Decanting Bubbles?

We tried an experiment tonight... I'll get to it later. First, the 2002 Zind-Humbrecht Vieilles Vignes Pinot Gris was mammoth. If anyone has any doubt about the quality of wines that Zind-Humbrech consistantly makes, even in the "off" vintages, find a bottle of this. 15% alcohol - yet completely balanced. Stewed peaches and tropical fruits, with just a hint of baked apricots. The 2003 Turley "Old Vines" Zinfandel is all about the nose... bramble, bramble, and bramble. Classic new style Zin with a jammy raspberry nose.

There have been a good number of articles written lately about decanting Champagne and Sparkling Wine... So R and I decided to decant an already open bottle of Krug Grand Cuvee and see what happened. While the nose was certainly clearer, I felt that the entire reason for drinking Champagne was lost. The bubbles were still there - sort of. It lost all notion that it was Champagne and just became wine - with a few bubbles. Still balanced, with clear notes of yeast, toast, peaches and pears. The wine was still amazing... which leads me to a thought.

What do the following have in common (other than very expensive price tags) - Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Leroy, Latour, Petrus, Cheval Blanc, d'Yquem, FX Pichler, Robert Weil, Harlan, Shafer, Colgin, Guigal, Krug, Gaja, Trimbach, Paul Hobbs, Weinbach, Nicolas Joly, Bruno Giacosca, Penfold's Grange, Zind-Humbrecht, Torbreck Run Rig, Herm Donnhoff, etc....? Why are they the best? Because even in "off" vintages, they manage to make great wine. Now, what makes these wines great - Collectors want them? Restaurants want them? Sure, but that's not what it is. These estates all make very, very concentrated wines designed to age, evolve, and improve for decades. But there's an even bigger key than the concentration. I've had wines that will rot your teeth they are so concentrated with tannin, fruit, etc. To me, the real reason that these are the best wines in the world are the fact that year in and year out, good or bad vintage, they are exceptionally balanced wines. The tannins, fruit, and acid all come together so that if they are high in alcohol, you don't notice. If they are high in tannin, you don't notice. Jammy? Can be, but mostly they just have a formula for achieving complete balance. My main criteria for determining how great a wine is, not matter what stage of maturity it is in, is whether the wine is completely balanced. What makes the 1961 Chateau Latour so great? It's earthy, cedary, smokey, almost porty, it still has a good amount of tannin and acid - and it's completely balanced. The next time you taste a wine that is widely considered "great"... think about why it's so great.