Thursday night a nice group gathered at La Sirene/ Taureau on the theme Old er and Blind (40 years being minmum). A rainy day, but better than original forecast. Before heading to city I decided to double-decant my 2 bottles f or sediment, good thing I did as the ‘66 Beychevelle was a testament to t he longevity of TCA. I grabbed a last minute replacement, and headed to cit y.
We were in Taureau side of restaurant, but ordered from La Sirene menu. I t hought the sauteed baby octopus was tasty, but with wines I wouldn’t have ordered if menu had mentioned hot pepper (not to mention enough thyme for
20 dishes). The cassoulet seemed soupy and a bit disappointing compared to pass (though I didn’t get any Italian sausage as others did). But service was cheerful.Ben had brought bags, and we labelled so that owner could answer questions.
Flight 1 RC1- Paul was quick with Bordeaux and 1970, I guessed St Julien, but then m issed with Beychevelle (this seemed elegant, so I was surprised when unveil ed). Tangy acids, resolved tannin, lots of cigarbox. 1970 Gruaud Larose B+
DW1- double decanted before I left home. Floral, slightly roasted fruit not es, plenty of oomph. Ramon got Italian, but then thought Southern Italy, an d I replied “the appellation on bottle is northern Italian.” Ben asked if Nebbiolo, and I replied “cellartracker says it’s Nebbiolo”- from m y evasive answers Chris nailed it, though it took a while to get vintage.19
58 Vallana "Campi Raudii Catulli Ara" Spanna B+Flight 2 BG1 - fresh, young, tarry, good length. One of my favorite wines of the nig ht. Josh got Piedmont right off bat, and eventually Vietti. 1971 Vietti “ Localita Briacca” Barolo. A-
BG2- Full, rich, classic Bordeaux, black fruits and cigarbox 1966 Ducru-Bea ucaillou B+/A-
Flight 3 Paul felt PJ1 & PJ2 not interesting enough, so labelled piss and swill. Whi ch led to many strange comments I think for neighboring tables (“are you talking piss or swill”, “piss is #1”, “let me just focus on swill ”).
Piss- Tired, roasted, smoky, seen better days, someone got “old Piedmont ” early. 1971 Ceretto “Zonchetta” Barolo B-
Swill - This was lovely, young, and fruit-filled. Midbodied, elegant, one o f my WOTNs. 1970 Canon A-
Flight 4 JL1 Muddy, pruney, my least favorite of wines I tasted.1870 Marques de Risc al Rioja Reserva C+
JL2 Whoa, tasty. Ripe full and young, I think Chris got vintage quickly. Cl assic fullbodied mature Nebbiolo. Another contender for WOTN for me. 1964 B arale Barolo A-
BK - good blackcurrant fruit, leather, a bit stolid, but nice example of of 60 year old Bordeaux! 1953 Talbot B+/A-
(somewhere in here there was a ‘66 CVNE Imperial opened, but I took other s’ word it was cooked)
Flight 5 (by this point I neglected to note who guessed correctly) RC2 This was a real surprise- best LB ‘64 I’ve had. Red fruits, tobacco , slim and elegant. 1964 Leoville-Poyferre B+
CK Herbs and cedar, good fruit, long. Tied for my WOTN. 1970 Cheval Blanc A
-DW2 - this was replacement for the corked Beychevelle, just grabbed off rac k and carried on train, so a bit disturbed. Brawny, dark fruit, still some tannin, maybe just a hint of brown sugar but I didn’t find maderized like Brad 1966 Calon-Segur B+
Non-blind dessert wine- 1971 Baumard Quarts de Chaumes. Modest sweetness, b right tropical (pineapple) and citrus fruits, burnt sugar, honeysuckle. A-
Really sucessful night overall, I quite liked all but 3 wines. We voted for fave - I split my votes evenly (Cheval, Canon, and Vietti), but liked the Barale about as much. For group red wine of the night voting was a tie for first Vietti 10 pts Cheval Blanc 10 Barale 10 Ducru 7 Canon 3 Poyferre 2 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.