1996 d’Auvenay Meursault Les Narvaux, 2012 Drouhin Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, 2013 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet, 2001 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrach’ 2016 Groffier Chambolle 1er Amoureuses, 2020 Romanée-Conti 1er Duvault-Blochet, 1994 Romanée-Conti Romanée-St-Vivant, 1985 Château Cheval Blanc

The usual suspects gathered at Buona Terra on 09 January 2025 to celebrate Sir Bob’s special day without any specific theme, but we still dug deep. After all, it is only with the man himself that we’d get a chance to taste d’Auvenay and Romanée-Conti and other greats. Many thanks, and many happy returns, Sir!

2012 Champagne Louis Roederer Cristal, courtesy of LF. Dull golden. Fabulous lift of clear citrus and fig, well replicated with excellent density on the lively palate, boasting lovely tension with a tinge of austere minerality within its refined sheen of soft bubbly froth. Very cleanly delineated with fine precision, developing an all-encompassing suave intensity that swept through to its pointed finish.

2018 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er La Perrière, courtesy of Kieron. Luminous gold. The nose suggests an older wine, featuring roasted cashews and apricots set against a recessed chalkiness. It is almost Leflaive-like, highly integral with a gentle lithe except that the predominant white fruits are dryish and a little unusual in their attenuation, producing some fleeting intensity but lacking in detail. I hit the nail, though this pinot blanc is more developed than expected.

2012 Domaine Joseph Drouhin Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru. Light golden. This wine opens with a focused bouquet of stony minerals and white fruits, matched by a clean open agility that impart a certain feminine lightness in spite of its generous presence. Very well-proportioned and balanced, gradually developing more of minerally undertones that speak of its Chassagne identity. Very classy and unassuming.

2013 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, courtesy of Sir Bob. Light golden, exuding restrained white fruits with a sense of oiliness that belies its lovely verve and pervasive inner detail, supported by a subtle minerally spine. Very beautifully nuanced and balanced. Immaculately proportioned. Not your usual weighty Leflaive.

1996 Domaine d’Auvenay Meursault Les Narvaux, courtesy of Sir Bob. Heavy in colour. The bouquet is absolutely captivating in nutty characters, peaches, apricot and popcorn, rather distant at first but it builds up with growing intensity and momentum, underpinned by a ferrous trace. Very elegantly poised on the palate, distinctly autumnal with a predominance of grapefruit and aged pears, the acidity still in place throughout its linear length. Almost ethereal. Very hard to place, at this age. Fabulous!

2001 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, courtesy of LF. Displaying a lovely golden lustre, this wine proffers a bouquet of complex orangey citrus with overtones of popcorn. A tad forward and creamy on the lithe medium-weight palate, deliciously rich and smooth, exuding plenty of élan with understated intensity, developing a glowing classy chalkiness that added focused precision to its flinty finish. This is probably Leflaive at its very best.

1985 Château Cheval Blanc, courtesy of Kieron. Displaying an autumnal brownish red, this wine exudes classic characters of a mature claret, positively glowing in capsicum, complex berries and layered currants laced with a medicinal sheen of pochai pills that are well replicated on the luxuriant fleshy palate, its glorious fruit still amazingly fresh and supple, seamlessly layered with a firm minerally line. Wonderfully vibrant, caught at its very best. You wouldn’t have guessed this is a 40-year-old bottle.

2016 Domaine Robert Groffier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Amoureuses, courtesy of Vic. Evolved crimson. Distinctly feminine in its deep rosy hues, most captivating. The suave medium-weight palate is imbued with striking acidity and generous layers of gloriously ripe fruit that carry great energy with a lithe pointed intensity.

2020 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Vosne-Romanée 1er Cuvée Duvault-Blochet, courtesy of Sir Bob from the restaurant list. Deep purple, proffering a cool exuberance of dark fruits and black currants on the nose and medium-full palate. Quietly vibrant with a predominance of raspberries that impart wonderful freshness on a cedary floor, structured with slightly sweetish tannins. Very well balanced with darkish inner detail. Drinking well.

1994 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru, courtesy of Sir Bob. Displaying an evolved crimson, this wine opens with a predominance of dark fruits, still astonishingly fresh, tinged with pochai amid leathery overtones. The medium palate is still fairly robust though the fruit is clearly receding, giving way to refined acidity that’s a tad prominent, missing in the charm and vibrancy that one may expect from this fine plot. Probably a function of its age and vintage.