Lunch notes:
2002 Javillier Meursault Let Tillets Cuvee Speciale – medium yellow colour, good fruit in the nose with clean chardonnay character, citrus and floral nose, good length, crisp finish.
2002 Copain Pinot Noir Cerise Vd. (Anderson V.) – medium colour density, an immediately identifiable pinot nose, more French than new world, ample fruit and medium long finish. Very nice.
2000 Giorgio Primo Chianti Classico (La Massa) – earthy fruit nose OK concentration, very dry finish.
1981 Ch. Montrose – corked! Biggest disappointment for me as I love the house and appreciate the vintage while many seem to have forgotten it. Don’t know if it would have held up after all this time, but we’ll never know from this bottle. A shame.
1995 Ch. Kirwan – this Margaux was fairly dark, with a pleasant nuttiness to the nose that turned out to be it’s best feature, as the fruit was only adequate and it tapered off into a dry somewhat tannic finish. Off bottle? I am upgrading timing on my holdings of this for investigation soon to find out, as I had hopes for it.
1999 Clos des Papes CNduP – medium colour depth, a cherry and mocha nose, pleasant, and now a soft, friendly tasty wine that doesn’t need any further cellaring.
2004 Eddie Feraud CNduP – darker wine with the nose a bit tight, drinking well now, mouth in the mouth and well balanced.
1999 Ridge York Creek Petit Sirah – warmer wine, dark and with a nose of berry fruit, soft tannins in the mouth and a long soft sweet finish. Should have been served after the next wine.
1991 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle – last time I opened one of these, it was classic Asian spice, pepper and blackberry. This time the dominant impression was of vanilla. The spice was still there, but it seemed almost new world given the vanilla in the forefront. Medium colour, lots of acidity, and some smokiness, tasty and good length.
2001 Chadwick – this Errazuriz wine was lovely, with a slightly ripe slightly rubbery nose with some briar, a slightly off dry impression on mid palate, but finishing dead dry. Very good.
2008 Poplar Grove Syrah – no one saw this as a BC wine. Quite dark with a blue fruit nose, soft and very slightly off dry in the mouth pleasant and fairly extracted.
We finished with a blind Pineau des Charentes that I didn’t catch the name of and I had to go back to the office while everyone else went to find a couch somewhere to nap until dinner. Life is so unfair sometimes!