What are "your" 100 point wines?

I have never had a wine I would rate above 98 points. And the wines I would rate the highest are not necessarily my favorite ones.  A partial list of the wines I would rate highest includes one bottle of:

1992 Dalla Valle Maya

1982 Pichon-Lalande

1959 Latour

1986 Krug Clos de Mesnil (magnum)

1998 F.X. Pichler Riesling Unendlich

1998 Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon

A partial list of my favorite wines includes one bottle from the last 3 of that list plus one bottle of:

1991 DRC La Tache

1997 DRC La Tache

2001 Giacomo Conterno Monfortino

Several of the wines I have listed I’ve had more than once. None of them have been equally fabulous every time. 

Two experiences that come close for me:

1995 Guigal La Mouline shared by Sunnylea57. The most flawless, complex and complete wine I’ve had.

1967 D’yquem that my wife sourced as a 50th birthday gift. It was incredibly alive, fresh and vibrant. While I enjoyed the Guigal more just the experience of the latter with close friends, along with knowing my wife (Not a wine enthusiast) hunted one down made that a special experience.

61' margaux is one that immediately comes to mind.  lovely floral bouquet that is so lovely you think you're drinking it even though you're just smelling it.

66' fonseca has all the great qualities eof a classic port mixed with loads of xmas spices but having a great clean acidity that helps bring everything together.

I’ve had two 100 pointers in my book.

1982 Chateau Latour

2001 Château d’Yquem

Out of 1294 scores that I have posted on Cellartracker since 2009, two were 100 points:  1983 Guigal La Landonne, and 1911 Blandy's Madeira Bual.  There were also two 99s and seven 98s.

@billhike posted:

Two experiences that come close for me:

1995 Guigal La Mouline shared by Sunnylea57. The most flawless, complex and complete wine I’ve had.

That was a goodun! I have very clear memories of that evening and that wine.

i have four 98 point scores on CT and nothing higher. I feel that if I give something 100 points it means I’ll never have a better wine.

1987 Dunn Howell Mountain (two different bottles scored 98 points)
1985 Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Charlie
2002 Bollinger Champagne RD Extra Brut

...followed by two 97 point scores:

1992 Dominus
1990 Bollinger Grande Année

I had the 92 Dominus the same day my wife gifted me the ‘67 D’yquem. Even by Ice Cube’s standards, that was a good day, 😉

Great topic!

Two wines come to mind that I put in the "perfect" category:

1982 Leoville Las Cases

1997 Phelps Insignia

Those are the two wines that I cannot forget.  I may have had some others that were perhaps as good, but these two are imprinted into my memory.

2015 Penfolds Grange

2016 Insigna

2017 Taylor Fladgate Porto

@flwino posted:

2015 Penfolds Grange

2016 Insigna

2017 Taylor Fladgate Porto

You have wrested away the title “tannin addict” from DRAB! 🤓😂

Good Topic.  For me my personal 100 point wines are:

97 Harlan Estate

97 Screaming Eagle

2002 Caymus Special Selection

2001 & 2002 Paul Hobbs Beckstoffer To Kalon

1995 Insignia

Morlet 2012 Force De la Nature

2013 Pahlmeyer Piece De Resistance

2005 Sine Qua Non Seventeenth Nail in my Cranium

2002 Shaffer Hillside Select

2012 Seven Stones 

Forgetting a few.  I have had a  few first growths that were scored as 100 points...but in reality, they have never done it for me.  

Can someone explain how, as an earlier post noted, that they have never had a wine above 98 points (or pick a score).  What were the flaws?  Why did you not rate as perfection?  

For me I do two ratings of a btl.  The current and the potential.  When i say a wine is 100 pts it is strictly based on me drinking it at that point.  it depends on evolution of btl.  I should add the 61 margaux was drunk 10 yrs ago and the 66 fonseca 2 years ago.

When drunk at that time they were perfect.  Ive had some of the wines on your list napa

Ill use the 2002 Shafer. A very very lovely wine but it still has too much tannins at this stage last year for me to consider it perfect but i could certainly see it getting there.  I would probably still give it a 100 pts for potential but its not there yet.  My worry is that it might turn out like the 2002 maya dalle valle which got strangely flabby 3 years ago

@napacat posted:

  Can someone explain how, as an earlier post noted, that they have never had a wine above 98 points (or pick a score).  What were the flaws?  Why did you not rate as perfection?  

What is perfection? How can one be absolutely certain that a wine could not be better? 100 points is an absolute, and I don’t believe in absolutes, especially with something as complex and ever-changing as wine. 

Alright Gman...thanks for the reply.  For me (And certainly company and the surroundings can influence your experience) I have had many wines that I thought were "perfect".  That part being said...I am not sure why I would "knock" them down a few points and I might not be able to identify why they were not perfect at the moment.

It sure is a lot of fun though.  So many of us have had that moment when  you take that first sip...look at your friend or wife and just say wow.  That's what we are always looking for.  Until the next 100 Pointer.

I can only think of one

2001 Chateau d'Yquem

Probably the same bottle as Mimik.

@steve8 posted:

I can only think of one

2001 Chateau d'Yquem

Probably the same bottle as Mimik.

I still have two halves. I’ll make sure you are there when I open one of those up.

in line with the 2001 D'yquem

it looks like I have the 2001 Rieussec as a near perfect wine also.

One of my favorites was a 1959 La Tour, as I was fortunate enough to have it with a 1970 La Tour and a 1976 La Tache DRC Monopole with Board-O down in Florida.  

another was a 1982 chateau Margaux.  consumed at a very good restaurant in Baltimore, The Prime Rib  

these were great experiences.  

Sometimes the situation enhances the wine   In 2017 I had a  2003 Pesquera gran reserva Janus at Akalere in San Sebastián, Spain.  It was shockingly inexpensive.  The sommelier said it was his last bottle of the 2003.  Of course, the food and the environment were both superb.  

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.  

I’d have to give this some more thought, but what immediately springs to mind is the 2010 Coche-Dury Corton Charlemagne consumed a bit over 2 years ago at Manresa in Los Gatos, CA.  I can’t recall now much of how I felt when we also consumed 2004 Coche CC, 2013 Coche Meursault Perrieres, 2013 Keller G-Max and 2014 Raveneau Clos during that same meal.  But that bottle of 2010 Coche CC was ethereal, and I can still vividly remember the bliss it provided.  

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/

@steve8 posted:

Must be using a different rating system

@flwino posted:

Must be using a different rating system

Must be a British thing. 

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

@board-o posted:

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

 

Curious, what is your favorite post -1976 wine?