i've read conflicting reports on the 97 salon. I've heard that it is very drinkable right now and I've also heard that its a baby 96


when was the 04 soldera released?

i'm not sure, but i think it has been just released, surely not earlier than september. 60 months of tonneau aging and 6/12 in the bottle is the usual standard for them.

Wasn't Salon the first blanc de blancs? These are ususally long-lasting.

I've heard the '97 is drinking well now, but vintage charts show that '97 was not nearly the year that '96 was.

I'd probably drink it soon.

that goes in the ldo category. 96 was one of the best vintages that has happened in champagne in a long time, so anything next to it will generally pale in comparison.

The 97 salon seems to be a bit of an aberration for the vintage as it is much more structured then almost any other 97 from what I've read. Personally I'd say buy 3, drink one now and age the other two

I'd go so far as to say that '96 in Champagne is one of the best vintages that has happened, period, in a long time.

I wonder if there are different disgorgements. I've had 4 bottles, but 3 were from the same source, so there might be less advanced ones out there.

Two interesting Christmas Day bottles. Chambertin 1989 from Trapet was showing a lot of heat at first, and some off notes; it never totally cleaned up but it came around to be a perfectly nice bottle. Mondavi Reserve Cab 1987 is a wine I've had several tired bottles of (various cellars); this one was probably at peak, and an excellent example, although I don't think it'll live as long as the earliest Mondavi cabs.

We wrapped up with a decanter combining the leftover Taylor '94 and Taylor Vargellas VV '95 from our tasting two weeks ago. When we had them originally, the '94 was superior and more balanced, a really first-rate port. The Vargellas was excellent but rougher around the edges. It's always a very structured wine though so perhaps it'll come around. The mixed sample was about what you'd expect, not oxidizing at all, but less identifably Taylor than either of the two on their own. Not sure if that's the fact that they were mixed, or just the effects of two weeks of air.

Not much of a wineur here but had a few bottles over the past week. These were pretty selected, which is why I liked so many of them. In general I'm not a fan of most wines.

Dehlinger 2007 Estate pinot noir: excellent pinot, not one of their best but far above your typical pinot and above your average 90 rating from anyone including Parker.

Dehlinger 2008 Russian River pinot noir: the Russian River pinot from Dehlinger is usually a lighter bodied wine than the estate bottle. This was true for 2008 but less so than before. Another excellent wine. Dehlinger wins age very well across categories. My Dad the wineur had a 1981 Dehlinger cab (they haven't made cabs since the early 80s) a couple months ago at some famous steakhouse/wine place in Tampa, Florida and it was still good.

Melville 2008 and 2009 pinot noir: Yeah I drink them young. No storage. melville has produced some fantastic pinots. The 2008 is excellent, and time may improve them a bit.

Joseph Phelps 2005 cabernet: Very, very good. I thoroughly enjoyed this wine. Dad and I hogged it a bit but who can blame us. If you are splurging on a pricey bottle, this is a strong choice.

Ridge 2007 Lytton Springs zinfandel. Familiar wine, as with others not the best they've produced but solid and much better than typical zinfandels. I recommend leaving this out at room temp for a few hours before drinking, and decanting.

Ridge 2006 Geyserville zin: Dad preferred this to the Lytton Springs of 2007, and he knows wine, but I liked the Lytton Springs a little better. Still quite good, and again serve this at room temp and decant it.

2007 Truett zin - not sure of the specifics. Good zin. I was drunk for this one.

2007 Martin _____ cabernet. I believe this was the bottle that had that odd musty smell that the French seem to like from contamination with whatever the B____ strain of yeast is. I hate that smell. Have another bottle and would be happy to serve it to you in a very large glass, although it had redeeming qualities and really wasn't bad if you don't mind that smell.

2008 Ferrari Carrano fume blanc. I'm not a white wine fan but this is a fantastic value at the price ($14) and a perennial favorite at our house when Mom's around.

2008 Bogle chardonney. Truly outstanding for $8/bottle. Good luck finding better at that price in the mass market. If you do please PM me.

Avery Ellie's Brown beer. Delicious.

Dogfishead 90 minute IPA. If this were 1% alcohol, I would stop drinking water.

Happy drinking -

Matt

heh, a bit of an understatement. Bern's is a wine geek's mecca


please post notes more. I enjoyed reading them and its nice to see a bunch of different wines that I don'tnormally drink

Never had the Bogle, but I will mention the $8 Cupcake 2007 (maybe it was '08?) Chardonnay. I was at our local wine store a while back, and they had a few chards open for tasting. By far the cheapest and definitely my favorite of the 3. Great QPR. Picked up a couple bottles, and the last one walked out the door earlier tonight with my wife, otherwise I would go verify the year.

While we're on the topic of $8 bottles... Pedroncelli 2007 friends.red. On sale for $8, great value. Enjoyable cheap red blend.

Random red tasting notes (I'm not very eloquent about my wine):

2005 Flying Horse Napa Cab - Had this one on xmas eve with a nice filet. Very enjoyable. Very much fruit forward, in a way that I liked. Had a fantastic finish, which sealed the deal for me. Would drink again.

2001 Corison Napa Cab - Best wine of the trip for me on a visit to Napa this fall. Taught me a lot about how a wine with great balance tastes.

Thanks to all who helped out. Here is what I ended up with after considering the good advice I received here and talking to Oinks wine pusher. Budget considerations played a part as well, and I only ended up going slightly over. I hope that none of you experts feel like I wasted your time by straying a bit from your recommendations.

Welcome: NV Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut - I wanted to try this one out since I could get it at a decent price and I'd like to have a Pinot Noir based champagne as well as a blanc de blancs.

Soup: 2000 Launois Pere et Fils.

Salmon: 2006 Domaine Ostertag Riesling Muencberg.

Cockerel: 2007 J. Hofstätter Pinot Nero Riserva Mazon.

Beef: 2006 Matteo Correggia Roero Roche d'Ampsej.

Cheese: Florio Marsala Donna Franca.

Cake: 2000 Allegrini Recioto della Valpolicella Classico Giovanni

For the marzipan at 12 I had two bottles of La Spinetta Moscato d’Asti 'Bricco Quaglia' that I forgot to open as well as the Bollinger and NV Launois.

Everyone liked the Bollinger and the Launois, about half preferred one and the other half the other. I liked both which was a nice surprise since I wasn't sure I'd like the doughy, yeasty stile of the Bollinger but I found it really nice and full-bodied. I do think that the soup overpowered the Launois a bit but others really liked the combination.

The riesling went really well with the smoked salmon, but most were slightly shocked about how powerful it was. Probably because we don't drink a lot of high-quality white wine. This has to change

The Pinot Noir was nice and well received by everyone. It didn't fit perfectly with the fatty foie gras, but this was by no means a huge problem. Light and fruity but still with nice acidity.

One girl preferred the Pinot Noir to the Roche d'Ampsej but everyone else absolutely loved it and after breathing for about 4 hours it was absolutely perfect with the roast beef. Definitely the biggest hit of the night for me and I think for the entire party.

The marsala did go pretty well with the cheese but was not a huge hit. I wasn't to crazy about it either, not that it was bad, it just wasn't quite my taste.

The recioto was really great for me and most of the others and it went really well with the chocolate cake. It didn't match the fruits that well but again this was not a big problem. A few people didn't like it but I think they might have some mental block towards sweet wine For me this was very very good and a close second to the Nebbiolo.

Thanks again.

Here's some notes from last month's meeting of our blind group:

The first group was three whites, served with a "pizza" of salmon cured with Bowmore scotch and creme fraiche, which was excellent. #1 had people all over the map, with one person getting a lot of coconut, another first sure it was riesling then equally sure it was Graves, while I was reasonably confident it was sauvignon blanc-based, probably Bordeaux. Right! Domaine de Chevalier 2001. #2 screamed white Burgundy, although I thought it was Chassagne, and I didn't think it was grand cru quality. Oops--Chevalier Montrachet Les Demoiselles Jadot 2000. Finally, there was a wine that was obviously (to me at least) Alsatian, but very tropical and I couldn't figure out what grape it might be from; I thought it might be a field blend. Nope, it was Clos Ste Hune 2000. We're not on a good run with Hune in our group, although Trimbach in general has been very prone to premox issues. I kept some back and it did freshen a lot over the evening, picking up more minerals and reverting to an austerity that I often associate with Hune. The group thought that both the Demoiselles and the DDC might have been a little premoxed; DDC 01, in particular, is a wine that a couple of members of the group have had bad premox luck with.

The first flight of reds was a pair, the first black fruity, with one guest in St Julien. John picked up a lot of "spicy oak" but liked it anyway, unusually for him. I liked it a lot and was very surprised that it was Pavie 1998. The other was a favorite of a bunch of tasters, although I found it a bit short and thought it might be California cabernet, with some eucalyptus and lowish acidity. Another participant noted cinnamon on the nose. Turned out to be Figeac 1998. I was way off on age, thinking they were both older, although the rest of the group had that approximately correct, and both cases were bought en primeur and stored ideally, so that's just me.

Another flight of two reds included one that I thought was totally shot, although a couple of others were able to pick out some positives, and it was a little livelier on the palate. Turned out to be Barolo Rocche dei Manzoni Valentino 1978, a wine I've had excellent bottles of from the same case, so probably just bad luck. The other I quite liked, with eucalyptus again, licorice, tar, what one taster thought was pumpernickel (!?) and a bit of a pruny character. Someone better at this than I am figured out that it must be Amarone. Indeed, it was Bertani 1976.

A group of three reds followed. The first was also DOA, somewhat depressingly, as it was Charmes Chambertin Drouhin 1969, a wine with a good reputation. The second I should have been able to identify, since I'd supplied it and knew it would be in the tasting! It had dried cherries, a little VA, and Dan was impressed with its "richness and sweetness." John thought it was Burgundy, but Dan was sure it was California pinot. It was, in fact, Joseph Swan Pinot Noir 1973. Finally, there was an extremely pale wine that I described as "clinging to life," but had clearly once been excellent. It was a real rarity, a Clos des Reas 1955 with a Bouchard label. I'm not sure whether this was purchased by Bouchard in barrel or bottle, but in that era, the Gros family did sell off a good bit of the production of the vineyard. It's much more common to see Remoissenet labels on them, though; I hadn't known that Bouchard ever released the wine.

We wrapped up with two ports, and I had already been told which they would be, so it was just a matter of figuring out which was the Taylor '94, and which was the Taylor Quinta de Vargellas VV '95. The first showed some heat, classic Taylor spice, a lot of tannin, and generally a sense of being a "big" wine even for a port. I was pretty sure this was the Vargellas, and it was. The Taylor '94 had similar flavors, but more elegance, better integration of alcohol, and just seemed to be more complete. While I preferred the '94, it'll be interesting to see how the VV '95 evolves.

Theres pretty limited selection where I live due to not being in a large city. Anyone have recommendations for a good reputable store to buy from online?

meb, what all are you looking for?

From chicago there's flick, HDH, and of course Binny's (I think we ship to wisconsin) as well as The Chicago Wine Co.

Stores from around the states, K&L, JJ Buckley, Wine Exchange, Wine Library, Crush, Astor wines, and tons more that I can't think of off the top of my head

Had a dinner a couple of days ago, with a dear friend and ladies, and we decide to bring down a couple of "specials": I brought a "Solaia" 2000, and he came with a "Cheval Blanc" 1970 ( which i actually gifted him for his marriage some years ago ).

http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/9067/06012011175.jpg

http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/3320/06012011173.jpg

i was pretty excited for the Cheval blanc because i'm pretty new at french wines, expecially this old... And i must admit that i've been impressed by the freshness and perfect equilibrium of this wine! simply amazing. I've opened a couple hours before drink, because i was expecting some "third"( i dunno how to translate the degeneration perfums of the older and aged wines( terziari in italian), but the wine was perfect since the first minute. the colour was also brilliant, clean. the perfum was intense, lotta of pepper, some clean leather, most of all. the tasting was delightfull, very deep and full, clean, and with a good persistence and a nice respondance with poerfumes.

we had first the "Solaia" btw; this wine , and this vintage particularly, is one of my alltime favorites. i think 00 is at his best rigght now. a perfect example of balance (in my opinion and for my taste obv) between elegance and power. Perfums are still fruity, black pepper . very intense and precise. The tasting is sublime, smooth but powerfull, an incredible persistance. simply amazing.

"Tertiary" is the English word, so almost exactly the same as the Italian!

Great note.

Zachys (disclaimer: I work in the auction department) ships to Wisconsin, although prices are not always the best and the warehouse is often pretty slow to get things out. Selection is quite large though. I would second the recommendation on Crush.

I've done well buying older vintages from Benchmark and Blicker-Pierce. Premier Cru has a poor reputation for prearrival wines, but is very reliable for things in stock and occasionally they have incredibly compelling deals.

... ty ganz ...

I've been brutally bad at putting in my notes recently. Here are my two wines from christmas eve (I got the dom as a sort of gift for my mom since she loves champagne and has never had dom):

• 2002 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon - France, Champagne (12/24/2010)
  nose: distinct and compact nose of white fruits, fresh picked citrus tones, pain grille, white florals, minerals, white peaches and a touch of white florals. There is a real good intensity to this nose with very pure fruit. It's tight on the nose but shows off a lot of depth and purity
  
  taste: medium/full body with medium/high acidity and plump tones of white peaches, pears, white fruits, fresh picked citrus tones and a nice mineral base
  
  overall: Its nice to be able to spend more time with this then I did previously. This is obviously still quite young and the acidity is very noticeable right now. The nose is also on the tight side and the palate is holding back, but there is definitely a lot of great material to work with (93 pts.)
  
• 2008 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Clos Windsbuhl - France, Alsace, Hunawihr, Alsace AOC (12/24/2010)
  nose: lovely and fat nose of peaches, pears, minerals, tart green apples, asian spices and bits of lychees and a touch of white florals as well. Classy with the depth that one would expect from one of the major ZH vineyards
  
  taste: Full bodied with racy medium+ acidity and fat tones of tart green apples, pears, peaches, minerals, asian spices and some bits of white fruits and white florals.
  
  overall: a lovely young gewurz. This could use a few years to round out, but was beautiful with a 1 hour decant. Excellent light gold color and great aromatics that show off a lot of depth and class. There is a lot to like about this wine and there will be even more to like down the road (92 pts.)
  

Posted from CellarTracker

since my new year's kinda ran over into the second, here are my notes from my wines on that weekend as well:

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR - (12/31/2010-1/2/2011)

This ended up being spread across three days between my place and leather palate's. New year's was at leather palate's, new year's night was at mine, and the second was at leather palate's to celebrate an 11-5 Bears season
New Year's Eve into early New Year's morning

• 1996 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Brand - France, Alsace, Turckheim, Alsace Grand Cru AOC (12/31/2010)
  nose: real classy and fat nose of honeysuckle, lanolin, pears, nectarines, and bits of creamed apples. Great layering on the nose with great depth as well and very expressive
  
  taste: full bodied with deep tones of honeysuckle, pears, creamed apples and a touch of warm honey. Extremely well balanced with medium acidity supporting it
  
  overall: This ZH is right in its pomp. Beautiful and succulent on both the nose and palate with great depth and layering. Classy and elegant, this is a ton of fun to drink and shows off everything that I enjoy from ZH (93 pts.)
  
• 1993 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir Beaux Frères Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge (12/31/2010)
  nose: very pungent and effusive nose with all sorts of perfumes providing a beautiful base along with tones of sour cherries, plums, mineral rich earth tones, all sorts of wild spice tones as well as a touch of roses. beautiful layering on the nose as it wafts out of the glass
  
  taste: very pretty medium/full feel with medium+ acidity and layered tones of dark red fruits, sour red cherries, roses, and a good bit of wild spices. There is a nice feminine style to it on the palate as well as a lengthy floral finish
  
  overall: this was served blind to me. While I was able to guess it as oregon pinot, the age wasn't even close as I thought this was more like a 00. This is a real lovely wine that will certainly be able to go a lot further but is extremely enjoyable right now. This grew as the night went on and really took on more elegance and purity (92 pts.)
  
• 2004 Vilmart Champagne Grand Cellier d'Or 1er Cru - France, Champagne (12/31/2010)
  nose: pristine and delicious nose of white fruits, fresh cut lemons, loads of mineral tones, peach blossoms, and tart citrusy tones as well. Very classy and elegant on the nose as well with a good amount of depth
  
  taste: absolutely lovely medium/full feel with deep tones of minerals, white fruits, peach blossoms, and citrus tones. Great balance on the palate with medium/high acidity that shows off the youth a bit
  
  overall: this is a wonderful champagne right now, but it can be much better. Very classy and elegant with excellent depth on both the nose and palate, this should round out well with another 3 years or so (93 pts.)
  
• 1989 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (1/1/2011)
  nose: intoxicating, perfumed, and utterly beautiful nose with tones of tar, roses, cherries, perfumes, red berries, and bits of earthen tones. Very feminine with great layering and depth that draws you in gorgeously
  
  taste: gorgeous and satiny medium feel with good supporting tannins as well as medium+ acidity. Beautifully balanced with silky tones of tar, roses, red cherries, bits of earth and a touch of roasted herbs
  
  overall: this was decanted for about 3 1/2 hours. The fill level was perfect and was a library release from borgogno with the color being a lovely medium ruby red with a bit of bricking. This was a real treat and was beautiful in almost every way manageable (95 pts.)
  
• 1985 Camille Giroud Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru (1/1/2011)
  nose: pungent and ethereal nose of mushrooms, dark red fruits, bits of earth tones, spices and a touch of dried leaves. Well layered and with a lot of polish and class to it
  
  taste: feminine medium feel with medium acidity that still shows itself well along with pretty and silky tones of dark red fruits, earth tones, dried leaves, spices and some bits of purple florals as well
  
  overall: this got about 3 hours of bottle air and showed great. The fill on this was near perfect and the wine had a vibrant lighter red color. The aromatics alone on this really captivated you only like burgundy can. This seems like it has a very long way to go, but is a real delight right now as well (93 pts.)

New Year's night

• N.V. Marc Hébrart Champagne Rosé Brut Reserve 1er Cru - France, Champagne (1/1/2011)
  nose: pretty and balanced nose of strawberries, fresh picked citrus tones, berries, and a good amount of mineral tones forming a nice base on the nose and a slight touch of biscuity tones
  
  taste: lovely and polished medium feel with crisp medium/high acidity along with fresh tones of berries, citrus', lots of mineral tones and a touch of biscuits
  
  overall: this is L. 458. A real tasty grower rose at a great price. Well balanced and fresh on both the nose and palate (91 pts.)
• 1997 Giovanni Corino Barolo Vigneto Rocche - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (1/1/2011)
  nose: there is a bit of wood that shows itself right away but starts to pull back and reveal dark tones of dark red cherries, spices, black licorice, and tones of roasted fennel
  
  taste: the oak shows a bit at first, but more turns into plush tones of dark red cherries, roasted fennel and herbs, black licorice and a touch of spices and berries with a medium/full feel and medium+ acidity
  
  overall: there was a very nice dark ruby color to the wine. Well balanced and starting to show itself well. This has a good way to go and the tannins are more on the silky side rather then chewy (91 pts.)
  

Sunday the 2nd

• 1995 Gosset Champagne Celebris Brut - France, Champagne (1/2/2011)
  nose: lush and deep nose filled with tones of bread, warm honey, navel oranges, fresh picked citrus tones, sliced lemons, mineral tones, bits of roasted kernals, and nougat. Very complex, but still fairly distinct on the nose as well as it fills up the glass
  
  taste: creamy medium/full feel and medium+ acidity along with very well balanced tones of brioche, warm honey, fresh picked citrus', mineral tones and a touch of nougat. The acidity is still kicking a bit
  
  overall: a great bubbly. Secondary tones are starting to show while there is still some freshness of fruit as well. This is one that will have to be revisited as much as possible over the next 10 years (94 pts.)
  
• 1998 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (1/2/2011)
  nose: plush and polished nose filled with tones of roasted herbs, dark red fruits, spices, tar, red cherries and a touch of perfume. There is an underlying sweetness and roasted take on the tones with very good depth
  
  taste: silky and smooth medium/full feel with good tannins and medium+ acidity with lush tones of roasted herbs, dark red fruits, spices, perfumes and a touch of red cherries. Well balanced, but lacking a slight bit on the mid-palate
  
  overall: this wine was vacu-vin'd for two days and put in a fridge as we didn't get to it on new year's. This showed itself off very well considering how long it had been open and didn't really show any signs of oxidation (91 pts.)
  

A great way to end the year and a great way to start the year. Hopefully this leads to a fun year
Posted from CellarTracker

Some notes on an annual lunch last week:

The 12th anniversary “Over the Top” tasting lunch, an annual event on the first Friday in January, took place at Tocqueville in NYC, which proved to be a fantastic choice. The restaurant turned the main dining room over to us, had a fresh glass for each new wine, and handled the food and service superbly.

The theme is the same every year: bring one bottle of exceptional quality, at least 20 years old (whites get a bit of an exemption from this), and made in a classic style; and another bottle, of high quality, but ideally an interesting or unusual wine to share with people who will appreciate it. In the past this has meant anything from Gravner, to old French regional wines, to California wines from the “golden age” of the ‘60s and ‘70s. This year people came through with an incredible list, so strong that many of the “2nd wines” this year would have been top wines in earlier iterations of the event.

By tradition, we have a “pre-tasting” with a few of the 2nd wines to taste while people trickle in, and this year they got us off to a very inauspicious start. The first Champagne, Comtes de Champagne 1990, was very advanced, disjointed, and showing oxidation. It was sourced from a cellar from which the wines have been very mixed, and this was one of the losers. Two wines were then served single-blind; we knew they were La Taches, and some of us knew the vintages, but not which was which. One was very earthy, not complex, and I thought it was probably chaptalized. The other had a nose that Stuart, who brought it, described as “celery soda;” it settled down in the glass to show some woodsmoke on the nose, but a note of rot never went away.

A bottle of Spanna Vallana 1954 was OK, alive, but not complex or exciting, far below the level of the same wine from a blind tasting a couple of years ago. Finally, my bottle of Clos des Mouches Blanc Drouhin 1978 was close to shot, although it did freshen up a bit in the decanter.

The first 3 whites were served with poached lobster and pumpkin gnocchi. Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles Jadot 2002 had all the minerality I want in Chevalier, but came across as somewhat heavy rather than elegant. I thought it might be slightly premixed. Very depressingly, the Chevalier-Montrachet Leflaive 1985 was slightly corked; the nose was very unpleasant but on the palate you could see its greatness trying to push through. As this was one of the wines I was most excited to taste, it was heartbreaking to sniff it as soon as it was poured and realize that. The Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche 1981 was OK, but lowish acidity and a character I described as “fat.” A perfectly nice wine but far from a great Montrachet.

A flight of four Burgundies followed. Grands Echezeaux Leroy 1964 had dark color (not oxidized, but probably reconditioned), a nose with some soy sauce, and a palate with very dark cherry and good length. It was very good but not profound. I preferred the same wine, vintage 1959, which had brighter fruit, earthiness, sour cherry, and better acids, although it was shorter. Neither justified their $1k+ price tags. A last-minute replacement for a bottle that couldn’t be located was Pommard Pezerolles de Montille 1972; it was extremely earthy, acidic, and probably chaptalized; it was a good drink, but outclassed by the other three. The fourth was my favorite wine of the tasting, Bonnes Mares Joseph Drouhin 1962. It had a touch of brown sugar that faded into the background after 15 minutes or so, excellent, earthy, Bonnes Mares fruit that gave way to cherry, and a sense of real freshness. Just outstanding.

We’d hoped to have the Krug Clos du Mesnil 1989 earlier, but unfortunately Marty’s arrival was a bit delayed so we used it as a palate cleanser here. I thought that while it did have the expected minerals, it showed as being a touch oxidized and certainly was not what I expected, although I’d never had Clos du Mesnil. Some tasters thought it wasn’t quite correct, but several said that apart from the absolute top vintages of this wine, they usually prefer Krug Vintage or Collection.

The next group was all Piedmont. Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva 1982 is not ready yet, although it has excellent potential. There’s a lot of tannin and palate weight, but also lovely tar and cherry fruit, and a note of chalk dust that came out after an hour or so. The Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano 1979, on the other hand, was probably at peak, well balanced, medium bodied, lowish acidity for Barbaresco, and somewhat humorously, Mark at one side of the table said it was “all licorice” and almost simultaneously, in a different conversation, Dan said it was “all raspberry.”

The other two were both 1958s. Conterno Barolo Riserva 1958 was a pale pink, not automatically a warning sign for nebbiolo, but it was barely clinging to life. I got a lot of bubblegum on the nose, and it died after 10 minutes or so. The recorked Gaja Barbaresco 1958 was very good, but a little anonymous and I thought it was almost certainly topped up with young wine.

Five Rhone wines were on tap for the next flight. Mark had the most unusual tasting note of the day on Cote-Rotie La Mouline Guigal 1991, describing it as “polyester pants;” I haven’t confirmed whether that referred to an actual flavor or a general lack of elegance. Hopefully the latter. Dan got green pepper, I got white pepper, cherry, and a lot of wood. Good, but not a great Cote-Rotie. The ’89 Rayas was almost like a pure shot of raspberry cream soda, in a good way, like an essence of Chateauneuf grenache fruit, and made many top 3 lists. It just barely missed mine. The Cote-Rotie La Landonne Guigal 1983 was well ahead of the Mouline, with a great nose of bacon and cherry fruit, a lot of grip on the palate, and great balance; a truly outstanding Cote-Rotie that may well not yet be at peak. Hermitage JL Chave 1982 had caused a little controversy before the tasting, with opinions differing as to whether it belonged in the same company as Rayas 1989 and La Landonne 1983. I had been in the camp that it did, and on the nose this bottle delivered on that expectation, with explosive bacon and cherry, although on the palate the high acidity muted the fruit a bit. Finally, Hermitage Jaboulet-Isnard 1961 (a second label of Paul Jaboulet Aine, from what I know) was very gamy, but well balanced, with lovely Hermitage fruit. It faded after an hour, and lacked the concentration of the other wines or La Chapelle 1961 itself, but was still excellent.

The last table wines were from Bordeaux and California. We had two bottles of Mouton Rothschild 1955 (same source), one with a low shoulder fill, the other into the neck. The low bottle was drinkable, but very one-dimensional and a touch oxidized and not worth drinking in this company. The good bottle was far better, with a slightly sweaty, earthy nose and a touch of mint, and a very elegant palate. Gruaud Larose 1982, my second bottle from the Graham Lyons collection in 3 weeks, was not as good as the previous one; it was a little soft, bretty, and didn’t have any particular sense of place.

An outstanding bottle of Heitz Martha’s Vineyard 1974, one of the real legends of California winemaking, showed almost nothing but eucalyptus at first, so strong that I thought it might even be corked. No, it was just fine, and given time it turned more to peppermint, cherry and earth. I’ve had this several times, and it’s always been a massive and not especially elegant wine, but it really is compelling stuff. The Haut Brion 1966 was good but somewhat lost in this company; it was best when first poured and dried out in the glass. My 2nd favorite wine of the tasting, and the group’s #1 (we were asked to vote for our top 3, in order), was Ausone 1959. It had classic Ausone earthiness, some cherry fruit, good tannic grip, and an overall sense of harmony that very few wines achieve. My note describes it both as “terrific” and “extraordinary.”

Four after-dinner wines completed the day. A real rarity, St. Hallet’s Port from Australia, had a Madeira-like nose and a palate that was sort of halfway between Madeira and tawny port; it was interesting, but not outstanding. A bottle of Duhard Vouvray Demi-sec 1959 had a nose of pure passion fruit that I loved, but on the palate it was somewhat dilute. I couldn’t get much out of the Chateau Chalon 1969, which for me was just a one-dimensional oxidation bomb. Finally, my #3 wine of the tasting was the monumental Taylor 1927, an absolute freak of a wine that at age 83 ½ may not yet have peaked! I’m pretty sure this was a UK bottling, brought over to the US in the mid-1980s and cellared here since then. It had classic Taylor spice, roasted nuts, and despite the enormous body it was totally in balance.

I’ve been coming to these lunches since 2006, and this was, by far, the strongest ever. Just an amazing group of people, sacrificing some of the best wines they own.

wow, just wow on the wines. Too bad on a fair bit of them being off or shot. Its been a while since I've had the 82 chave, but it was a monumental wine two of the three times I had it, it also always needed about 3-4 hours of audozing

Had a very interesting Slovakian wine the other night at a wine and cheese place in London called Bedales that really suprised me as it was actually very good. The grape was called 'Blaufrankish' and it was a Jagnet 08' with something about the Carpathians on the bottle/menu but I can't read Slovak and can't find anything about it in English after a brief google, so am probably completely butchering what it said lol.

The initial flavour was not actually that interesting, some oak and red fruit and maybe a trace of cinnamon and spice, but this soon broke into an incredibly vivid and gorgeous fruity and peppery taste, followed by a peppery finish of the like I've not really had in a wine before but that was absolutely delicious to my palate. I was incredibly sceptical about Slovak wine before this but have to say this was actually a very good wine I am def going to try and track down and would go well with a whole range of good food.

Anyone know anything about these wines? Any others I should look out for? Are they full of anti freeze and pepper spray and the world is going crazy?

Wamy you might want to give this a read if you haven't already:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaufr%C3%A4nkisch

I've had a couple of Austrian examples, they were decent wines but nothing too crazy.

Cheers Chris. Is an interesting read and explains a lot about the wine style. Might try and get a few of the Austrians and maybe some of the German and Czech to compare.

girlfriend loves chardonnay but i know nothing about them at all, she prefers a more strong pine flavor from what i've grasped

suggestions?