TN: David Wainwright goodbye dinner at Bayard (long)

Last night a group of 23 gathered at Bayard to say goodbye to David Wainwright. David just left his job as a VP in Christie's wine auction department and is heading to London to study for his MW. Great group, great food from Bayard, great service (as far as I could tell every person got a pour of each wine- with 23 people making that happen with

750s was a miracle).

An assortment of hor d'oeuvres (quiches, canapes, etc) made the rounds as we gathered. There were a couple of bottles of :

1996 Bollinger Champagne Young, but very tasty. Biscuits and hazelnuts over a full but crisp body. B+

As we sat down, we were served :

1996 Trimbach "Reserve Personelle" Pinot Gris (magnum) This didn't do a lot for me, but then I tend to prefer Alsace PG as a dessert wine. Apple fruit, some flowers and smoke. B-/C+

1990 Pol Roger "Cuvee 2000" Champagne (magnum) Kind of a funny smoky note - burnt toast with butter. But this grew on me (my neighbor Matt had the opposite reaction, liking it less). B

As the white Burgs started , the first course arrived (Poached lobster with a Caribbean fruit salsa and mache)

1992 Ramonet "Les Ruchottes" Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Earth and spice on the nose, still lively with good acidity. B+

2000 Verget Corton-Charlemagne Hard to see anything beyond oak. B-

1992 Dom. Leflaive "Les Pucelles " Puligny-Montrachet 1er This and the Ramonet were fine with the lobster. Classy, refined, deep without being heavy. Matt points out that it has a sense of wood but without a buttery vanilla oak thing. I like a lot (others near me disagreed). B+/A-

1997 Michel Niellon Batard-Montrachet I know some people think the '97-present era isn't the strongest for Niellon ,but for my tastes you can't tell from this one. Smoke and mineral over citrus and tropical fruit. A-

1999 Rene & Vincent Dauvissat "Les Clos" Chablis GC (magnum) I found this disappointing. Not as crisp as I would have liked, and with a flatness that didn't thrill me. Maybe this is closed but it seemed surprisingly mature and open to me, just flat. C+/B-

1999 Ponsot Clos de la Roche This seemed a bit thin. I think this is (like several '99s I've tried) just shut down. I'd give it a B- last night, but think it's probably better than that.

About this time the foie gras arrived (seared and a cold terrine)

1993 Comte Armand "Clos des Epeneaux" Pommard 1er(magnum) Young, with spice and dark fruit in a muscular package. Pretty acidic, but not distractingly so. Other liked much less. B+/A-

1993 Pousse d'Or "60 Ouvrees -Caillerets" Volnay 1er More fruit driven, mostly bitter cherry. B

1991 Leroy Richebourg There's some toast and a little vanilla, but great concentration. Extracted without being cartoonish, there's a real sense of earth under the fruit. A

1985 Cos d'Estournel (magnum) Sweet fruit, some tannins. Quite good. B+

Next was a blind bottle. Resolved tannins, sweet mature red fruit and forest floor. Pleasant but uncompelling. Others guessed mature Barolo and indeed it had a Nebbiolo sense to it. But turns out it's a Burg, a

1987 Engel that I never noted the vineyard. B-

1983 La Mission Haut-Brion My contribution - I was a little worried how it would show with all these big boys. Actually, pretty well. Mature but not fading, dark fruit with some cedar and tobacco. Earthy and pure. A-

1983 Mouton-Rothschild More tobacco and light cassis fruit, but this didn't wow me. B-

By this point we were on the braised Lamb Shank with ratatouille

1983 Margaux Pretty good if not the show-stopper of it's rep. B/B+

1982 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Fading a bit, with a bit of eucalyptus over the quiet blackcurrant and blackcherry fruit. Nice, though. B

1978 Ducru-Beaucaillou Resolved tannins, earth, cassis fruit. B

1975 Palmer I was never a Palmer fan (not even the '83) until trying the '75 twice over last year (and the '99). But was wowwed on both previous occasions. This had the same high-toned nose, but on the palate lacked the depth of fruit of the previous ones I'd tried. B/B-

1975 Margaux Still rather tannic, with an (attractive to me) funky earthy nose. But that kind of carries over to the palate in a way that's less attractive. B-

1975 Lafite-Rothschild More integrated tannins, with sweet red currants and a touch of cigarbox. B+

1964 Haut-Brion Now this was lovely. Elegant without being the least bit light, a potpourri of earthy aromas with plenty of fruit hanging in there. A

1966 Mouton-Rothschild Nice nose of cassis and coffee , but a bit blah on the palate with a short finish. B-

A cheese course arrived along with:

1978 Giacosa Santa Stefano Barbaresco I had thought the '64 Haut-Brion was surely my wine of the night, but this trumped it. Young, aromatic, balanced. A+

1973 Bodegas Palacio Glorioso Rioja Gran Reserva I really couldn't get a handle on this one. Some sweet oak, a little red fruit. Others liked more. B-/C+

1964 Conterno Barolo This seemed dead (except for some volatile acid). Others sat it aside and said it came back, too bad I didn't hold onto this George Romero wine. But what I tasted, D

1964 Chapoutier Hermitage Red fruits and herbs, orange blossoms and hint of grilled meat. Excellent. A/A-

1993 Quinterelli Recioto della Valpolicella Classico Lush and almost Port-like, deep red fruit with an intriguing bitter edge. Great with the blue (Roaring 40s, which David says is the only great Australian cheese). A-/B+

There was a dessert of apricot tart and almond ice cream,but as I don't eat dessert I was happy to still have some Roaring 40s for the ports:

1983 Fonseca VP Medium-bodied and surprisingly mature. B

1980 Taylor-Fladgate VP Also mature, very sweet, but the alcohol sticks out a bit much for me. B-

1966 Croft VP (magnum) More chocolate-y than the others.Some say this isn't a great bottle, but I liked best of the Ports. B+

1979 Nederberg Edelkeur (South Africa ) I'm told this is Chenin, though doesn't really seem like it to me. Dark with a little botrytis. Eh. B-

1989 La Tour Blanche Light honied fruit, not bad. B/B-

1967 Gilette Creme de Tete Sauternes Dammit! This is lightly corked, and I can't get past that. Too bad, as it seems very rich and ripe underneath.

1953 Doisy Daene Good, young, some botrytis over surprisingly vivid coconut notes. B+

1862 Lomelino Rare Old Malmsey I'm not a judge of old Madiera, I just don't encounter them much. But I usually like, and this is no exception. Caramel and toffee, really nice. B+/A-

Incredible evening, with very generous people digging deep into their cellars. Good to see some old friends and meet a few new people. Best of luck David!

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