Yep, that was one of mine 
I opened it the night before and gave it a solid decant around 3:30 day-of. It held onto this soy/umami character that never quite blew off. A couple folks read it as smokiness, but for me it wasn’t showing as I’d expected. Really had to dig and imagine to get any fruit which stayed muted. Hopefully just bottle variation — I’ve got a 2016 coming in at some point, so curious to see how that compares 
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I think Gavin would have liked it the way it was… reminded me of Pinotage
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What a spread! 
Overall, how did the Bordelaise-inspired wines hold up to the OG?
Great lineup, I’m sad I missed it.
How were the Figeac and Haut Bailly?
I would say they were many excellent non BDX wines at the table, but they are not Bordeaux. I think the only one that was called Bordeaux was the Opus.
The Bordeaux wines were just world class.
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really lovely!
The ’09 Figeac was gently flash-decanted at home around 3:15 and really sang — soaring perfume with a powdery floral note, layered red and black fruit, silky texture, and tannins in a perfect place. Haut Bailly ’06 showed its Graves elegance — earthy, savory, with fine grip.
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Echoing the sentiment here - outstanding expressions across the board. Hard to choose standouts frankly. I thought it was revealing how consistent the table was at identifying the Bordeaux option - not necessarily unanimously correct every time, but close to it. I’m torn between the Pavie and Latour for Bordeaux of the night. The Latour could go another 30 years and it would still be young.
Of the non-French selection, the Almavivas, Ovid, Exile, and Opus stuck with me. I preferred the 2022 Almaviva to the 2015. I have a 2017 in my cellar so may have to open that up sooner than later.
The Y by Yquem was delicious too…
Peter, thanks so much for putting this together.
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