Cathleen hosted SOBER last night, with Steve acting as chef/grillmaster. Re ally fascinating tasting, with great food. We arrived to find some nice sal ami and pate on the table, and 2 Champagnes were passed (non-blind)
2000 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rose Really drinking well., beautiful red fruits, some floral notes, plenty of z esty acids, fine mousse. Very long. I can’t imagine this getting better t hough I am sure it will last for a while, really in a good place (Later Cat hleen and I discussed how in general it seems roses do well with a few year s age, but - counterintuitively to me at least- are less likely to do well in long aging). A-Ployez-Jacquemart Champagne (I think this was a NV Brut, but not totally su re) Crisp, light, minerally, refreshing. B+/B
On to the reds (blind)
Flight 1 Pretty clear these were Bordeaux from beginning
Wine #1- black fruit, cocoa, some wood, most approachable of the three. 200
1 Ch. Palmer B+Wine #2- firm, austere, woody, the tannins on the backend are raspy. This i s in a grumpy place. I opined this was like most ‘86s 10-12 years ago. 20
00 Ch. Rausan-Segla B-Wine #3 -green herby notes on nose, some wood, also quite tannic. 2000 Ch. Palmer B
I think all of these will improve with time, but for now only the 2001 was any real fun.
About this time Steve served a truly unbelievably good curried carrot soup (from the Modernist Cuisine at Home).
Flight 2 Wine #1- lovely giving wine, dark fruit, elegant, good ripeness,. balanced. 1998 Ch. Palmer. A-
Wine #2 - Tannic, green pepper, dill, a bit volatile, by this point we knew it was Bordeaux, but reminded me more of not so great modern Rioja. 1995 C h., Rausan-Segla B-/C+
Wine #3- still some oak, but good dark fruits, long finish. 1995 Ch. Palmer B+/B
A theme is emerging.
Flight 3 Wait a damn minute, this isn’t Margaux!
Wine #1 - very light color made us guess older than this is. Red fruits, sa ndalwood, smoke. Great acids, bright fuits, long finish, very good length. I guessed Chambolle, but Mark correctly got Gevrey. 2001 Truchot-Martin “ Combottes” Gevrey-Chambertin. A-/A
Wine #2 - darker, riper, more tannic, someone (I think Craig) guessed Jadot early, but it took a few guesses to get vineyard. 2003 Jadot Musigny B+ (as good a 2003 as I’ve had)
About here we were chowing down on slices from a couple 3” Lobel porterho uses, with great polenta and mushroom ragout, plus some green beans.
Flight 4 Wine #1 Pretty intense green bell pepper, totally dominates the fruit, 1993 Ch. Rausan-Segla C+/C
Wine #2 Young fresh and vital, wellbalanced, 1986 Ch. Rausan-Segla A-
Wine #3 corked (too bad, seemed to be nice stuff underneath) 1986Ch. Palmer
Flight 5 Wine #1 corked 1985 Ch. Rausan-Segla
Wine #2 ripe, full, red berries, tobacco, good. 1982 Ch. Rausan-Segla B+/B
Flight 6 Wine #1 Pretty classic claret, redder fruit with cigarbox and forest floor, very nice and ready but not faded. . 1966 Ch. Rausan-Segla A-/B+
Wine #2 Full, powerful but elegant, 1983 Ch. Margaux A-
Wine #3 Thinner, a little ashtray over the dark fruit and decayed leaves, n ot bad but outclassed,. 1966 Ch. Kirwan B
Fantastic look at Margaux appellation, plus other fun wines and amazing foo d
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 pa rty where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.