A night of outstanding wines: Raveneau, Verget, Mouton, LB etc

One of my friends is turning 50, so we had a nice dinner on Saturday. Here are the wines…

We started with a '95 Dom Perignon and an NV Nicolas Feulliatte. Didn’t make any TNs but I liked the Feulliatte more then the very dumb Dom.

Then we sat down for dinner. With lobster we had a couple of Chablis. They were both fab -

  • 2000 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Monts Mains - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru (11/22/2009)
    Classic chablis mix of citrus and stones, a little waxy and light, lithe body. All turned up to “10”. Outstanding.
  • 2002 Verget Chablis Grand Cru Bougros - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru (11/22/2009)
    A grand cru that understood its duty to be a great wine, though drunk a little young and the oak was a tad out of place. Still, a Chablis with fabulous concentration, stones and citrus. Outstanding

And on to the meats and the reds. With pork belly -

With rack of lamb -

  • 1996 Château Léoville Barton - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (11/21/2009)
    Mocha, tobacco and cherry on the nose. More of the same on the palate with unresolved tannins. My impression is that this bottle was opened too early and the '96 needs at least two more years before getting into its main drinking window.
  • 1999 Château Mouton Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (11/22/2009)
    Lush cab with expected body and taste of a first growth. Quite drinkable just ten short years after the vintage. Outstanding.

With the cheese course we went with another oldster for the birthday boy -

We also had a 1985 Grahams with the cheeses. I don’t have any firm recollections, good or bad. And after the coffee we opened a 1990 Domaine le Basque Bas Armagnac. It was classic Lemothe - everything to put it on the very top tier of Armagnacs but with a hint of courseness that for me makes it more enjoyable.
Posted from CellarTracker

That was my only bottle too. It’s ready when you are.

Serge -

I checked my notes on 1996 Château Léoville Barton.
I wasn’t impressed and felt like the wine was missing something. Hopefully those 2 years will make it better. I suspect 5 is a safer bet.

I think the LB has the stuff to become great wine. One more thing, the referees have reviewed the call and they say 5 years is correct, not 2. Happy Thanksgiving!