you that may not know or remember, I have never given a wine 100 points. I believe in the pursuit of perfection, but not in perfection itself. Perfection is all about perspective, and for me, life will always be a constant quest to seek the best that one can do or experience, and wine is no different.

So for this “Top Seventeen,” I decided to go from youngest to oldest, you know, because older is always better 😉 Here we go:

When you are fortunate enough to taste nineteen Rousseau Chambertins at one meal, you can be sure you will have some perspective. The range of vintages was 2018 back to 1990 with almost all the most heralded vintages (no 1991), and the one that stood out above the rest was the 2005 Rousseau Chambertin. Make no mistake about it, there were many standouts, but the 2005 hit the highest note. It was deep but more hi-toned than some of its younger brethren, in a bright red way. It has a raspberry, cranberry and citrus mélange. While rich and saucy, it wasn’t like the other saucy vintages as it had more tension and style. This was a wine to restore one’s faith in the often glacial 2005 vintage. It had enough spice to satisfy the entire House of Atreides (99, Paris).

The 1999 DRC La Tache was an all-capital “AMAZING” bottle. This has long been in the pantheon of top La Taches, and it will likely seize the throne from the 1971 and 1978 for the next generation. Yes, honorable mention to the 1990 and 2005. This bottle was loaded with dark fruit, oceanic in its vastness and ‘haunting’ in its personality. This was an A-to-Z, complete wine that was decorated with wild herb and black cherry flavors. Monumental (99, New York).

Our Greatest Wines of the World dinner in Singapore was full of superlatives, so much so that three wines achieved near-perfect status. Any bottle of Jayer is a special occasion, and the 1999 Jayer Cros Parantoux delivered. This was pure nectar. That was the first word that came to paper, and an apt descriptor in general for a great bottle of Jayer. And there are so many! It had a spectrum of purple fruit, and it was so sweet and complex. The One Man Gang observed ‘a unique combination of chocolate, tea and prune.’ The tea was twisted, and the dark chocolate and cherry took over for me. So kept appearing in my notes over and over, as in so rich, so pure, so sexy. Elegant and deft, this was a concentrated wine with a decadently honeyed finish. The man was a master (99, Singapore).

I had the 1999 Rousseau Chambertin at least three times this year, and one of them was near-perfect. The other two had a little extra ripeness and sweetness that didn’t float my boat as much, but they all kept me sailing along lol. It just goes to show that even the great wines can give different impressions on different nights, in different places. Bottles of the same wine are different. On one night, I didn’t want anything different from the ’99. It was the last wine of our Burgundy night in Singapore, and ‘the bomb’ came to mind, or my mind was already bombed, one or the other lol. Fruit bomb was also in another note for this wine, interestingly enough. There was so much fruit here, and spectacular sweetness, not a touch too much like those others bottles! It had a rocket-like finish, and exotic spice. I see a lot of similar words when I am describing my 99-point wines like wow and special, add one more: awesome, because that’s what this Rousseau was for a night (99, Singapore).

The 1998 Petrus was dripping with deep, sweet and plummy fruit. It was another Petrus full of decadent sweetness, special fruit and that unique kink. Another admired, ‘something special,’ and its musky, limestone finish had my lips smacking. Truly observed ‘blueberry tart,’ and there was no denying this was berry good. The 1998 Petrus has cracked the code (99, Singapore).

The 1993 Jayer Cros Parantoux is in that sweet spot of Jayer, which for me is 1988-1993. It’s that era when it is not too young and not too old, hence that sweet spot. The 1993 was plush and lush, almost a grape ape of a wine, towering in its stature yet approachable if you were one of the good guys. Its deep purple riffs cascaded down my palate, and I noted how ready and open this was relatively for a 1993 Burg. The perfect amount of spice rounded out this near-perfect bottle (99, Los Angeles)

I have long been on one side of the ’89 vs. ’90 Petrus debate, but this bottle of 1990 had me questioning whether the 1990 might finally be better? This bottle of 1990 Petrus had a fantastic nose, creamy and special immediately came to mind. It was saucy, very much so for a younger Bordeaux, and unbelievably and hedonistically fruity, full of concentrated plums. While rich, long and bordering on heavy, it had lots of kink to its spice and minerality, making for a great combination. The purity of its fruit and acid were like bow wow wow, and the wine had me woofing even earlier than usual (99, Singapore).

If I told you, ‘still the one,’ which wine would you guess? It is almost redundant at this point to give the 1989 Haut Brion 99 points, because it has been delivering such an experience for the thirty years I have been tasting it. In fact, It is probably is the most tasted 99-point wine I have ever had. One felt the nose wasn’t expressive, but the palate was a bulldozer. It probably needed a bit more airtime, but one couldn’t deny its balance and elegance. It was so firm, fitting my palate like tight pants, full of smoke and cedar. Its length was so special, so so so. That’s an exact quote (99, Singapore).

The 1985 Dujac Clos St. Denis was a rockstar having lots of purple sex. It was also wearing a lot of leather. It was from the ‘80s, after all. Its palate was frisky and stayed deep purple, and its smooth yet zippy palate delivered sweet music, and a sweeter mélange of fruits. There was great spice here, and amongst some venerable competition, this was ‘my favorite’ (99, New York).

The 1979 Krug Clos du Mesnil was Montrachet-like with its buttery butter bomb of a personality. This was a little oakier at first, but it turned into woodsy goodness. This sparkling wine had the intensity and sweetness of a DRC Montrachet. It was an ‘epic’ Champagne, roasted and reminiscent of ‘toasted apricots.’ While starting to mellow and ‘not so fizzy,’ make no mistake about it: this was a stone-cold stunner (99, New York).

The 1978 Guigal La Mouline was another ‘wow’ wine that brought us back to the promised land after the Burgundies. It had deep and dark notes, black as night with its fruit profile. Its concentration was special, and it felt forward-thinking and forward-drinking. It had a meaty palate full of violets and pepper, and this morning cereal, crunchy goodness that left me saying, ‘GRREEEAT’ (99, New York).

Despite being wine number twenty-seven of the night, and probably wine number fifty-something of the day, the 1978 Rayas quickly asserted itself as one of the wines of the night. It had an extreme palate that reminded me of the 1990, with which I have had more experience, of course. It had animal and berry greatness, and one found it more reminiscent of the ’89. It was rich, decadent and buttery. Someone cooed how Jacques was ‘a master,’ and how the 1978 ‘reminds me of Burgundy.’ There is no question the 1978 is in the league of greatest Rayases ever, and it was a fitting finale to an incredible Birthday week (99, New York).

If I were to give one wine that perfect 100 score, it would be the 1971 Roumier Musigny.This wine tickled my palate incessantly. Every sip was pure bliss, and the wine oozed spectacular things. There was this touch of Jayer-like soupy greatness, but its refined elegance was all Musigny. This wine was so fine, it had everything one could ask for in a balanced, mature Burgundy. Giving its flavors words was almost a disservice; there was too much going on. This was a Lord Finesse of a wine, if there ever were one (99, New York).

The 1961 La Mission Haut Brion was the only Bordeaux served during The Rev’s magical sermon, and it was a beauty. This was still an all-time classic, with lots of rich cassis, caramel, gravel and band-aid. Fleshy and tasty, it was a bottle that was fully open for business, and it immediately closed the deal for me (99, Los Angeles).

While I have been leaning towards the ’59 Latour in the past handful of years, it may just have been luck of the draw, as the 1961 Latour I had my birthday week was a massive attack. My neighbor found it ‘tight and still needs to open.’ It was leathery, long and powerful with lots of eucalyptus complexities morphing into similar characteristics like menthol. Its massive concentration and finish were clearly out of the ordinary world. I thought it was the best wine of the entire ’61 flight, and it was an incredible flight (99, New York).

The 1961 Trotanoy was so chunky and so chocolaty, it was another super bottle with incredible richness and concentration. While overripe to one, I found it incredibly kinky. I always find my great Pomerols kinky! One found it ‘voluptuous and emotional,’ and that was well-said. It was the perfect dose of purple; in fact, this was a new type of cake, purple velvet. 1961 Pomerols have been extraordinary for my entire life, it is nice to see them still holding up at such a high level after all these years (99, New York).

The 1959 Latour thankfully came across my dinner table on a few occasions in 2024, but this bottle was my favorite of them all, besting another great bottle of ’59 Mouton. The Latour was a chocolaty classic, loaded with walnuts and cassis. Dry, dusty and long, it was just richer, thicker and younger than a gorgeous Mouton. Its finish was drier, and the wine was more complex, and in case you were wondering, the Mouton was a 98-point bottle! The ’59 Latour was a beast that had no burdens (99, Singapore).

A big thanks to all of those who share the passion for fine and rare wines, and the great meals and times that always follow! See you in 2025!