My turn to host SOBER. Next time I take the afternoon off! A little frantic, but although Betsy was going out she made the first course and gave general assistance, which saved from total disaster. Nice group as always, who demonstrated patience with the tight spaces, needy dog, and hard vegetables.
We started off as people drifted in with various cheeses, duck rillettes and prosciutto, sweet capicola, and 2 bubblies.
1998 Billecart Salmon Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Fresh and zippy, mineral and citrus, nice length. I really enjoyed this (actually more than the '98 Cuvee Nicholas-Francois I had last year). B+/A-
1996 Pommery "Cuvee Louise" Champagne Brut
I found this not nearly as fresh. Yeasty, appley, but flat. One person thought it was just being a grumpy adolescent. But while I caught no sign during dinner, a sip as I was putting stuff away seemed to show trace TCA NR
On to the blind flights. It's fun to be the one who knows for a change. :
First Flight
1993 Drouhin Clos de la Roche
Showed a bit of diaper on opening, but that had mostly dissipated by serving time. Someone called this low acid, I'd say moderate, but I'm surprised as I remember previous bottle being a bit brighter. Pleasant, solid, but lacking a bit of depth. B
1993 Chandon de Briailles Corton-Bressandes
Some mixed opinions on this one, but I quite liked. Red fruit, smoke, earth. A bit lighter than I expected for Corton, but I enjoyed. Group got CdBeaune quickly, but took a while for the wine. B+
First course was a Marcella Hazan seafood salad, with squid, octopus, clams, mussels, and shrimp. Due to some trepidation on opening the whites, I warned people to hold on to their Champagne.
Second Flight
(not served) 1983 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling - this had a bit of a fill issue, but a similar fill from same source was stellar earlier this year. This, however, was not stellar, but instead dying. NR
1996 Trimbach Clos Ste. Hune Riesling
A quick guess of white Rioja, then Dan said "no, we're in Alsace." The problem was the guesses then turned to 25-30 year old wines. My original plan was to do a Loire flight, but after recently seeing a note on a dinner where John had a PremOxed '96 CSH, I thought try this now. Well, if it was 30 years old, this might be acceptable, but this is not what one wants in a 14 year old CSH. C+
1999 Trimbach Clos Ste. Hune Riesling
This was the backup for the CFE, but needed to do duty for both. Not as advanced as the 96, but worrisomely soft. A glass during cleanup actually showed better than it did during dinner, but still at best a B.
Third Flight
1964 Lopez de Heredia "Bosconia" Rioja Gran Reserva
Very earthy, smoky, cranberry. Good but not my favorite bottle of old LdH. B/B+
1964 Riojanas "Monte Real" Rioja Gran Reserva
My favorite of flight. Spicy, red fruit, nice balance, plenty of life. A-/B+
1964 Vallana Spanna Montalbano
Funky, herby, red fruity. Some VA. Tim quickly guessed Piedmont, and Spanna on his third try. John (who hadn't gotten to his yet) got 1964 from others' descriptors. B/B-
Oh, I need to remember next time to make sure Betsy is joining us (and handling cooking). I had done a leg of lamb with coriander and garlic, with vegetables. When the lamb was done, the vegetables were somehow still hard. I put the veggies back in oven, but after 15 minutes some were still underdone. I've never had this issue before (and should have carved the lamb after 5 minutes rest, the 15 led it to medium). The dinner flight
Fourth Flight
1975 Trotanoy
Guesses were mostly Left Bank, and there's enough tannic structure to see why. Ripe dark fruit, mocha. Firm and young. A-
1979 Cheval Blanc
Tangy '79 acids, spicy, maybe not as full as you'd hope for CB, fully mature but I quite enjoyed. B+
1978 Giscours
John got Marguax, but I think every classified estate was named before Giscours. Red berries, floral, lower acids than flightmates, tasty but drops off a tad on finish. B
Fifth Flight
1978 Borgogno Barolo Riserva
This was the (plesant) surprise of the night for me, showing more complexity than most Borgognos. Good acids, resolving tannins, tar, Meyer lemon peel, earth, coffee. A-
1988 G. Conterno "Cascina Francia" Barolo
Some guesses for modernista, but they got before long. Chewy, big, suffered a bit being next to the a pointe '78 Borgogno but I liked. B+
Final wine wasn't blind. I have had several bottles of the '89 Foreau Reserve, but last year CSW had the 1989 Foreau/Clos Naudin "1ere Trie" Vouvray Moelleux Reserve. Great acids, stunning sweet fruit, long, tangy, lively. I thought about serving next to the (great) regular Reserve, but 2 750s of dessert wine as people are leaving seemed absurd. Still, would have liked to see any differences. My (and most people's ) WOTN. A
I was a bit unhappy with the main course, and chagrined by the Trimbachs, but informative night and some good wines in the mix.
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.