No wine (or meat) Monday- mushroom fried rice, ratatouille, salad.
Tuesday I headed to city for latest in our blind “whoever brings b est wine gets free dinner” appellation series, this time St. Esteph e was up. Dinner was at RiverPark overlooking the East River - they did a n ice job.
As we gathered two white Burgundy 1ers went around.
2009 H. Boillot Meursault “Charmes” Broadshouldered but with good acids, rich, hazelnut and ripe pear, quite ta sty. B+/A-2002 Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet Folatieres I was worried re premox, but though this showed fully mature there was only a little bit of nutty oxidation. Apples, lemon cream, almonds. OK, maybe i n glass it advanced quickly, but I still enjoyed. B+ Some excellent charcuterie made the rounds
Blind St Estephe # 1 Medium bodied, ripe but with structure, good black currant fruit, easy tann ins. B+/A-
I had excellent grilled quail as a starter.
Blind St Estephe # 2 Medium bodied, a little tannin, cocoa and black plum, not as long as #1 or #3. B
Blind St Estephe # 3 Complex, cassis and smoke, a bit of leather. A-/B+
My pasta was cavatelli with braised lamb and greens, tasty and wine friendl y, just a bit oversalted
Blind St Estephe # 4 This was quite ripe, with a bit of barnyard (well within my tolerance, but some found it too much). I said I’d guess Cali except for the bret ty note, considering that this seemed more like a ripe old school Right Ban ker. B+
Blind St Estephe # 5 Somewhat hard, some good fruit lurking underneath, lots of structure. B
Blind St Estephe # 6 Maderized/cooked (and a little bretty) NR
My main was a Berkshire pork chop with grilled peaches and collards
Blind St Estephe # 7 Rich fruit, coffee, ripe, some tannin. B+
Blind St Estephe # 8 Rich, great texture, nice length, cassis and cigarbox. B+/A-
Blind St Estephe # 9 Corked
We voted, and #3 got 18 pts, #1 got 12 points, # 8 got 11 points, # 7 for 7 points. Then we unveiled.
#1 1999 Cos d’Estournel 2nd place # 2 1999 Montrose #3 1990 Cos d’Estournel 1st place #4 1989 Montrose #5 1996 Cos d’Estournel #6 1985 Cos d’Estournel (flawed) #7 1999 Montrose 4th place #8 1982 Calon Segur 3rd place #9 1986 Cos d’Estournel (flawed)
What are the chances Nano and I each brought a ‘99 Montrose? ? ?99 is not my favorite vintage but they are drinking well now. Nano and I argued for a good while over whose bottle got votes and which didn? ?t- #2 (no votes) had a Bordeaux Wine Locator back label neither of us re member, and neither of us bought from gray marketer.
Fun evening.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a p arty where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.