WTN: La Panetierre w/Burgs, Bdx, Loires, Veneto, Rioja

Our SOBER group had our annual "sequence end" dinner tonight; some members couldn't make it, but we had a guest and a former member, as well as various spouses (Betsy, alas, was playing). Nice private room at La Panatiere, fun group, excellent food, interesting mix of wines.

Wines were not coordinated, people just brought what they felt like.

2002 Girardin "Quintessance" Corton-Charlemagne
Big, ripe, forward, somewhat oaky. Good finish, lots of earth underneath the oak. B/B+

(nice amuse of poached shrimp with a balsamic and basil puree)

2004 Ravenau "Butteaux" Chablis
Corked. Really corked)

2002 Vatan "Clos la Neore" Sancerre
Riper/rounder than expected, sweet apple and peach, but plenty of mineral notes. B++

(warm oysters with braised leeks and beurre blanc)

2002 Closel "Clos du Papillon" Savennieres
(my wine) A wine that generates controversy - is it PremOx? This bottle pours with a deep color, seems surprisingly mature, but for me not past it at all. Wool, pit fruits, slight honied edge. Good with oysters. I save some till end of the night, if anything younger at that point (and a better match than the reds to the aged goat cheese). Hard wine to put finger on. B/B+

1989 Mouton-Rothschild
This was actually lovely (and I'm not always biggest Mouton fan). Young, fresh lively fruit, good acidity, some mocha and cigarbox. Classic and tasty A-/B+

1978 Lopez de Heredia "Bosconia" Rioja Gran Reserva
This was young and certainly sound, but I didn't love it (my wine). Red fruits, orange peel, nice melange of flavors, but just a hint of hollowness. Having had some great LdHs lately I was a bit disappointed, but still a good wine. B/B+

(veal cheeks & sweetbreads in cabernet sauce, mushrooms, etc)

2000 Drouhin Musigny
My WOTN. Lovely balance. Sweet and friendly, but with clear concentration and good length. Red cherries, smoke, espresso, citrus rind. Lovely texture, drinking well. Very nice wine. A-

1996 Drouhin Romanee St. Vivant
Vintage's acids showing. Clean, tart, a bit tight. I think others liked more than I did. B

1990 Comte Armand "Clos des Epeneaux" Pommard 1er
This really shows the vintage. Big (huge) for Burgundy- as John says hot vintage, producer with extracted style, and a muscular terroir. Tannic, beefy, this calls out for steak. Quite ripe, just ahint of roasted, but overall I like. B+/B

1970 Fernand Andre " Clos de Roi" Beaune 1er
Negociant no one has heard of, cork that pushes into bottle after capsule removed. Still, fairly sound wine. Seems younger than 40, sweet red fruit, caramel, coffee. Not very long or complex, but I like. John is pretty certain this is not all (maybe not mostly) PN -thinks some Algerian or Rhone "influence." But I still find it quite drinkable B

(cheese course with an aged crottin, stilton in a wine marinade, affedelice, and another nice runny one)

1976 Bertani Amarone
Leather, chocolate, solid red fruit with just a hint of raisin. Long, quite tasty. A-/B+

Good night, good people

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.  

EDITED FOR TYPO ON TITLE

Very nice lineup! Shame the Lopez didn't show well, had that wine at a Lopez dinner in Boston last year and it was a stunner. If you have other bottles, hope they show better.

2002 Closel "Clos du Papillon" Savennieres
(my wine) A wine that generates controversy - is it PremOx? This bottle pours with a deep color, seems surprisingly mature, but for me not past it at all. Wool, pit fruits, slight honied edge. Good with oysters. I save some till end of the night, if anything younger at that point (and a better match than the reds to the aged goat cheese). Hard wine to put finger on..  

Sounds about like my bottle from the weekend. But I would have liked it a bit less alcoholic. It wasn't terribly 'hot' but maybe just a smidge. At least for me. Or the fruit covered it better a few years ago. Who knows about the future.

[David M. Bueker]

Sad about the Raveneau. Given the pricing the opportunities to try them are becoming few and far between.

So now you have had a bottle of the Vatan. I have had one (someone else's bottle), and I have a bottle in the cellar. Add that up with Jim Cowan's consumption & think that is the whole production.

I've opened a few 2002 Savennieres & none have been remotely what I would have expected of them. I am pretty much ready to chuck them all.

...Jim COwan's consumption & think that is the whole production.

I think he has foudn a way to directly tap that pipeline to heaven!

Dale, are you sure the Drouhin RSV was 1996? If Mark brought it, I rather suspect it was 1995 (we split up a case of Musigny 2000 and RSV 1995). Nice notes, sorry I missed it.

I'm not sure who brought it, thought John. John told me it was 1996, said that was last year that Drouhin sourced from that plot. We also discussed how it really showed its vintage, but it could still be another vintage