ProSys-I agree. I grade beautiful women on the curves also.
@Insight posted:I’m an admittedly tough grader, as I believe most things should be graded on a curve. Wine to me is akin to beautiful women. Those that deserve the highest recognition are noticeably smaller in number than the 9s, which are then fewer in number than the 8s, etc.
Oy vey.
The closest to perfection for me have been the 1990 Ch. Montrose, and the 2018 Keller Riesling Abtserde.
@irwin posted:ProSys-I agree. I grade beautiful women on the curves also.
Personally, I do not drink much, but there are some obligatory choices that always keep in the pantry:
for roasts and cheeses, usually buy Chianti Classico, Monte Maione from Watrose is one I like
for aperitifs and cocktails prosecco Gera Valdo, from Waitrose
for cooking and cool with fish, Laurence de Veyrac Picpoul de Pinet found a bit everywhere. You can search here https://haywines.co.uk/
Three wines come to mind:
1985 Col d’Orca Poggio al Vento - drank this with Francesco Cinzano at the winery with lunch (along with every other vintage of PaV except the first which was 1982). I had drank great bottles of this prior but this one was ethereal probably due to the provenance.
1967 d’Yquem - actually 2 bottles of this wine served at a dinner with Giacomo Neri and his winery team during a celebration of the 2007 harvest in Montalcino.
1953 Charles Vienot Richebourg - A bottle from the Bern’s cellar chosen by Eric Renaud after I told him I had not had my Burgundy epiphany. That bottle still haunts me.
Other notable wines that I would rate 99 points:
1959 Calon Segur
1968 Unico
1955 Biondi Santi BdM Riserva with Gar and KCO2
1959 Montrose
1982 Pichon Lalande with W+A, DoktaP, KCO2 and Asterix
Great topic that brings back some great memories.
Have 3
2001 d’Yquem - can’t wait to see how this develops
not sure these are really 100 pointers but they are birth year wines and are as close to perfection as I’ve tasted:
1978 DRC La Tache
1978 Ridge Monte Bello.
I haven't thought of wine in terms of scores in a long time but a few wines that stand out have been:
- 1982 Pichon Lalande - Slayed all of the first growths at the same dinner
- 2008 Coche Perrieres - Not a heralded vintage but something about this wine just hit all of the right notes for me
- 1958 López de Heredia Gran Reserva Tondonia - The first time I really understood how well these age. This bottle was so complex and so alive and just danced perfectly with roasted game.
- 1993 Rousseau Chambertin - I've had a few very good bottles of this and one insane/great bottle that gave me more pleasure than any bottle of DRC ever has. Amazing and priced accordingly these days unfortunately.
Funny story on "100 pt" wines. This past holiday season one of the service providers we use dropped off a wrapped bottle of wine for me. I told him thank you very much and put it on the back of my desk. He says, "open it". Awkward but I'll play along, so I open it and its a bottle of Bevan napa cab I think. He says, "that is a 100 pt wine right there. have you ever had a 100 pt wine?" I asked, who said it was 100 pt wine? He said, "everyone, it means its a perfect bottle of wine". I said, great thank you very much, I can't wait to try it. I gave it to my admin assistant. She said it was pretty good but a bit heavy. 
I have thought about what I think a 100 point wine is and settled on it’s a wine I had that I still remember the wine, vintage, where I had it, who I was with, the taste and at the time I thought this is as good as it gets. For me two wines, the 1958 Marchesi di Barolo Barolo Riserva with my wife at a Vintages dinner in Toronto. The second was a Ebenezer Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 from Australia in my driveway with my father in law and my wife. I can still remember the taste of both of those wines.
Closest things to perfection or a 100 point score for me is when you can still close your eyes and taste / experience it years later while thinking that that particular wine couldn't be any better.
1978 DRC RC
1983 d'Yquem
1985 Charles Heidsieck Charlie
1990 la Chapelle
1930 KWV Muscadel
I'm gonna go with Dev and Robsutherland's definition of a what 100 point wine can/should be. For me it remains a 1968 Inglenook Cask Cabernet purchased for $5.35 from a corner in a tiny liquor store in 1983. Drank it in 1984 in the dining room of our new house with our friends Jill & Mike. I can to this day remember the aroma coming from the last miniscule sip in the glass. Also remember Mike saying, "Man, I really like your old wine better that what I brought". I think he had brought a Chianti....but that was 36 years ago and I may be wrong. Started a long, happy relationship with Napa Cabs. Current producers downstairs in the wine fridge include Patria ,Lewelling, Mark Herold, Phillipe Melka, Farella, Faust, Robert Craig, Louis Martini, Honig.....Aaaaah yes....
100 point wine for me is a wine that I've tasted and had one of those "holy shit this is good" moments.
the wines that come to mind are:
1996 Lafite
1987 Dunn Howell Mtn
1993 Penfolds Grange.
2005 SQN 17th Nail in my Cranium at Lentini's house a few years back, I can't imagine a wine getting much better than it was in that moment.
1985 Chateau Rayas consumed last year, after a 90 minutes of air, was as close to perfection as I could imagine.
1996 Salon has also been right there for me.
All three of these wines I can smell and taste as if they were sitting right next to me right now.
All wines I hope to one day try myself one day, yet I realize many are awfully expensive or rare to track down. The Chateau Rayas was provided and opened by a friend on my birthday. At the time most of the wine I had acquired was from California and Oregon, and so began my journey of French wine, and shortly after, Italy, which I have just began scratching the surface of exploring.
1976 Batard-Montrachet (Pierre Olivier)
1967 d'Yquem
1945 La Mission Haut Brion
1959 Calon Segur
1959 Latour
1959 Petrus
1959 Margaux
1961 Margaux
1961 Mouton
1962 Mouton
1959 La Tache
1934 Romanee Conti