John hosted a 1983 claret tasting last night. Nice lineup, nice group (some old friends, some new), nice cheeses, and the best stew I ever tasted. One nice thing was the non-conformity of opinions, so much funner than total a greement. The notes below are mine, and definitely don’t reflect a group consensus.
Welcoming wines NV Lanson “Extra Age” Brut Champagne I think I liked more than most- crisp green apple, but deeper than most NV, with good length. B+/B
2000 Lanson “Noble Cuvee” Brut Champagne Elegant, deep, and full, I think I need to drink more Lanson. A-/B+on to the reds Flight #1
1983 Ch. Giscours Mark says that this is better than most bottles of this, though it’s not especially memorable. Some barnyard, dark fruit, anise. Medium length, midb odied. B-1983 Ch. du Tertre Unsure of provenance on this, cork was a crumbly mess when I double-decante d just before heading north. Red berries, smoke, cedar, this would be nice with a bit more length. This bottle at least is at end of lifespan. B
Flight #2
1983 Ch. la Lagune Fruit-filled, lusty, kirschy in a good way. Pleasant and holding fine. B/B+1983 Ch. Cantemerle I wrote floral, elegant, cigarbox, nice length. And it improved in the glas s a lot after that. Contender for WOTN. A-
a solo St Estephe
1983 Ch. Meyney Divisive wine. Dominated by barnyard, seemingly coarse, but I thought it im proved in glass a lot. Not my favorite Meyney, but nice enough. A total dud for the brett-haters. BFlight #3
1983 Ch. Gruaud-Larose Another round of the Cordier funk, but the Gruaud is brawnier and stands up better. Lots of green herbal notes that don’t bother me. B+/A-1983 Ch. Leoville-Poyferre Redder fruit, spice, earth, but a bit stolid. I liked a bottle in spring mo re. B
Flight #4
1983 Ch. Belair OK, first bottle stunningly corked.2nd bottle provokes arguments- to me (no t especially sensitive) clearly corked- not as bad as first, but wet cardbo ard there. Others thought “Belair funk.” John generously actually open s a 3rd bottle. OK, not corked. Not very good, but not corked. A little fun ky, a little volatile, a lot thin. C/C+1983 Ch. Certan-Giraud This more than makes up for the trio of Belairs. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a Certan-Giraud, and expectations were low. Whoa, baby. Lovely midbodi ed Pomerol, sweet fruit, earth, mushrooms, very good length. A-/B+
Flight #5
1983 Ch. La Fleur de Gay Weird lactic meets ferric nose, develops volatility as it sits, strange cha rred notes, not good. C1983 Ch. Latour a Pomerol Rustic, tea and plums, not really exciting but solid. B
Flight #6
1983 Ch. l’Evangile Lovely, long, if not as lush as I remembered. Dark fruit and mocha, good ba lance. Some felt it started to fall apart with some time in glass, but I en joyed till end (it had been double-decanted about 5 PM). A contender for WO TN for me. A-1983 Ch. Lafleur Spirity/pruney nose, brutish, tannic as all hell. Better than the La Fleur de Gay but clearly overextracted. B-/C+
Not to be satisfied with a mere 17 bottles opened, John served a blind red. Clearly a Bordeaux, fairly tightly wound, needs air. Lots of herbal notes, midbodied. I think of guessing Sociando, but pretty sure John doesn’t ce llar that. He says he wishes he had given more air, but I enjoy the 1966 Ch . Beychevelle B+
Well, certainly at this point what is needed is another bottle of Champagne . The NV Bereche Brut Champagne is very very good, and I wished I didn’t have to spit, Very crisp, dry, flavorful. I’ll look to buy this B+/A-
Great night, with loads of interesting wines, and loads of interesting opin ions. Can’t wait to see View from the Cellar for John’s opinions.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a pa rty where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.