SOBER gathered at Jacques' house last night. The first wine was opened before I got there, and declared dead- another victim of White Burg PreOx. Worst part was it was a magnum, the '99 Bonneau du Martray. Sad.
With a nice cheese assortment, we waited for late arrivers with the
2001 Guigal la Dorianne Condrieu. Big floral/musky aromas over ripe approaching overripe apricot/peach fruit. Label says 12-14% abv, but someone astutely notes it finishes a bit hot.. I'm not a fan, but then Viognier is not my thing. B-We moved to table, where Jacques started a great succession of courses. First up was a butternut squash soup with duck confit, with the first two blind wines:
Flight One
#1 Sandalwood, red fruit, medium bodied. Some felt too oaky, I found it borderline. But nice structure.
#2 Ripe, broad-shouldered but with some elegance, earth.
Jacques confirmed we were in Burgundy. No one nailed actual wines.
#1 1998 Domaine de Romanee Conti Romanee St. Vivant. B/B+
#2 1997 Mugnier Musigny. A-/B+ 1997 isn't my favorite vintage, but I also liked the Roumier Musigny.
Flight Two With a lovely vols au vent (chicken/mushroom/pea ) One person wondered if we might be in Loire based on #2's nose, but most of us in white Burgundy from start
#1 Oak, pear, and vanilla. A touch of herb. A little short, almost tired, but still hanging on.
#2 Mature, nutty , sweet. Others liked this less than I, with nose descriptors like pool vinyl. Once it was revealed I was surprised it was this mature, but I liked (more than most). But drink up.
#1 1997 Neillon "Champgains" Chassagne-Montrachet 1er B
#2 1998 Pernot Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet B+/A-
Flight Three Jacques said both from same vintage, I early on guessed 1989 Bordeaux. Wrong!
#1 Ripe cassis fruit, a little cigarbox, a bit herbal. I don't mind a bit of green if there's enough ripe fruit behind. Someone says it's more chipotle than bell pepper, I agree. Good length.
#2 Ripe, long, blackberry and currant fruit, some earth, a little herb here also. Young.
#1 1985 Lynch-Bages. Good bottles of this can be good, like tonight. We speculated re the reasons for variation, my vote is for lots of travel/trade due to WS WOTY. This bottle showed well, though it kind of faded in glass at end. My initial score however was B+
#2 1985 Phelps Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon. B+/A-
Main course was beautiful duck breasts, with green beans and a cauliflower gratin. Yum!!!!!!
Flight Four
#1 A plethora of secondary aromas- mushroom, earth, smoke-but fruit (black currant and plum) is still vibrant, and there's a lovely hint of eucalyptus.
#2 Ripe, long, cedar and cigarbox, not big, but elegant and long.
#1 1977 Heitz Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (John got it as Martha's on second guess). A-
#2 1978 Palmer (Margaux) A-
Nice way to end. After dessert, group broke up quite satisfied. Thanks to Jacques for a great night hosting (I'm up next, the bar is set high!).
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