Only had French and Italian at the lake with us so I stuck with the āFrench helped us outā theme. ā86 Haut Brion that is still arguably a bit young. Iāll probably wait several years to open another.
It had an interesting combo of HB minerality and black fruits with the tannic style of the vintageāI think the ā86 style actually accentuates the mineral notes. Not really weedy like this vintage of LMHB has shown (not that I consider that a fault, necessarily). Also a bit austere, but opened up somewhat over a couple of hours. Iād like to see where this goes in 10-15 yearsāmy best guess is slight improvement as I think there is enough fruit to hold up to the tannins, though it will never rival vintages like 89-90. 93/94 points with a bit of upside.
Started the evening with Aviation cocktails. Best Iāve ever made. Perfect balance. Finally understand why these are a classic. Followed up with Moonlight cocktails (Cointreau derivation on the Aviation). Not nearly as good. Dinner was the 2017 Arnot-Roberts Trousseau with Flannery June Traditional Blend burgers. First time having AR Trousseau and Flannery burgers. Burgers were soooooo meaty and good. Trousseau was great as well, maybe a little overwelmed by the burgers, but very nice anyway. Probably better with āregularā burger meat not premium Flannery burgers. About to walk down to the ridge to catch the fireworks over the Bay. Will probably grab a road soda (Firestone Walker 805) from the garage. Happy Birthday America.
Vajra JC Clare on iceā¦ thatās nice.
Someoneās count was 26 wines. Some highlights:
'64 Bersano Barolo (much better than the one I brought to a recent OL)
'79 La Crema Vinera PN Ventana
'93 Ridge Geyserville
'01 Latour Corton-Charlemagne
Beers
Martini
White wine
Red wine to close
We enjoyed Halibut from the grill accompanied by '14 Sojourn Durrell Vineyard Chardonnay. Both were delicious!
Give us the dets on that Arnot-Roberts Syrah when you get time, please.
After a hot and sweaty bike ride, downed a couple of Bellās Oberon ales. Shower and shave, and onto the 2018 Tercero rose. With a dinner of grilled lamb chops, corn on the cob (first of the summer) and some wild rice, opened a bottle of 2017 Vincent Bjornson Vineyard Gamay Noir , which was a nice match with the lamb.
Two very tasty wines
Nice cool 4th on Oregon South Coast so we had a 10 Broken Stones with BBQ brisket. Got out for fireworks too.
Nearly erased the taste of an awful Weds at work. American medicine is in the shitter.
I actually decided on a 2018 Roseā of Pinot from Littoraiā¦my first experience with it. It was fine, but admittedly nothing special.
A '13 Carlisle Dupratt Zin went well with July 4th picnic fare. Also opened a '17 Tablas Creek Patelin de Tablas Blanc because it was 90 F%^*#g degrees in Anchorage, AK.
Hope everyone had a great 4th. This was the first year in several that we didnāt have out-of-state visitors. So, my wife, daughter and I enjoyed a rare 90+ plus degree day in Northern Michigan on the pontoon. I picked some Sam Adams beers for the boat as it seemed a patriotic choice. Later in the day, for wine, I had been saving an Andremily Rose 2017 for a special occasion date and what better than the 4th of July. Cheers.
We popped a 2017 Shane Wines RRV Pinot Noir along with a 2016 Belharra RosƩ of Syrah and a 2015 Rivers Marie Napa Valley Cab. All were very well received.
2013 Myriad Dr Crane
2014 Becklyn Reserve
2018 Rivers-Marie Sav Blanc
We brought a 2014 Ceritas Porter Bass Chardonnay to our favorite restaurant overlooking the Great South Bay. Wine food, and scenery were spectacular.
We didnāt get to it this weekend, so itās gone back into the wine fridge. Will definitely report back soon (itās on deck).
Would you believe that after months of lurking, I actually joined so that I could ask about the Andremily Rose? I have three bottles bought on auction and I was going to pop one open for my bday tomorrow, but Iām going to wait for a more special occasion. 
Do you have tasting notes? Thankfully Jim (or Rachel) Binns was kind enough to email me some information even though I bought it on the secondary market (canāt wait until the day I make it on the list!) It sounds truly special.