WTN: 1993 Kaiser Sauzet Batard-Montrachet

[DonRocks]

My friend arrived this afternoon from Richmond, having smuggled in a motherlode of Buz & Ned's Barbecue, and so as payback, while he's upstairs working on his laptop, I blinded him with a 1993 Kaiser Sauzet Batard (okay, so it's Etienne Sauzet, but you have to permit me my pet names).

I haven't had this wine in several years now, but remember the trilogy of Grand Cru 93s from The Kaiser as being over-the-top good, the Monty being one of the singularly great bottles of wine I've ever tasted.

This has only been opened and decanted (yes, decanted) for about twenty minutes, but I can already tell this is going to be a phenomenal showing. About two minutes ago, I heard a shout from upstairs, which is what prompted this posting. He's up there, working on his laptop, drinking a glass of wine, double-blind, and he wailed:

"This is GREAT!!!"

"No shit!" I yelled back up.

"This is the best aged white Burgundy I've had in a long, long time!!"

(He has apparently guessed it is an aged white Burgundy.)

Details forthcoming...

Rocks.

[DonRocks]

Update: he has just guessed, on his first attempt, that it's a Batard.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Because of it's power. Doesn't seem like Bienvenue."

"Why not Monty, or Criots, or Corton, or Les Clos, or whatever?"

"Well, first of all, I've never had a Criots."

Now, we'll see if he guesses producer and year...

I have a sneaking suspicion he'll nail the year, because of the amazing acidity supporting the huge fruit (this wine will last for twenty more years), but the producer ... unlikely.

He's gonna jump the shark and guess Ramonet, I just know he is.

We'll see.

[DonRocks]

Okay, this has turned into a sneaky behind-the-back look into the mind of a hard-core Burgophile. I just went upstairs and confronted him. I jotted down his thoughts, and I'll paraphrase them here:

I asked him to guess the year. I listened to him, and only replied when asked to reply:

'Well, the nuances say 90-or-earlier. There's really good richness and flesh. Could be a 92, but it has too much acidity. It's a little fleshy for a 93. It's not as old as the mid-80s. A 90? ["Nope."] Younger? ["Yep."] Then I'm going to say 93. ["Why?"] Because it has more acidity than a 92, and I don't know what else it could be.'

So he got the year on the second guess. Then, it was time for the producer:

'Hmm... it's really good. (I hope I have some of this!) Who makes Batard that you would buy? The Ramonet Bienvenue is not nearly this good in 93. Bernard Morey... Leflaive... Sauzet... This is really good! Hmm... how can I make a rational decision as to who this might be? Have I named the producer yet? ["Yes."] Scratch Leflaive - he wasn't making wines this good in the early 90s. It could be Ramonet - the 85 is this good. Bernard Morey? I just don't know. Okay, I'll guess Ramonet even though there's no mint in it. ["Nope - but there's one other producer you named."] Oh! Sauzet? ["Yeah."] Well, so much for people saying that Sauzet's wines don't age!'

Give the guy credit for performing well under pressure!

On to the barbecue (after setting the white aside and moving to a red - now it's going to be my turn to be blinded, I'm afraid).

Rocks.

P.S. Now I'm going to email him this link - he has no clue I've been doing this.

P.P.S. I just did, and I hear him upstairs laughing.