A month or two ago I got an email from a high school classmate. HS wasn't my prime period, and I'd only kept in touch with one friend. But this guy had suddenly decided "wonder what happened to Dale", and with some Googling located me and discovered we only lived an hour apart. So we made a plan to get together (25 years since last meeting), and last night Scott and his wife Nicole braved some truly wild and wooly weather to come down for dinner.
With little timbales of shrimp with garlic, white wine, and bread crumbs:
2005 Drouhin "Domaine de Vaudon" Chablis Really lovely Chablis, crisp and middleweight, not as ponderous as a few '05s. Nose of apple blossoms and gunflint, on the palate Granny Smith apple rules with an edge of lemony citrus and a minerally finish. B+/A-With a capon with honey/chevre under skin, asparagus with miso, and dirty rice (all very nice, but Betsy said later that she wished she had gone for a lighter style of vegetable with the richness of the capon's sauce, the miso sauce was too much at same time):
2005 Vissoux (Pierre-Marie Chermette) "Poncie" Fleurie Full bodied for Beaujolais, nice ripe black cherry fruit. A little tight at first, opens up fully through the night. A very pretty and classy wine that could give many Burgundies a run for their (much more expensive) money. A-1978 Ch. Talbot (St Julien) I mainly opened this to commemorate our HS graduation. Sweet black and red currant fruit, a little touch of manure. Tannins resolved, fairly high acidity for Medoc. A bit short on the finish, maybe better a few years ago, but enjoyed it for what it was. Not enough depth or complexity to qualify as a great Bordeaux, but a satisfying bottle nonetheless. B
Really fun night, and nice to discover that life had left a high school (actually we both went to UNC at same time too, but on big campus didn't see much of each other) friend as funny as ever, but with the depth that only life can give. I'm thankful they managed to make it home despite flooded roads, mudslides, etc.
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.