Over the weekend, we opened a few different wines with dinner. On Saturday, we had our friends Chris and Alan over for paella. Our starter was a spinach, feta and olive pizza with which we had:
2004 Dom. de la Pepiere Muscadet Sevre et Maine 'Clos des Briords' nose: minerals, quietly fruity palate: round but firmly acidic, crystalline mineralityJean and I both got a hint of cork taint, but thankfully not enough to spoil the wine. Softer than it was in its youth, it's not yet made the transition to a fully mature form, but is still very appealing. One has to wonder whether it would be even better had it not been tainted, so I'm glad that we have more in the cellar.
Our friend Chris brought over:
2003 Ridge Lytton Springs nose: intially, somewhat oaky, turning more cedary, dark berry fruit palate: full body, round, growing leaner as it sat open, deep fruit, moderate acidStill too youthful for me, but beginning to round into form. Its oak is still evident but not intrusive and there is every sign that it will fully integrate and become more classically Lytton Springs with time.
On Sunday, I roasted a goose with bread stuffing (late Christmas dinner?) and separately roasted some Brussels Sprouts. With the goose, I opened:
1996 Clos de l'Oratoire St.-Emilion nose: initially, roasted coffee, becming more herbal and cedary palate: medium body, good acidity, herbal, tobacco, plummy fruit, a bit hollow midpalateOne of our few remaining '96s. Jean had requested Bordeaux with her goose, so I decided to go for something a bit more aged than our current drinking '05s. Pretty classic Bordeaux profile and not at all OTT to my tastes. The roasted, coffee-like character I often get in St. Emilion was evident only early on, after which the wine had more generic Bordeaux character.
Mark Lipton