A great group met at my place Friday. I had some cheese and charcuterie out, and we started with bubbles.
NV Benoit Lahaye Brut Nature Grand Cru Champagne (11/2018 disgorgement) Crisp snappy green apple, nice texture, I liked but think just a little dosage wouldn’t have hurt. B+/B . NV (2018-2019)Filaine Cuvee Speciale Champagne (magnum) Labeled Speciale, but Jeff says he only has magnum labels in that, this is more likey the DMY. Only a few mags make it to states. Really gorgeous, pear, smoke, and citrus zest, with a rye bread topnote. Racy, full, minerally with elegant mousse and long finish. A-/A
On to the reds (Left Bank, both Medoc and Graves)
2001 Coufran Black plum and a little green tobacco leaf, nice midweight. Some gentle tannin remaining, some thought it a steak wine, I opined for roast chicken. B/B+2000 Gruaud Larose Others seemed to like more than I did. Don’t get me wrong, solid masculine claret, but it seemed a little flatfooted next to the Ducru. B
2000 Ducru-Beaucaillou Wow, stunning young wine. Lots of tannins, but they’re supple, and there’s powerful cassis fruit. Cedar, tobacco, anise. A-1995 Grand Puy Lacoste Black plum, smoke, really wrapped up in tannin. B/B+
1995 Beychevelle In need of time, but lovely potential. Black cherry and plum, espresso, tobacco. A-/B+1985 Haut-Marbuzet Resolved tannins, soft acids, nice texture, soft red plum fruit, cigarbox. If this had been blind I think I would have guessed RB.B+
1982 Potensac Great showing for this bottle. Cassis, pencil lead, and cedar, still a little tannic structure, great overachiever. B++While I was grilling, blinded group on a couple whites. They got Bordeaux immediately, but took a while to get chateaux (Craig said 2nd is about 10 years older which was damn close)
2006 La Louviere blanc Light, fresh, hint of grass, grapefruit and fig, nice length. B/B+1995 Larrivet Haut Brion blanc A little more advanced than a previous bottle, toasty oak, honied white fruit, good length. B
And while there was white
2020 Bruno Bienaime La Bulle d’Amelie Cremant de Jura Blanc des Blancs Apple cider, cheese, toast, interesting. B-2000 Tyrells Vat 47 Chardonnay (Hunter Valley) This had been open a day, was still holding out, large framed honied Chard.
We were ready to return to reds with skirt steak, sausages, spinach, and a potato-parsnip gratin.
1974 Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon Off theme, but owner had discovered a leaking bottle. I thought if not pristine it was still a pretty good example, with black cherry, green pepper, and menthol. Very herby, good length. B+1970 Domaine de Chevalier Probably my WOTN. Great showing- cassis and black cherry, cigarbox, gravel. Precise and long. A-/A
1970 St Pierre I liked more than some others. Lighter than the DDC and Calon, but nice is a sweet and easy style. Not super long, and fully mature, but fully pleasurable too. B+1970 Calon Segur Bigger than other 2 70s, lots of oomph, all cassis with some green herbs and smoke. B+/A-
1964 Beychevelle Fully mature but lovely. Sweet red and black cherry, cedar, mushrooms, smoke. Resolved tannins, balanced acids, soft mouthfeel, nice length. A-1964 Lynch Bages Not a great fill (mid to top shoulder), and it showed. There is some power underneath, but some clear maderization. This bottle a C, but there are better out there
Fun night, nice crowd, we got very lucky with no corked and only one really flawed bottle.
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 party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.