TN: '95 and '96 DP

FAREWELL PARTY FOR LISA AND STEVEN - (6/2/2005)

Light, bright straw gold with a plethora of aggressive small bubbles, nicely persistent and lasting longer than my willpower to drink the glass slowly. The nose immediately showed mushroom, brie, and warm apple. With a little time yeast, toast, and butterscotch came out. Butterscotch often means maderisation to me, but not in this case - no signs of that. On entry, the biggest impact was citrus-like acidity and the minute bead. On the midpalate, the wine suddenly turns extremely, indulgently creamy. On the finish, it gives that refreshing scratch of acid and bubble that always makes me crave more. Finish is long and redolent with honeyed dough. Interesting that while this wine is very rich texturally and fairly open on the nose, the palate is still pretty closed. An absolute blast to drink right now, but with acidity and development in the glass that hints at very much more to come. Just a stunningly good wine!

Slightly lighter in color than the '95, with a mousse that is a little bit less aggressive - both visually and on entry. On the palate, the mousse never turns creamy, but seems to maintain an amazing definition that makes each and every tiny bubble distinct. This sensation persists until the wine is swallowed. Nose is very, very closed, showing little more than a bit of very tight apple and grapefruit, plus a tiny element of unrisen dough and nut. It never really opens up to show anything more. Palate has citrus, acidity, and surprising body above and beyond the bubbles. Finish shows a little minerality. Completely different from the '95, seeming to be much more than a year younger. Even though this is a very big wine, balance throughout was perfect and this clearly isn't showing a tenth of what it has in store. For drinking today, the '95 is a clear winner. And it may always be, at least for my palate.

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