Since Thursday is the new Friday for evening social events we said “Yes!” to an invitation to taste some rare and exquisite wines at the Washington Square Tavern in Brookline, MA. The restaurant owner is a wine genius, with a great shop of his own, so we knew the wines would be worth tasting, even if the prices would be well over our limit.
Rare Champagne [formerly the top cuvée at Piper-Heidsieck and now its own label] and Folio Fine Wine Partners co-sponsored the event. They poured four extravagantly-priced wines and one relatively affordable Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon—all with 94 to 100-point pedigrees.
- Rare Brut Millésime Champagne-2013
$219 at Vivino - Rare Millésime Rosé Champagne-2014
$429 at Vivino - Animo Cabernet Sauvignon-2019
$75 at Wine Transit - “M” by Michael Mondavi-201
$216 at Mr. D Wine - Pym-Rae Napa Valley Tesseron Estate-2019
$390 at Woodland Hills Wine Company
Gary was all-in on every wine; Lisa only liked the Animo Cab. (Not because it was the lowest price). Following are Gary’s tasting notes on the offerings.
Rare Millésime Brut and Rare Millésime Rosé
These two bottles were right out of a fairy tale. Both Rare Champagnes (2013 Brut and 2014 Rosé) were indeed precious, special, and delicious. The Brut was beautifully balanced with just the right amount of dryness, fruit, almond, and minerality. As good as the Brut was, the Rosé topped it in almost every category. Alas, perfection comes at a high cost and no Champagne, no matter how magical, is worth $300+! [That’s Lisa editorializing]
Animo Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 and M by Michael Mondavi
The Michael Mondavi Family Wines portion of the tasting included its 2019 “M” and Animo wines. The 2019 Animo is a beautiful Napa Cab deserving of the Mondavi pedigree. Landing a 94-point ranking from Wine Enthusiast, the wine is beautifully balanced with undertones of vanilla toast, black currant, white pepper, and a slight earthy oakiness over barely-there, satin-smooth tannins. An age-worthy wine that will only improve over time [as noted by more recent reviews of the 2019]
The 2019 “M” by Michael Mondavi is a big, dark foreboding wine that, despite its high marks (94-96 points) from the wine press, is just not ready–in Gary’s opinion–to drink or review. All the components of an amazing wine are present, but they’ve yet to reach their potential.
Pye-Rae Napa Valley Tesseron Estate-2019
This expertly crafted red blend (80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot) was transcendent. From the chocolate-black cherries on the nose to the hefty palate, silky-smooth tannins, and long, amazing finish, the wine was simply perfect. The wine press rates this at 96+ points but at a price of $350+ a bottle, we won’t be adding it to our cellar any time soon. The Pym Rae is one of the best wines Gary has tasted in recent memory, giving cult fave Screaming Eagle a wake-up call!
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