I was invited to an out of town wine dinner with a group of enthusiasts I’ve known for a long time, but don’t see so often anymore. Many of the group had flown in for the evening so we were fortunate the weather/airlines all cooperated with our travel plans. Most of notes are more snippets / impressions as I enjoyed myself, rather than diarizing the night.
We started with some duck charcuterie and fennel along with these
1998 Veuve Clicquot Rose [Champagne] I feel like I had this some years ago, but this was a better example.
NV? Duval Leroy Brut [Champagne] I thought this was the NV, but my picture is not clear enough to confirm. Pretty solid
2019 Pahlmeyer Chardonnay [Napa?] I think this was a late addition at a guest request. I had not tasted anything from this producer in a long time, but thought this was a strong example of Big Fruit Chardonnay. There were a lot of great wines over the evening and came back to revisit it.
Then we segued into the older wines and a beef bourgogne, along with cheesy potatoes and roast butternut squash.
1971 Pavie [St Emilion] Still alive and showing smoky, tertiary character like forest and mushroom.
1974 Ch. Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon [Napa] Our host is a long time collector of classic CA cabs and pulled this to compare with older Bordeaux. We had some discussion of the Judgment of Paris and which wines Mike Grgich made. Medium bodied and smoky, and fully mature/advanced. Some decades ago I had attented a large Montelena multi varietal vertical and I didn’t think anything there was fully mature, but given enough time, even their powerful CS will hit its apogee.
1982 Leoville Poyferre [St Julien] I thought this was very aromatic, with an excellent texture, along with lavender and fern. Others were hoping/expecting for more/better, but I didn’t think Poyferre really hit their stride until the 1990.
1982 l’Evangile [Pomerol] Still a glorious example of the AOC but I enjoyed it more when younger. 12.5% abv on the label; I remember the 1970 stated 11% abv.
1986 Gruaud Larose [St Julien] Still dark, and totally delicious. Pretty much perfect and holding strong despite the decades.
I think the cheese course - 5 different artisanal kinds - emerged now, but I missed the names and didn’t get a picture of the plate.
1995 Ducru Beaucaillou [St Julien] Dense, balanced, and just excellent. There was discussion of issues the cellar had in that era, as well as the Borie family’s response.
2000 Carmes Haut Brion [Pessac Leognan] Richly fruity, and delightful in a youthful way. Maybe hints of torrefaction if one really sniffs.
2002 Latour [Paulliac] from a magnum and as expected, dark and dense with some incense character. A celebratory bottle bringing back memories of that year.
2002 Vieux Chateau Certan [Pomerol] Smooth texture, minty notes, even some saddle/sweat too.
2002 Dom. Robert Chevillon ‘Les Roncieres’ 1er [Nuit Saint Georges] I enjoyed this greatly, finding it to show ripe raspberry jam types of flavors. If blinded, I would have thought this to be New World and aging very well.
And now a dessert of creme brulee over a berry compote (?) was served along with a pair of Sauternes
1988 Rabaud Promis [Sauternes] It’s been decades since I’ve tasted this and my only note was ‘cinnamon’ Pretty much all Sauternes tastes great after a night of older/dry reds!
1990 Lafaurie Peyraguey [Sauternes] Lush, with a nutmeg note, then saffron. With this same group we had a 1986 out of magnum some years ago which was also a standout. This has the honeyed 1990 character.
There was also a
2001 Weingut Robert Weil Kiedrich Grafenberg Riesling [Rheingau] which didn’t taste sound to me, but maybe someone else can opine.
As always there was so much wine that we left many bottles unopened. It was wonderful to catch up with old friends (and old wines!) enjoying all the great food and hospitality our host shared.
Until next time!