Mark hosted SOBER last night, I picked up Franco and Paul at Tarrytown stat ion, and we arrived at Mark’s and were greeted with smoked salmon o n pumpernickel and 2 blind bubbles (not very blind, Mark said what they wer e, just not which was which
2002 Gosset Celebris I thought this was the Blanc de Blanc, white fruit and lots of lemon, very long. A-NV Gosset Grande Blanc de Blanc Very good, rounder, full and nutty. B+
To table, where some nice cheeses (a cheddar, a Comte, Cambozola, a Merlot washed rind) and salami awaited. 3 non-blind whites awaited (a 4th, a ? ??95 L’Ecole #41 Semillon, was deemed undrinkable)
1992 Kalin Semillon (Livermore) Good acids, lemon, wool, and nuts, long and complex. B+/A-1993 Fiorano (pretty sure this is the Semillon,
First blind red No guesses, pretty advanced, apparently cork fell in that AM when capsule c ut. Too bad, the 1964 Palmer
Second blind red (Pi decanter) Mark said I couldn’t guess as I had unfair advantage, realized it w as a Bandol from a charity lunch(but no clue to which one). Brawny, sweet b ut with some grip, gets better. 1993 La Rouviere Bandol. B+
On to the main event, non-blind DDC
First flight
1988 Domaine de Chevalier Tannic, but good sappy fruit, needs time but quite elegant for an ‘- I have a bottle of this, wish I had more . B+/A-
1983 Domaine de Chevalier Young, structured, lots of soil and some coffee, I liked more than neighbor s (but everyone liked whole flight). A-/B+
1981 Domaine de Chevalier Classic, ready, smoke and cigarbox, drinking very well. B+(nice lamb stew on rice served about here) Second Flight
1979 Domaine de Chevalier Herbs, cedar/cigarbox, good acids, nice length B+/A-1975 Domaine de Chevalier Still some tannin, but plusher than most ‘75s, with full fruit and a long earthy finish. A-
1970 Domaine de Chevalier Tart cherries, floral, touch of VA but not overwhelming. I originally had t his as a B, but it picked up and filled out with some air. One of the redde r fruited wines of the night. B+Third Flight
1966 Domaine de Chevalier Big almost kirschy fruit, yet with good acids, cedar and citrus. B+1964 Domaine de Chevalier Wow, complex and spicy, red fruit with mushrooms and mocha, tobacco, long. Just a lovely classic claret, and I was sure it would be my WOTN. A-/A
1961 Domaine de Chevalier Sweet fruit, tar, a little caramelly. Certainly drinkable but a step behind others, Craig says a mid-shoulder bottle (not really a bad fill for 50+, j ust adds a little uncertainty). Dan says it got better but I didn’t return. BFourth Flight
1953 Domaine de Chevalier Well, I thought the ‘64 was my WOTN till I tasted this. Exotic, com plete, and complex. Sandalwood and tobacco, clean fruit, long and lively. I told neighbor it was amazing something could be this exotic yet at same ti me be classic. I originally wrote A/A- but I really can’t imagine t his could be better, so A.1929 Domaine de Chevalier This had a funky and somewhat caramelly/ maderized nose, and I assumed dead . Had come from the Doris Duke cellars and owner said previous bottles were good, but at 90 years there’s never certainty. But Dan held out fo r it and I’ll be damned if he wasn’t right. The madeira not es lessened (though didn’t disappear) and there was nice plummy (no t pruney ) fruit, with leather and smoke. This was brought up during evenin g and only had a couple hours before decant, so was pretty murky. I never l oved but though B/B+ at end, a nice wine to experience.
Mark also brought out a ‘43 cognac (which I skipped), and a legenda ry Sauternes:
1971 Climens Great acids, sweetness now well integrated, orange peel and orange marmalad e over toffee, incredibly long. A-Truly over the top good night, even by SOBER standards. Only thing that wou ld have made it better was if I hadn’t needed to be spitting. Enter ed the night a DDC fan, but still got my eyes opened. What a wonderful, dis tinctive, elegant property (at least back in the day) Thanks Mark.
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.