Paul posted notes before me? He’s really supporting this board!
Matt organized a dinner around the 1994 Bordeaux vintage last night. Nice group of 8 gathered at Union Square Cafe. One advantage of the recession has been some better corkage deals, and $10/bottle at USC certainly qualifies as a good deal.
Ben had generously brought a starter, the** 1994 Laville Haut Brion**. Recently I’ve run across several very advanced 1994-1996 white Bdx, and Gilman has commented about same thing. I didn’t detect any extraordinary oxidation here, just a light nutty note that seems right for 15. On the rounder more tropical side, a bit subdued, good not great for me despite vintage. B
We moved to the reds, doing the Right Bank first.
First Flight
1994 L’Evangile - this flight had some of the biggest divergences of opinion. I thought the Evangile a bit tight, but pretty tasty -midweight ripe red fruit, some coffee/mocha, good length, tannins only thing holding it back from outstanding. B/B+
1994 Clinet - others liked more than I (which surprised me because this was one of my WOTN when we did 1994s 5 years ago). Black and red berries, surprisingly short/clipped. B-
Second Flight
1994 Angelus - drinking quite well now, though there’s enough structure to hold. Smoky, mineral, black currant and plum, very good and my second favorite of night. B+/A-
1994 Lafleur - the beast. Very solid black plum and berry fruit, but a real wall of tannins. I had written needs 15 years, Paul opined 10, so we settled for 12.5. B for now, but most room for improvement of night, I voted as my #3.
1994 Trotanoy - I liked a bit more than table. Minerally, crunchy red fruit, again the tannins are holding it back, but I have doubts this can age past the tannins. Drink now with steak. B
Third Flight (with main courses)
1994 Haut Brion- this is first time I ever remember an unanimous WOTN with this group. I’ve always liked this, but this bottle showed especially well. Dark fruit, gravel, tobacco. Tannins are present but riper/rounder than some other wines. Nice balanced package of acids, tannins, and fruit. Smooth and elegant. A-
1994 Mouton Rothschild
As much as we like teasing Frank re Mouton, I can’t say this was worst wine of the night. Lead pencil, cassis, the typical refrain of tannins, no Moutonesque exoticism that I can note. B
1994 Cos D’Estournel
My notes just read “Hard hard hard.” Some blackcurrant fruit, but hard tannins totally dominate. Maybe this will show well in 10+ years, but I’m not sad it is my lone bottle. B-/C+
Fourth Flight
Brian had brought a couple bonus bottles, which we tried blind with the one remaining Medoc
Blind #1
A little herbal, big tannins, some cedary oak. Big wine, needs food. 1994 Sociando Mallet B/B-
Blind #2
I really didn’t care for this, a bit weedy, hard tannins, there’s both green fruit and green tannins. Might have been better with meat. 1994 Reserve de Comtesse, C+
1994 Leoville Poyferre
Some others really disliked, I thought this showed as a nice if not outstanding claret. Meaty, cassis fruit, tannins just a tad tough, not great but I’d be happy with it on my dinner table on steak night. B
1997 Foreau/Clos Naudin Vouvray Moelleux
This is the regular, not the Reserve. Apples, brown sugar, some Chenin wooliness, a bit lean. Good but not great, I have to remind myself to always spend just a bit more to get the reserve, which is almost always in the great category for me. B/B+
So not so different than what I would have predicted going in. Wines mostly good but not great, all still with substantial tannins, lots of “good steak wines” but with only a couple of exceptions not any potentially stellar wines.
The appetizers were not very red Bordeaux friendly, maybe a half order of pasta would have been better, but I opted for a small portion of a main of softshelled crab with fennel and roasted peppers. Not a match, but what I felt like eating. For main I got lamb chops, with a good potato gratin and some radicchio, arugula, etc. Three out of four of my chops were tasty, one tasted totally unseasoned, very strange. Good cheese course (I had a Cowgirl Mt Tam, Grayson, and an Italian smoked sheeps cheese).
Thanks to Matt for organizing and to all for good company.
Grade disclaimer: I’m a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn’t drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
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