Mark was “counseling” a couple with a cellar who had kind of lost track of what they liked. He suggested a tasting, and it blossomed into a charit y tasting for the organization I run- win win! He rounded up some generous souls, and we met at Crabtree’s Kittle House last night. I had a “pizet te” with sushi tuna and (very mild) jalapenos, followed by a delicious gu inea hen main.
Starter was provided by Mark, a 1983 JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese Gol dkapsul. I was very excited to taste this, and it did have great acidic bal ance and some wonderful petrol, orange blossom, and honied notes, there wa s also something musty, that came into focus as TCA (at least to me and cou ple others at my end, I think others disagreed). A shame.
The reds
1989 Latour Haut Brion Somewhat funky nose at first, and I thought soft and a bit clipped on the p alate. It did seem to gain body and lenght with some air, and some rather c lassic cigarbox and leather notes. B+ by the end1990 La Louviere I’ve always liked this wine, and this bottle reminded me of why. Lovely m idbodied claret, ripe with a plush texture and good length. A-
1989 Talbot This was a bit bretty, but not enough to really bother me, but overall it w as a stolid and slightly dull effort. B-1986 Silver Oak Alexander Valley Nice showing, nice herbal notes over some red fruit, cedar, fairly low acid but not enough (for me) to detract, good wine. B+
1998 Petite Eglise A Pomerol I don’t remember encountering before. Ripe/overripe, soft, jamm y. C+1996 Leoville Barton Somewhat tannic, lots of herb, cassis fruit, I thought the acids were a bit spiky/unintegrated. Needs some time to come together. B
1996 Haut Batailley Surprisingly ready, mild tannins, not especially expressive, but a little l ead pencil over dark fruit. Didn’t excite me. B/B- . 1996 Pontet Canet I thought this quite nice in a mid-modern style of Bordeaux- plush texture, full fruited, some wood but not really sticking out. Would be nice with a steak now but I’d give more time for wood and tannin to integrate. A-/B+1996 Calon Segur My favorite of the ‘96s. Full and rich, blackcurrants with coffee, graphi te, spice. Not at all hard to drink now but clearly can last. A-
Fun night with good people, and raised money for a good cause to boot. Than ks to Tommy and Marcia for their generosity with wines, Mark for organizing , and all for their generosity and good humor.
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.