Tonight, Jean and I did something we hadn't done in over a year: we went out to eat in a restaurant. We were joined by our son Andy as we celebrated our 32nd anniversary with a dinner out. To celebrate, we brought along the wine that's been in our possession the longest (coincidentally, 32 years).
We started with a bottle of NV Pierre Callot Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs with our shrimp cocktail. The bubbly was quite savory, saline with a fine mousse and a crisp, dry finish and little autolytic yeastiness. With our main courses, we opened the Gruaud Larose. The cork was moist and a bit crumbly but came out of the bottle without too much fuss. The wine was still dark with very little bricking at the edges. Overall, the wine was still quite youthful, though I would characterize it as being on the early end of maturity. The tannins were quite smooth and the acidity quite high. The wine showed a lot of Cabernet character, with brambly black fruits, pencil lead, leather and tobacco. As it sat opened for the hour we spent at dinner, it continued to improve in the glass, rounding out even more.
Overall, this was a great way to return to a somewhat normal dining experience.
Mark Lipton