Bipin's Wine Notes, by Bipin Desai.

 

Tastings Organized
by Bipin Desai

The tastings are usually held during weekends accompanied by meals in restaurants, and, depending on the number of wines, they extend over three sessions. Typically, twenty to thirty wines are served at each session. The wines generally come from my cellar and from the cellars of some of the participating collectors and, occasionally, from the proprietors of the wineries. The cost is shared by the participants.  All the tastings listed below were held in the Los Angeles area, unless indicated otherwise.  The year in which each tasting was held is given in parenthesis.
 

BORDEAUX

Ausone (1988)
(back to early 1800s; at the Chateau)

Cheval Blanc (1986)
(back to the '20s)

Haut Brion (1996)
(back to the '20s with Jean Delmas)

Latour (1983)
(back to 1870)

Latour (1990)
(back to mid 1800s with Alan Hare)

Latour (1996)
(magnums back to 1929 with Frederick Engerere and a jeroboam of 1870 from Ed Lazarus)

Margaux (1987)
(back to mid 1800s with Corinne Mentzelopoulos)

Margaux (1988)
(selected vintages back to 1870 with Corinne Mentzelopoulos at TAILLEVENT)

Mouton Rothschild (2004)
(back to 1893)

Petrus (1994)
(back to 1945)

Yquem (1993)
(300th anniversary of Yquem; vintages back to 1847)

Yquem (1994)
(back to mid 1800s with Alexandre de Lur Saluces)

Yquem (2004)
(back to 1847 with Alexandre de Lur Saluces)

Calon Segur (1982)
(back to the early 1900s)

Cos d'Estournel (1990)
(back to the '20s with Bruno Prats)

Figeac (1989)
(back to the '40s with Thiery Manoncourt at TAILLEVENT restaurant in Paris)

Gruaud Larose (1993)
(1928, 1945,1953,1961, 1962 all in large formats)

Lafleur, Trotanoy, Latour A Pomerol (1993)
(Trotanoy back to 1926, others to 1945)

La Mission Haut Brion (1985)
(back to early 1900s with Duc and Ducesse de Mouchy)

Leoville Lascases (1991)
(back to the '20s)

Le Pin (1993)
(1979 to 1990 including 1982 in 3L)

Lynch Bages (1985)
(back to the '20s with Jean Michel Cazes)

Montrose (1982)
(back to the '20s)

Pichon Baron (1989)
(back to the '20s with Jean Michel Cazes)

Pichon Lalande (1987)
(back to mid 1800s with Mai and Herve de Lencquesaing)

Pomerols ( l'Evangile, Certan de May, Lafleur Petrus, Vieux Chateau Certan and others) (1994)
(back to 1945)

St. Emilion (2002)
(a celebration of the wines from the top St. Emilion properties and vintages, from 1998 to 1900)

Large Formats (2003)
(magnums of the great old Bordeaux like Cheval Blanc 1947, Petrus 1961from the cellar of Frank and Mary Komorowski)

Haut Brion Blanc, Laville Haut Brion (1989)
(back to the '20s)

Laville Haut Brion (1983)
(back to the 30s)

SINGLE VINTAGE

1870 BORDEAUX (2002)
(11 different chateaux, including the five first growths, from what is considered to be the greatest Bordeaux vintage ever)

1945 BORDEAUX (1986)
(about 60 Chateaux)

1928 Bordeaux at 75 years and 1953 Bordeaux at 50 years (2003)
(about 20 different chateaux, including Sauternes and Barsac, of 1928 and magnums of 1953)

1945 BORDEAUX (1995)
(about 60 Chateaux)

1945 VINTAGE (1995)
(from various regions other than Bordeaux)

1947 VINTAGE (1997)
(from various regions in the world)

1959 BORDEAUX (1983)
(about 50 Chateaux, at three different locations -Los Angeles, Bordeaux, London)

1961 BORDEAUX (1982)
(122 Chateaux, my first tasting)

1961 BORDEAUX (1995)
(110 Chateaux, in New York)

1978 Red BURGUNDY, Cote de Nuits (1994)
(about 150 top wines)

1978 Red BURGUNDY, Cote de Beaune (1996)
(about 100 top wines)

1978 Burgundy, Rhone and Italy (2003)
(at 50 years, from some of the top producers of these three regions)

1975 SAUTERNES / BARSAC (1994)
(about 25 Chateaux with Alexandre de Lur Saluces)

1982 BORDEAUX TASTING in two parts (2002)
(1st part: comparing, blind, 20 top chateaux from 1982 against the same wines made in other great vintages back to 1959 ; 2nd part: a vertical tasting of the 1982 vintage, 93 chateaux)

VINTAGE ' 9 TASTING- Millennium Weekend (1999)
(the best wines in vintages ending in ' 9 back to 1919 LaTache, Musigny (Vogue))

1990 VINTAGE (2001)
(the best of the 1990s from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, Australia, California, Italy and Spain)

BURGUNDY

Clos des Lambrays (1994)
(back to the '20s)

Comtes Lafon (2003)
(Meursault Perrieres 1982-2000 and Montrachet 1979-2000)

Henri Jayer (1990)
(various vineyards back to early '70s)

La Tache (1998)
(back to 1945)

La Tache, Romanee Conti (1993)
(1959, 1962, 1964, 1971 all in large formats)

Louis Latour (1986)
(reds back to 20's, whites back to 60's)

Leflaive (2002)
(white burgundies from Domaine Leflaive
from 1966 to 2000)

Leroy (1996)
(Grand Crus back to the '40s, in New York)

Leroy (1997)
(Grand and Premier Crus back to 1945)

Romanée Conti-100 years (2003)
(from the cellar of Wolfgang Grunewald, Romanée Conti from 1899 to1999, including the great vintages of DRC Montrachet, with Aubert de Villaine at TAILLEVENT restaurant in Paris)

DRC Montrachet (1994)
(back to 1965)

DRC Reds and Montrachet (2001)
(top DRC wines, reds from 1923 to 1999 and Montrachet from 1968 to 1999, including a vertical tasting of Grands Echezeaux)
 

Ramonet White Burgundies (1991)
(Montrachet back to1978, Batard Montrachet to 1969, "Les Ruchottes" to1959))

Coche Dury (1997)
(Meursault Perrieres back to 1983 at TAN DINH restaurant in Paris)

Coche Dury Festival (2004)
(almost a complete range of wines; from reds (Auxey Duress, Monthelie, Volnay) to Meursaults (including Caillerets, CasseTetes, Charmes, Chevaliers, Narvaux, Perrières, and Rougeots) back to 1978 and Corton Charlemagne back to 1986)

 RHONE

Guigal (1982)
(La Mouline back to 1966 plus old Dervieux)

Guigal (1987)
(all vineyards plus old Vidal Fleury)

Hermitage La Chapelle (1988)
(back to the '30s with Gerard Jaboulet)

Chateau Rayas (1998)
(selected vintages back to 1959)

CHAMPAGNE

Krug (1992)
(back to the '20s with Remi Krug)

Krug (1992)
(selected vintages back to 1928 with Remi Krug at TAILLEVENT)

Pol Roger (1998)
(selected vintages back to 1919)

ITALY

Antinori (2000)
(Solaia back to 1978 and Tignanello back to 1971with Piero Antinori)

Brunello di Montalcino (1986)
(back to mid 1800s with Franco Biondi Santi)

Barolo (1995)
(150 of greatest Barolos back to 1937)

Gaja, Giacosa, Sandrone, A. Conterno (1997,1998,1999)
(selected vintages)

Monfortino (2000)
(from 1939 to1990)

SPAIN

Vega Sicilia (2000)
(Unico back to 1942 with Pablo Alvarez)

CALIFORNIA

Beaulieu Private Reserve (1984)
(back to 1936, including old pinot noirs, with Andre Tchelistcheff)

Classic Old California (2003)
(From the cellar of George Linton, BV Private Reserve back to1946, Charles Krug (including Vintage Select) back to 1946, Inglenook (including various casks) back to 1949, Louis Martini (including Reserve) back to 1947)

Chateau Montelena (2003)
(Cabernet back to 1973 with Bo Barrett and Heidi Peterson Barrett)

Diamond Creek (1998)
(various vintages and vineyards back to the '70s with Al Brounstein)

Inglenook (2000)
(Inglenook 1892,1897 and from 1933 to 1960, including the various casks, from the collection of Ed Lazarus)

Ridge (1999)
(various vintages and vineyards back to the '60s with Paul Draper) 

Williams Selyem Pinot Noir (1997)
(various vintages and vineyards back to the '80s with Burt Williams)

From Cults to Classics (2000)
(modern cult wines and the classics back to the great vintages of 1968, 1958 and 1951)

AUSTRALIA

The Great Wines from Australia (2001)
(modern cult wines, Henschke Hill of Grace 1986 through 1996, Penfolds Bin Wines, and Penfolds Grange 1955 through 1996)

PORTUGAL

Vintage Ports (1998)
(from cellars of Drs. Ichinose and Rhodes including Quinta do Noval ' 31 regular and nacional )

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© 2004-2005 Bipin Desai