We had a some good friends over to celebrate New Year’s Eve and we each contributed some excellent wines. No detailed tasting notes, but the wines were:
2015 Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame, 2010 Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose, 2009 Joseph Phelps Insignia, 2004 Abreu Madrona Ranch, 2009 Verite Le Desir, & 2018 Seven Stones.
Sadly, the Abreu was probably about 5 years past prime drinking window and was primarily showing stewed fruit and little structure. I would have loved to try this wine at it’s best as I’ve heard from others that it is awesome. The two 2009 wines were both showing some age, but really nice examples from each from Napa and Sonoma. The stand-out red wine for me was the Seven Stones. Still very youthful, but well balanced with ample fruit, acidity, and tannin. Clearly well built by Aaron Pott for the long haul. I own several vintages of this wine from before the sale and subsequent massive price hike to $850 / bottle.
From the champagnes, it was difficult to pick a winner because they both were outstanding in their own lanes. Perhaps a slight nod to the Veuve as I generally prefer blanc Champagne.