Spent the weekend at a beautiful 1,500 hectare farm in the interior of São Paulo. The hosts, friends of my sister and brother-in-law, were people of considerable means, unpretentious and generous. The six of us were graced with a fair amount of distinguished blue chips, an interesting contrast to our daily fare.
1988 Chateau Latour Pauillac
Two bottles with Friday dinner one with Saturday dinner, showing consistent flavors. Oak vanilla, sage, tar and prunes. Good acidity, resolved tannins, rather light bodied at (excessive) serving temperature. Second and third bottles had a bit more body, but similar aromatics. Classy and pleasurable, but no epiphany.
2000 Chateau Calon-Ségur St. Estèphe
Two bottles with Saturday lunch, the first as described, the second heat cooked. Oak vanilla, blackberries, leather and eucalyptus. Decent acidity, good weight, good balance, pleasant tannins. Textbook Bordeaux and a bit boring in its Platonic exemplariness. My, how we have become spoiled.
2007 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 13.5%
One bottle with Saturday dinner. Lovely bright mineral (wet slate) and anise aromas. Marcia got peach blossom, honey and almonds, and preferred nose to mouth. Good weight, good acid/sweet balance, judicious oak, light final bitterness. Classy and textbook, but not boring.
1983 Château Pétrus Pomerol
One bottle with Sunday lunch. Tar, prunes, leather and bay leaves. Exquisitely balanced, refined, wearing a three piece pin-striped suit, not one hair out of place. Like a high society Zen Master who has nothing to prove. Exceptionally fine, but, given the outlandish reputation, no cigar box.
1993 Château d’Yquem Sauternes 14.0%
Half of a previously opened bottle with Sunday lunch. Apricots, honey, botrytis, and a strong note of mothballs. Unctuous, fine acid/sweet balance, seamless. The mothballs, ordinarily not something to savor, here prevented it from becoming “good boy” dull, pushing it into “more than the sum of its parts” terrain.
1997 Château Climens Barsac 14.0%
Half of a previously opened bottle with Sunday lunch. Apricots and honey. Seemed dilute after the Yquem, but otherwise fine and delicious.
1996 Château Guiraud Sauternes 13.5%
Half of a previously opened bottle with Sunday lunch. More apricots and honey, but thick and sweet, veering towards flabby, needs more acid.
It was fascinating to dive into a prelapsarian state for 48 hours, but it was also good to confirm that what we drink at home, while not up to such pedigreed standards, makes up for it in terms of quirkiness and investigative interest. Tons of money, especially in other people’s hands, are not a prerequisite for wine epiphanies, but it was interesting to note how the other side often leads a more predictable and boring life.
