Our Bordeaux group met at Racines Monday for a look at 1998 Graves and Righ t Bank wines. I arrived and was offered the NV Ulysse Collin “Les Perrieres? ? Dry/low dosage, crisp, but with a broad texture (oak?). Apples, pear, with a little butterscotchy note. Fun. B+/B
2005 Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Spatlese Moderate richness, rather tropical fruit, but a good spine, and drinking we ll. B+/A-We had some excellent Anchovy toasts & pate
First flight
1998 Ch. Pavie Decesse A little high toned, redder fruits and still some apparent oak. A little bl ocky, but ok. B1998 Ch. Pavie Macquin Fuller, dense but with decant acids, cassis and black plum with mocha/espre sso. B+
My starter was veal tartare with tonnato sauce and panisse- tasty!
Second Flight
1998 Ch. Beausejour-Becot Red fruit, coffee, pretty short for a 1998 St Emilion. B-/C+1998 Ch. Clos Fourtet Dark berries, earth, mushroom, a little bretty note (some called diapers,I thought barnyard). My favorite of flight. B+/B
1998 Ch. Troplong Mondot Fruity yet a little thinner than I’d have expected at first, but it put on a bit of weight and gained a nice cassis profile. B/B+Third Flight
1998 Ch. Tertre Roteboeuf Big, powerful, blackcurrant and plum with cocoa and coffee. Good, but a li ttle much for me. B/B+1998 Ch. Angelus Delicious and elegant in a mid modern way, dark fruits with herbs and incip ient cigarbox, good acids. A-
I had duck breast with tiny potatoes and grilled fennel for main
Fourth Flight
1998 Ch. Haut Brion Great showing, more open than another recent bottle, Black fruits, tobacco, chocolate, and herbs. Deep and long. Young but delicious. A-/A1998 Ch. La Mission Haut Brion Denser and more closed than the Haut Brion, but a lovely wine in the making . A-
Fifth Flight
1998 Ch. Clinet I had double-decanted this at home without noticing anything off, but this had a plastic/bandaid/bretty note, though others thought corked. NR1998 Ch. l'Evangile Lovely, black raspberries and currants, humidor, leather. Young and long. A
-And to end
1985 Peter Lehman Semillon Sauternes (Barossa) I’ve had few aged Aussie stickies, this isn’t making me sea rch for more. The rot doesn’t smell too noble, this is like a butte rfinger gone bad. C/C+We did our 3/2/1 usual voting, Haut Brion 22 pts L’Evangile 19 LMHB 11 Angelus 7 Tertre Rotoboeuf 1
Fun night, Racines did a nice job except for some late coffee hiccups.
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.