Impromptu Guy’s Night with l’Evangile, Ausone, Le Pin, Barton and SHL

We all owed a buddy a “solid” and somehow ended up at Ruth’s Chris to imbibe, perhaps as a pre-gamer to our guy’s cycling weekend starting this Friday. I suspect it will be a rough weekend as well!

Started with the 2000 Chateau l’Evangile, Pomerol, which opened pretty quickly on a pop and pour. Would have loved to follow this wine all night, but that’s not how my group does things. Lovely nose of wet mossy earth, truffles and ripe plums. Satin on the palate, broad range of red to dark fruits. The red fruit acid really keeps this elegant wine quite lively. Rolled straight into a 2015 Chateau Ausone, St. Emilion, a baby of course, but pretty drinkable given the solar vintage. MarcF was digging the Franc notes, personally I think the ripeness of the merlot predominated. A pretty exotic wine with Indian spices, dark french roast coffee, dark chocolate and a deep brooding presence of rich wet earth. Would love to see this wine in 15 years, but in truth, would rather see the 2014 0r 2016 in 15 years, as this 2015 St Em is a bit ripe for me.

We had decanted a 1996 Leoville Barton, St. Julien. Now we are back to talking about maturity and classic wines that shine with time. Damn what a fantastic vintage for LB. A classic Bordeaux perfume with some funk, lead pencil and dark cassis. The balance on this wine is impeccable. Plays more on the darker spectrum of fruit, powerful fruit, framed with the structure of some red fruit acid and resolving tannins. On this night, the 96 LB was my WOTN. It’s in the zone.

The 2017 Le Pin, Pomerol, followed. What more to say, pretty much the same as when I had it on NYE (TN: 2017 Château Le Pin, Pomerol - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers). Almost criminal - actually, it is criminal - to pop this now, but when a buddy brings it, one must oblige. Was clearly a hit at the table, especially to the boys that love their Cali Cabs. It’s a pretty rich, exotic wine, one that appeals to classicists and modernists. Another wine that I would love to try at maturity.

While we opened a few additional Cabs, the standout to close the night was a 1996 Smith Haut Lafitte, Pessac Leognan. I’m not sure exactly when Rolland and Derenoncourt got involved and turned this once-classic Graves into something that I do not like, but I would think they came much later given how classically this wine showed. A very elegant Graves that is well within its optimal drinking window. After all those larger-scaled wine, it was nice to see a more medium-bodied wine with a vein of wild red fruits with some weight of darker cassis. Green tobacco leaf, dry earth and some old barn plank. Just a flat out lovely wine.

It’s been quite a while since I have been to a Ruth’s Chris, and I cannot say that I generally love these big steak chain restaurants, but they did a well-executed bone-in filet Pittsburgh rare for me. That charred rare steak with the young Ausone and Le Pin was almost too decadent!





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Nice, I have a couple bottles of the 96 leoville barton, may visit soon.

Sounds like a great night; thanks for sharing! I have a handful of the 2000 l’Evangile that I’ve been resisting the urge to open; sounds like it’s ready for business!

Nice !
Is life coming back to us ? flirtysmile [snort.gif]

Ned, we are Florida. It never left!

[wow.gif]

Give it a decant, though. I would have no reservation popping another. Now I’m thinking about that '98 I have in hiding!

Now, don’t be political or you’ll get the " French Kiss " ! [snort.gif]

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What a set of wines, and excellent notes!

And of course the thing that jumps out at me is that you opened billion dollar wines and the humble Leo B is the WOTN.

Nice!

It’s that commonality we share, LB and I both being humble.

I have always said, I’d rather drink a lower-scoring but fully mature wine that is in its optimal drinking over a high-scoring wine that is just not ready. Any day of the week, but drinking the young big baller wines is fun, too, just different.

If any of u guys have 2017 Le Pin, pop it now… it’s totally primed and ready to go.:roll_eyes:

What an amazing night! What stands out for me here is that the properly aged wines of far lesser cost beat the big boys because they were simply too young. This is why we cellar wine.

I think those can be super fun tastings — especially when blind. You have someone bring a $600 wine and it’s not uncommon that they decide they like a $30 bottle of Lytton Springs better. IMO, the greatness of these wines, or at least the comparative superiority of them, is often much less evident at that stage. Paper bags make for some great revelations.

What a lineup!!

Seconded! On paper, I might have put it 4th, maybe 3rd tops.

I’m really curious about what my little buddy, the mercurial MarcF, thought what was the WOTN?

We have a fun line-up for this weekend as well.

Marx, where the f*ck u b?

The Sheridan L’Orage was WOTN…so good it was that I asked Robert to leave it out of the notes to avoid price inflation.

Very nice night. When I was younger I had a lot of the 96, 98, 00 SHL rouge’s and always felt like 96 was kind of wan compared to the others, so ended up getting rid of it. (1998 was my favorite of those even if not the highest ‘rated’).

Good to see that 1996 seems to have gained some gravitas over the years.

Good to hear about the '98 I have the 1998, 2001, 2004, 2008 and 2012.


Here are some brief dinner notes from last night.

I’m becoming more and more of a big fan of Leoville Barton and the '96 was a nice treat… The nose is just speaks to me with that sweet, sweaty, saddle leather, Oh Momma Mia, almost burgundian on the palate, graceful, smooth, linear, sophisticated. The soft wet undergrowth and leathery notes complimented the aromatics. This is completely ready…ok and yes WOTN

The '96 SHL was lovely, a slight step down from the Leoville Barton and slightly more advanced in it’s evolution… the Pessac displayed some nice old school qualities I look for… The nose has that sweet earthiness, tobacco, espresso, and a little bit of that slight band-aid note… On the palate, tangy red fruits, a little more astringent than the Leoville, but the wine displayed a wonderful leafy herbaceousness that I enjoy. Tannins completely resolved and like the LB, not a big wine on the palate which appeals to me, def. more of a middleweight. Again, like the LB this is completely ready to go, lovely stuff.

2000 L’Evangile…the nose…yes the nose, killing. Those soft refined truffle notes were haunting. Though the palate was a slight step down from the aromatics. It’s a lovely wine no doubt, more round and dense than the Lefty’s, dark fruited, and soft wet leaves. The wine has exceptional balance though, I was hoping for a little more complexity. Still a very solid quaff.

2017 Le Pin, I must say I’m thoroughly ashamed to partake in the baby killing of the Le Pin, but what little choice did I have? Honestly, when will I ever get a chance to taste this wine ever again? Most likely never… Let me tell you this, if you hate yourself, pop this now and if you love yourself wait 25 years. It’s completely shut down with structure out the yin yang. Wish I could have sat with it longer…like 2days😃

2015 Ausone, WOTV? This is one sexy mother fuqn beast. instantly I asked Robert (how much cab franc was in here?) because it was quite evident on the nose…On the palate this is a dense, full, sexy, spicy freak of wine…I actually found some joy and drinking it now, which surprised the heck out of me. Not a huge fan of the 2015 vintage but, this is going to be an absolute cracker. I def.can see some dancing satyrs in its future.:metal:

This was a really great guys evening. My snobby side kind of poo pooed Ruth Chris but, the restaurant delivered. The food is really solid, arrived promptly and service was spot on.

Looking forward to Vero at Roberts Beach retreat his weekend for a little wine, cycling and spooning (those are not pillows😜). Cheers!

Pretty good weekday evening! I’ve got a few '98 SHL’s still laying around, need to open one over the next few months.