Over the course of a week, I taste a bunch of wine, usually with friends, and almost always with my wife. Here are some of the wines we tasted this last week that stood out, starting with the wines from Open That Bottle Night:

Open That Bottle Night Wines:

2006 Clos de la Coulée de Serrant: Retail ~$80 (?). I have now had a few different vintages of the Clos de la Coulée de Serrant and this was the best thus far. I am also beginning to understand this wine a bit better. We decanted the wine only briefly before serving, and the decanter revealed a dark yellow, even orange color which caused my wife to shriek a bit. The wine is so different that it is very difficult to describe. Imagine honey without the sweetness. Citrus without the pucker. After the first glass, I decided to hold the wine in my mouth for about 20 seconds or longer. I am not sure why I decided to do this, but the wine transformed after about 15 seconds and became one of the more incredible wine experiences I have ever had. The finish lasted for a couple of minutes! A truly incredible wine. 94-96 Points.

1980 Christian Brothers Cabernet Sauvignon: Retail ?? This wine was rather remarkable–a great color and vibrancy, silky smooth and refined. Sure, the fruit was certainly faded, but the balance and the complexity remained. This was the first red wine in the line-up and it was certainly a difficult one to follow. Outstanding. 91-93 Points.

1988 Lamberti Recioto della Valpolicella Amarone Corte Rubini: Retail ?? This was another remarkable wine. The nose was shy and not revealing all that much. On the palate, it was fantastic–the fruit was there, but at best subtle, though that subtly was amazing. The classic Amarone flavor was there, not overwhelming, but perfectly matched with the acidity. Age has turned this almost Pinot like which immediately won me over. Outstanding. 92-94 Points.

2005 Cosentino The Poet Meritage: Retail ~$60. We had this after the Christian Brothers and the Amarone, which was definitely a change of gears. The Poet is always one of my favorite wines, and this was excellent, but it was noticeably out of place. The fruit was jumping out of the stem compared to the others. Big red fruit and a hint of chocolate. Outstanding. 91-93 Points.

Other wines from the week:

2008 Argyle Brut: Retail $22-25. I was a bit distracted when we popped this at a BYO, but I was able to focus enough to realize that Argyle is near the top of the heap in domestic sparkler production. Mostly some muted citrus on the nose and quite bright on the palate. Perhaps not as much green apple as the 2006, but this wine shows that Argyle really makes an outstanding bubbly every year. Very Good. 87-89 Points.

2008 Argyle Pinot Noir: Retail ~$20. A solid effort–I am a big fan of Argyle’s higher level Pinots, and this clearly has some of those characteristics, but noticeably thinner. Still, good balance and a good every day option. Good to Very Good. 85-87 Points.

2006 Buil & Giné Priorat Giné Giné: Retail ~$20. Not nearly as good as the last bottle of this we had a few weeks ago, the fruit this time was more or less absent, leaving an astringency that was somewhat off-putting. The acidity on the back end seemed out of balance. Good, but not much more. 83-85 Points.

1986 Inglenook Merlot Reserve: Retail ?? I really had no idea what to expect with this wine (I took a bit of a flyer buying this), but I was home alone and eating leftover pizza, so I figured it was as good of a time as any. The wine was actually quite good, hints of red berry fruit, even a bit of mint, and some well placed acidity. No doubt this should have been consumed a while ago, but alas…. Very Good. 87-89 Points.

2000 Louis Jadot Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru La Dominode: Retail ~$35. Wow, this was truly a nice surprise. I had a couple of these back in 2008 and I was less than whelmed–solid, but nothing more. This bottle was a different story altogether. Great fruit upfront, especially given the age, followed by depth and complexity that you expect at wines double the price. I have not had nearly enough red Burgundy recently and this wine was a perfect indication of why I need to change that immediately. Outstanding. 91-93 Points.

WINE OF THE WEEK: I considered not choosing a wine of the week this time around since this weekend was Open That Bottle Night. Had it not been for that annual ‘event’ the 2000 Jadot Dominode would have been a run away winner of the top prize. The reality is that OTBN was this week, and well, that is just how it goes. All of the wines we had were fantastic, but the 2006 Joly Clos de la Coulée de Serrant was as close to a life altering wine that I have had since the 1973 Dom Pérignon we had a few years ago. The depth and richness of the wine were truly remarkable and the finish was nothing short of miraculous. I need to also add that although everyone seemed to enjoy the wine, not all were as over the moon as I. Joly’s wines do not hit everyone the same way–they are off the spectrum of ‘normal’ and can be a bit off-putting. For me, though, on that night, I wanted to keep it all to myself (but I didn’t since that would have been rude).