Christmas Day we had dinner for 10. We had the rest of the gravlax I had made as a starter, plus Marcy brought cherry tomatoes stuffed with herbed chevre. Wine was the 1995 Pommery Grand Cru Brut Champagne. Quiet mousse, mature, applepie with a little cinnamon. Soft acidity, light yeast notes. B-
One guest had brought several bottles, I opened one for the red- centrics as we mingled before sitting down. The 2005 Ch. Olivier (Pessac-Leognan) had pretty decent dark berry fruit, but currently it's buried under a wall of toasty oak. Others really liked, but I found this hard to drink now, though maybe it'll integrate. C+/C for now.
We had a 2 bird dinner- roast goose with bramble gravy, parsnips, carrots, and turnips, plus capon. Sides included apple sauce, mashed potatoes, and a pomegranite and persimmon salad. Betsy did a great job, everything delicious, and we had some wine, too:
1990 Ch. La Louviere (Pessac-Louviere) (since I was opening an '88, Dave's birthyear, I decided to also open BY wines for the 2 under-30 guests) A lovely showing for this classic non-trophy Graves. Red and black currants, a little leather, a lot of tobacco. Earthy, mid-bodied, very pretty yet sturdy wine. A-
2000 Bouchard "Vigne de L'Enfant Jesus" Beaune-Greves 1er What better time than Christmas to open a baby Jesus? Drinking well, light to midbodied Pinot, clean cherry fruit, earth, some vanilla. It's the latter that is a bit much, this is showing a bit more oak than fruit can comfortably sustain.B/B-
1988 Ch. Lagrange (St. Julien) Benefits from some decanter time, still showing a bit of the 88 tannin. Cassis, pencil shavings, damp earth. Medium bodied, good length, showing well once it has some air. B+/A-
1970 Bel Air Marquis d'Aligre (Margaux) Not a great wine but solid example of old Bordeaux. Red fruit with a bit of a pruney edge (but not extreme), tobacco, ash. Resolved tannins, not very long, but hanging on. B-/B
There was also a sadly corked bottle of 1986 Talbot :)
There was also a Yule Log from the bakery where David works, and a Derby Pie (pecan), plus a cheese tray with Mahon and Muenster d'Alsace. Was originally planning the 75 Fonseca, but when the Talbot was corked my backup (for Jenny's birthyear), was the 1986 Graham Malvedos Port, so we switched to that. Big, raisiny, running a bit hot (even for port). Sweet, aromatic, long. B
Really nice Christmas-especially the food!
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.