Kind of a hectic Saturday, back and forth to office, fighting a cold, and p reparing for a tasting/dinner. But thankfully a helpful and understanding g roup, so we had a pleasant evening on the patio with a lot of Cantemerle an d La Lagune.
We started with lobster salad, cheeses (thanks Ramon), duck rillettes, and Champagne:
NV Pierre Peters Cuvee de Reserve Blanc de Blancs Champagne Crisp though with noticeable sweetness, citrus, pear, and bread dough, fair ly full yet with a lightness on palate. I preferred this to the Vilmart, ot hers differed, B+/A-
2009 Vilmart Cellier d'Or Champagne Nice complex nose with almonds, toast, and spice, but I thought this a bit plodding and heavy compared to Peters. B/B-Added some smoked duck breast and sweet soppressata as we moved to the reds . The theme of the evening was Cantemerle and la Lagune, our favorite "just outside of Marguax" estates, and we had a nice lineup.
2010 Cantemerle Full, big, tannic, some found hot I didn't, quite ripe, I enjoyed but won't be really searching. B2009 Cantemerle A burst of fruit when opened in afternoon, then shut down hard. Long decant got rid of some but not all the shyness. Not touching for a while, but I t hink this will be a rather classic ripe vintage Cantemerle (B- last night, B+ for potential)
2004 La Lagune I seemed to like less than others, nice cassis fruit, herbs, and good struc ture but I found this a little short on finish. B/B-2000 Cantemerle Open, giving, some thought alarmingly mature, but I don't think this will h ave trouble holding for a while. B/B+
Salil had brought some delicious yogurt-marinated chicken, easy to grill an d we served with some grilled squash
1996 Cantemerle Man, I love good 96 Medoc. Classy, elegant, but with some power, black frui t and tobacco. A-1989 Cantemerle It's flightmate was just as lovely- herbal, cigarbox, mature but not at all tired. A-
1986 La Lagune Resolved tannin, firm, nice. B1986 Cantemerle More open, good acids, good fruit. B/B+
1985 La Lagune I thought this was very good, though it didn't seem to figure in people's f avorites. Elegant, light but with lots of charm B+1983 La Lagune Roasted, this has seen some heat. NR
1983 Cantemerle Another very nice showing of this, elegant, feminine, fine. A-/B+As a palate cleanser,
2007 Keller Riesling Kabinett Fun, precise, just enough sweetness, vivid acids (yes, for a 2007) B+/A-Back to main event
1982 La Lagune Big and burly without lacking grace, very sweet dark full fruit. A-/B+1982 Cantemerle Much smaller framed than the la Lagune, but a lovely mature claret. B+
1979 La Lagune Another good showing here, vibrant acids, redder fruits, tobacco. B+/A-1978 Cantemerle Good, ripe, complex. B+/A-
1978 La Lagune Ready, fresh, and long. B+1975 La Lagune I believe this had seen some warmth
1970 La Lagune Ripe, floral, fun. A-/B+1970 Cantemerle I liked this but didn't write anything besides B+
1966 Cantemerle Lovely, long, complex. A-1961 Cantemerle We knew in advance this was iffy, midshoulder fill, smelled ok out of bottl e, but after decanting and pouring it cracked up.
2012 Kruger-Rumpf Munsterer Pittersberg Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel No notes, I thought nice but not especially complex2001 Lafaurie-Peyraugey nice
Fun night with an excellent crowd. Other than the wines with storage issues everything showed at least ok, and most showed very well. 2 fine estates- if I had a takeaway from event, it was I felt that the La Lagune was consis tently the more masculine styled wine. Of course, other vintage pairings mi ght have shown differently. Thanks all.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a p arty where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.