Saturday night we celebrated my sister-in-law's 50th birthday party. My brother has collected wine for years and his favorite is Ch. d'Yquem so I was really looking forward to this evening.
With only eight people there, the five bottles of Dom Perignon was a real treat. I still don't feel it's worth the price but when someone else is buying...
We had a bottle or two of nice white burgundy and then we decided it would be right into the d'Yquem rather than wait until later on in the night.
Robert Parker and the Wine Spectator had both given this wine a 100 and referred to it as perfect. I couldn't agree more. I've had d'Yquem a few times (1971, 1975, 1976 and 1977) and this was by far the best. Not a lot of botrytis but everything was perfectly in balance. An intense sweetness was perfectly balanced by the acidity. That's all we kept saying - perfect.
After 2# main lobsters we moved on to filet mignon with a 1986 Ducru Beaucaillou. This was very dark, almost inky and excellent. We also had a bottle of 1957 Ch. Haut-Brion, the birth year. While decent enough it didn't really taste at all like any Haut-Brion I've had.
Dessert was Godiva chocolate and a bottle of 1957 Vintage Port (I think it was Sandeman). By then I had hit the couch.
Quite an act for me to follow for my wife's 50th birthday coming up next February.