After spending a weekend in the city, my brother Doug and his family traveled to the Tarrytown Hilton Monday for a short visit with us before heading to a conference at Lake George. We had them over for dinner - though my brother had seen our house and met Lucy the Basset, my sister-in-law and nieces hadn't. An extraordinarily pleasant evening, with the girls romping with Lucy, David videotaping them, my sister-in-law Dianne helping Bets in the kitchen, and my brother and I watching it all.
The appetizer was gravlax, and I served what I knew was one of Dianne's favorite wines, the 2000 Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay (Napa). Good sweet apple and tropical fruits, but MAN is there a lot of oak there! Long but hot finish (I glance at label later- 14.5% ABV). Not my style, but I don't actually really mind just sipping on a warm day (but a little less alcohol would be nice). B
In honor of the main dinner wine, I had asked Betsy to do a fairly simple roast chicken, and she came through with flying colors (roasted the birds with an herb-butter under the skin). Also mashed potatoes, asparagus, and salad. The wine in question was, like Doug, from 1961. A fairly recently acquired 1961 Ch. Pape Clément (Graves). Fill to base of the neck. Cork came out cleanly, a quick whiff showed some mushrooms and flowers with a hint of black plums. I decanted, let rest for a couple of minutes. Nervously I poured the first glass- the wine is brick-colored, with clear edges. Fruit is rather subdued (to be expected!), but clearly hanging in there- mostly blackcurrant but with a hint of red fruit. As it expands in glass a bit there's a rather dominant (and pleasant) damp forest floor element, complimented by some cigarbox and tea notes. Nice clear , if not exceptionally lengthy, finish. After dinner I run the remaining few ounces in the bottle through a coffee filter, still hanging in there (3 hours after opening) though the profile has changed to a more red-fruit meets mushroom style. Quite a nice mature wine, if probably a few years past its absolute prime. Probably technically deserves a B+/A- on my easy scale, but for the fun and emotion of drinking a '61 Bordeaux with the best brother of the entire '61 vintage, a solid A.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency. Dale
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