Get together of wino's for farewell to Florida for the season. Wines from a variety of cellars.
2001 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc (mine)-Still young and very tight on opening. Decanted for two hours but still not showing it's stuff. Finally opened up after four hours. A bit of lemon and honeysuckle. Restrained richness in the mouthfeel but gained weight through the evening. "B+"1998 La Mondotte-Crowd pleaser as expected-Big forward fruit, large plush tannins, plenty of blackberry. Very California in style with concentration and low acidity. Not my personal favorite but I was in the minority by far. "B"
2000 Ducru Beaucaillou-Plenty of earthy, mineral notes on the nose and palate. Deep black fruit flavors and a fairly firm tannic profile. A bit of oak still lingering on the finish. Needs a long time in the cellar. "A-"2002 Lafite Rothschild-Not a great vintage but a good buy. Typical Paulliac lead pencil. Good fruit and balance a little plummy with some cassis. Fair amount of mineral notes. "B+"
2002 Mouton-From the same individual-A bit bigger and darker than the Lafite as expected. A huge amount of blackberry and cassis on the palate. A bit rustic with edgy tannins. One of my least favorites of the night. "C-/B+" but should improve with age.2005 Magrez-Fombrauge- I would have guessed this as pure Napa. Big, sweet fruit forward, low acid monstrous wine mostly Merlot. Too much smoke and oak for me. "C"
1985 Lynch Bages (mine) Typical leather and cigar box nose with a faint whiff of horsey bretty notes. Well balanced with nice red and black fruit notes. Resolved tannins, plenty of mature tobacco and cedar flavors. "A-"1986 Cos d'Estournel-One of the better bottles of Cos that I've had. Coffee and anise on the nose. Blackberry and black plums on the palate. Still a bit tannic but very fine tannin structure. Nice long finish and nicely blanced with fruit and acidty. "A-"
1995 Angelus-Not as big as I expected. Lots of sweet black fruit notes, creme de cassis and berries. A bit of espresso. A slighty herbal note on the finish but in a good way. Plush tannins. "B+"1999 Pichon Baron-Just a tad restrained. Plenty of fruit but low acidity and soft tannins left it a bit empty. Drinking well now but not long lived."B-"
1966 Latour-Cork was surprisingly good with a high shoulder fill. It started out a bit brown but actually darkened in the glass (we opened and poured at once) The wine really hit it's stride in about 20 minutes. Typical aromas of cedar and tobacco with a fair amount of plum and cherries. Tannins we fully resolved and the wine was smooth and supple. Cassis and plums on the palate. A great bottle. "A+"