Our Bordeaux group met at Bobby vans on East 54th for a look at St Julien. I started with a wedge salad, then had a ribeye- we shared sauteed spinach, mushrooms, hash browns, and fries. Two starter bubbles
2012 Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs Fresh, bready, with pear, smoke, and citrus zest. A-/B+
2009 Agrapart Mineral Snappy, long, with orange, lemon, and gunflint. A-/B+
Then the St Juliens blind. We didn’t unveil till after the voting (3/2/1). I don’t think anyone suspected we had 2 bottles of ‘96 LLC!
Wine # 1 Softer acids, red plum fruit, nice. B+/B1989 Leoville Las Cases 2votes
Wine #2 a little sour on first pour, livens up considerably. B+ 1996 Poyferre 7 votes
Wine #3 Some maderized notes, some ashtray, consensus was this has seen some heat at some point, 1996 Ducru-Beaucaillou NR 0 votes
Wine #4 Very ripe and minty, is this a Cali ringer- but very tasty. B+ 2005 Leoville Barton 8 votes
Wine # 5 Good, mature cassis fruit, some backbone. B+/B 1996 Leoville Las Cases 4 votes
Wine #6 Fresh rich and complex, blackcurrant and coffee. A- 1996 Leoville Las Cases 15 votes
Wine # 7 Leaner and greener than others, but long and aromatic. B+ 1986 Leoville Barton 3 votes
Wine #8 Ripe and powerful, rich cassis and mocha. A-/B+ 1995 Leoville Las Cases 14 votes
Wine #9 Nice structure but corked NR 1990 Leoville Poyferre
Fun night.
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.