I had to visit the Northeast for a family wedding last week and was lucky enough to meet some long time WB friends. For a variety of reasons, my traveling ability currently is limited, so I have not been keeping in touch as much as I would like. Despite that, the group graciously pulled together an incredible lineup of older right bank Bordeaux and great food. Notes were taken, but are brief, as merriment was high.
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We started with sparkling & whites
NV? Les Mesnil Blanc de Blancs [Champagne] Still fresh, and a Manny Berk RW import.
2010 Keller Abtserde Grosses Gewächs My first experience with this producer. Itâs zippy and deep. I wrote down Vom Boden, but I do not recall what that meant.
2021 Tiberio âFonte Canaleâ [Trebbiano dâAbruzzo] I thought this was a bit too low acid for my preferences in blancs
2016 Envinate Taganan Blanco This is an orange wine from the Canary Islands. 12.5% abv. From the Vinos Atlantico group, 4 families with wine making skills, but still hunting for vineyards.
The above were all served with fine cheeses, grilled shrimp, smoked scallops, and sliced sausages. We then segued into the older Bordeaux.
1953 Canon [St Emilion] Quite lovely with some tanginess. Look at that color!
1949 Canon [St Emilion] Caramel, brown sugar notes
1971 Canon [St Emilion] darker than you might expect for the age. Some stinkiness but also citrus & oleander notes. (TN now corrected, had been appended to the above)
1982 Canon [St Emilion] Fabulous! A hint of sweatiness.
1982 Certan de May [Pomerol] Also fabulous, great texture and balance. Itâs been 20 years since I have tasted one, when I recall that bottle being the WOTN at a Bordeaux dinner.
1998 Bourgneuf [Pomerol] Full bodied but some acidity. I have always liked this, and it has rounded out with the years. Both the 1998âs were presented blind in decanters, and I thought - incorrectly - that neither was a JP Moueix influenced bottling.
1998 lâEvangile [Pomerol] Full bodied, complex, herbal, saddle. For fortunate owners, itâs ready to drink.
And then dinner was closed out with a
1994 Kracher Scheurbe BA which seemed less electric than I thought it would be. I still see current releases from time to time, but it doesnât seem like they have the same âmindshareâ among dessert wine fans anymore.
It was a great evening and I much appreciated the food, friends, wine, and ride back!
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Separately, there were wine professionals / writers there and we had a discussion about stemware. I was using a pair of Zaalto and Gabriel Glas, quite nervously, as they were more delicate than I had anticipated. I do not have either of those marques at home but they are impressive glasses that are not appropriate for our (gleefully destructive!) pets. But more interestingly, one of the attendees observed that a) Riedelâs Vinums work just fine b) itâs more important to clean glasses by hand than to have the most delicate/thin/expensive ones and c) varietal specific decanters - as recommended by Maximillien - are unnecessary.