Havens Logo 23 White Small

Château Margaux Grand Vin Premier Grand Cru Classé 1990

Château Margaux Grand Vin Premier Grand Cru Classé 1990

Tasted with awe and much contemplation, the 1990 Margaux was one of the crowning jewels at my last tasting in Carmel, a parting gift opened the evening before my move to Portland. Garnet-robed with no bricking, this bottle was delightfully fresh and vibrant with pronounced aromas of forest floor, leather, earth, plums, black cherries, sandalwood, […]

Morlet Family Vineyards Coup de Cœur 2010

Morlet Family Vineyards Coup de Cœur 2010

I tasted the 2010 Ma Princesse earlier this year and was totally blown away by how precise it was. The same can be said of the 2010 Coup de Cœur—Luc Morlet brings an Old World touch to this New World beauty with complex, glowing, sumptuous layers of fleshy golden peaches, baked apple skins and caramelized […]

Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Côte Blonde 1998

Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Côte Blonde 1998

The epitome of old-school Côte-Rôtie, the 1998 Rostaing offers up an ever-evolving kaleidoscope of aromas: smokey bacon fat and animal notes at first, followed by sweet violets and steeped blackberries. It’s quite lean on the palate, with ultra-fine, well integrated tannins—a mark of maturity—underpinned by high acidity and gamey-green notes of dill and green peppercorn, […]

Domaine Olga Raffault ‘Les Picasses’ Chinon 1989

Domaine Olga Raffault 'Les Picasses' Chinon 1989

‘Les Picasses’ lies along a riverbank on a fairly steep slope that is primarily alluvial clay overlaying chalk and limestone. The vines are over 50 years old and the site is known to produce wines with fabulous purity and minerality. As such, the Olga Raffault ‘Les Picasses’ Chinon 1989 has had time to mellow, and […]

Château Ausone Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé 2000

Château Ausone Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé 2000

Where to begin? Château Ausone 2000 recalls some of my top red Burgundies—wines of this caliber have an otherworldly quality, that can only be described as an ethereal, gossamer, and transcendent. Complex, ever-evolving layers of black currants, ripe blueberries, gravelly earth, iron, olives, sweet tobacco, violets, camphor, and even a touch of dried honey. It’s […]

Lucien le Moine Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 2003

Lucien le Moine Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 2003

2003 was a year of extremes in Burgundy, with spring frosts and crippling heatwaves later in the summer, so how did the Lucien le Moine Chambertin-Clos de Bèze fare? Extremely well. Penetrating aromas of cherry and black raspberry, dried leaves, forest floor, woodspice, and anise lead into firm structure and a brooding, sensual intensity. Mineral […]

Kapcsándy Family Winery State Lane Napa Valley Estate Cuvée 2007

Kapcsándy Family Winery State Lane Napa Valley Estate Cuvée 2007

Kapcsándy Family Winery found its place in the sun when it launched, with Helen Turley at the helm. She’s since moved on, but Kapcsándy continues to garner 100 point scores from Robert Parker. Certainly, the 2007 State Lane Napa Valley Estate Cuvée is both multifaceted and voluptuous with layers of cola, black cherries, blackberries, butterscotch, […]

Château Margaux Pavillon Rouge 2000

Château Margaux Pavillon Rouge 2000

Pavillon Rouge is the second label of Château Margaux, and the 2000 is a perfumed, silken blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, and 7% Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Freshly tilled, loamy soil, leather, forest floor, seedy berries, and black currents evokes the memory of some distant springtime, under cloudy skies. I’m especially struck […]

Moët & Chandon Champagne Dom Pérignon Oenothèque 1996

home1-main-parallax-2

Oenothèque differs from the regular Dom Pérignon Brut in that bottles are aged on the cork, rather than on crown-seals, it also receives a lower dosage following disgorgement. As such this is a flawless Oenothèque. It reminds me of Michelangelo’s Davide in all that it communicates—timeless, there is lightness of form and yet the gravity […]

Moët & Chandon Champagne Dom Pérignon 1996

Moët & Chandon Champagne Dom Pérignon 1996

1996 was notably one of the best vintages in the past 50 years, according to, CIVC, Champagne’s regulatory board, the only other vintage it compares to is 1928, years noted for both full ripeness and high acidity. The Dom Pérignon 1996 is simply stunning, a kaleidoscope of layered aromas: shortbread, golden apple, hazelnuts, lemon zest, […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com