It was supposed to go alongside the 04 Salon there just as it was here, but we had a last minute switcheroo and it flew solo.
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Youze guys are my heroes.Need more detailed notes, to enjoy the weekend vicariously.
Not sure about the prerequisite for joining this group, but my pickleball skills are world class. Just sayin’, if you need a ringer 
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2005 Edmond Vatan Sancerre Clos la Néore - France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre (9/16/2023)
Wow, again! And thanks to Alfert for supplying this, again. The 2005 is a singularly perfect wine; it’s got to be one of the wines of the decade. This wine is an amalgamation of tropical fruit, cold weather fruit, myriad mineral traits, and tons of synesthesia words… while I totally agree with the “every tropical fruit under the rainbow” description, I must temper that with the fruit is is no way sweet, or cloying, or heavy in any way. In a sense, there is the essence of pineapple, pear, peach, Fruit Loops, quince, apricot, tangerine, lime, with some apple peel and lime peel. The wine is steely, flinty, and possessing a perception of wet cut limestone. It has a quality that I can only describe as a fantastic dull citrus and steel perception. It swallows beautifully and is so long. It is the kind of wine I could spend all day and night with… “It is precious to me!”, said in my best Sméagol voice. Thanks a ton Robert for bringing this! (100 pts.)
Looks like a fun weekend with some great wines!
Alright another set of wine notes.
1966 Dom Perignon - This had a little life left in it yet. Still some bubbles, an essence of carbonation, yielding to baked apple tart and ginger snap, butterscotch, burned sugar. Pretty clean. Just an old bottle of champagne. Amber color. Palate fades relatively quickly, showing more of its cider, nutty sherry notes, and age-related oxidation as it warms. While past its prime you can glimpse a past of excellence that made this wine famous. More confirmation, to me, that great champagne is best drunk in that 15-25 year age range. A lovely experience.
1964 Dom Perignon - Unlike the 1966, this lacked the initial glory, the echo of esteem. It was more shot, with a deeper copper color and strong signs of oxidation. Even so, one can pick up a hint of fruit, a backbone of acid. But it is fleeting and there are better wines to be had.
1975 La Mission Haut Brion - A lovely ruby hue shaded with bricking. This wine is aromatically expressive, with big cedar, spice, tobacco, and crushed rock notes. On the palate, the wine is wonderfully complex and medium bodied, with faded red fruit, a hint at something darker, dusty rocks, sweet old pipe tobacco, and an intense iron note. As the fruit fades with air the iron becomes a bit dominant and, next to 82 Canon, this wine seems like it’s more than 7 years the Canon’s senior. A very good bordeaux for a bit, but outclassed in this showdown.
1982 Canon - A really sublime bordeaux, and one of my top reds of the weekend. Condition is just sensational. This is an extracted, deeply fruited 1982 in prime shape, drinking younger than 41. Fruit profile is ripe and dark without being heavy or cloying. Aromatics are lovely, with classic sous bois, leather, sweet cigar, shoe polish. Stayed excellent. Really good wine. Top class and vibrant. Better than I anticipated, to be honest. This was a treat.
1982 Ducru Beaucaillou - Wow, this is also really good and also in exceptional condition. Aromatics here are similar but different. Fruit is not quite as sweet, though still red and black and quite present. Still some sous bois and sweet cigar, but maybe also coffee grounds and lead pencil. Really nice wine too. I prefer the Canon by a hair, but excellent stuff.
1995 Cos D’Estournel - I drank the least the night we had this, and remember this one least of literally all of the reds. My recollection is that it was a lovely wine, but that I was not awed or inspired. I was probably also simultaneously mildly intoxicated and hungover and extremely tired all at the same time. Someone else will have to comment more on this wine. Maybe not Alfert, though. He was, ahem, compromised when this was popped.
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I’m pretty sure I was roofied. Again. I have zero recollection of the Cos. Like none.
Notes are spot on with the 82s, we hit two major winners here.
I was on a conference call when Kane brought me the 66 Dom, I thought it was a Rosè!
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Talking to your wife does not count as a ‘conference call’
What a great event!!
And coincidentally I picked up a 2005 Vatan in Cannes last week. Boy, now I’m even more excited to try that!
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It’s spectacular - honeysuckle nose for days
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We are very transactional, and I charge her.
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2019 Leeuwin Estate Artist Series Chardonnay - Really lovely wine that is both rich in fruit without being flabby and crisp and saline without being harsh. Deft balance. A cross between a sonoma coast chardonnay and a chablis, but opening with warmth to a slightly more exotic fruit palate. It’s really pretty damn good stuff.
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So I’ve gathered my thoughts a little bit after a superb weekend, a couple takeaways… To be sure top 2004, Chardonnay leaning Champagne‘s are super terrific!!! All of the wines we drink that should have been good, seemed like they were at the top of their range, respectively. Even the ones that should’ve been a little tired or were quite old, offered something. The group are exceptional cooks, cleaners, have vast knowledge of wine, are generous with their wines, easy to get along with, love outdoors and indoors, and music; Renaissance men to be sure!
It’s absolutely a great reward in my life the connections I have made through WB. Not only the people, but the amazing food and wine connections. I have to give Katie and Bryan Flannery a huge shoutout. Both styles of short ribs are the best of the best. If you like them, you have to try them. adventurous burger is best with just a plain bun and a little salt!!! Astrea Caviar is exceptional, I believe it is some of the best to be had, it is a pretty good deal all things considered. Smoking Goose has so many great things to eat. I love it all, the rabbit terrine and many saucissons were out of this world. Fried chicken and Champagne was not something I would have to do again. Maybe it was neutral enough not to take away from the great bubbles. Pickleball is for not elote athletes. Gosh, I’ve got to get better at Pickleball!
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Put me in the camp of loving fried chicken with champagne. The problem for us was, that was our THIRD fried chicken meal of the day. Road tripping in the redneck RV, we stopped twice for that Bojangles crack cocaine! And then Chick-fil-A TWICE on the way home! I feel gross.
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Sir, I’ve discovered your problem.
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There was NOTHING ‘redneck’ in that Sprinter RV, that machine was stacked
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Could have been overload. That was a ton of yardbird! Then we sliced some chicken and put it on biscuits and nuked them for a snack next morning. Todd wakes up and tosses them, thinking it was left out
Hey @ToddFrench Charleston is right around the calendar corner.
I was thinking this a whatever weekend then Bojangles and champagne was mentioned.
Be still my heart.
Popeye’s, actually - Carnes stopped at Popeye’s so we could have the finest fried chicken with these world-class Champagnes
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