Lunch notes:
1998 Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte blanc – lots of colour on this one and a fairly nice nose with herbs and citrus. Seemed like oak on palate rather than in the nose, with a smooth medium length finish.
2004 Foxtrot Pinot Noir – very surprising bottle of BC pinot! Lots of colour, a slight metallic hint in the nose early one, and some good blood and fruit, tasty with soft tannin and long finish – amazingly good – best BC I’ve seen.
2009 Marcel Lapierre Beaujolais Morgon MMIX – purple edges and deep colour, lots of sweet fruit, very primary wine with thick legs, tasty but clearly promising more with some time.
1997 Ch. St Cosme Gigondas – the regular cuvee offered a lot in this vintage, including deep colour with ambering edges, funky Rhone nose with white pepper and plum, still lots of soft tannin and a long smooth finish.
2001 Santa Duc Gigondas – dark with clear edges, nose not doing much right now, but some nice flavours on palate and decent length.
1999 Ch.St. Cosme Cote Rotie – sadly, a lightly corked bottle that lacked much fruit in midpalate.
1999 Jean Luc Colombo Cornas Les Mejeans – dark, with good legs, a bit dusty in the nose with some sweet berry fruit, a tad disappointing in midpalate – a bit hollow - and finishing decently. I have always found this to be very forward compared to other cuvees.
1986 Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte – I knew this had to be 1980s but this was the last vintage I’d have guessed, as the wine had lost almost all tannin, showed a sweetish mineral
nose, and was classy and elegant. The softness fooled me into guessing 1985.
1990 Quinta do Vesuvio Port – another slightly corked wine(!) with some otherwise decent qualities including a slightly pale colour, decent finish, but who knows how it would have shown if pristine?
Taylors 40 Year Tawny – the nose on this was certainly nothing but tawny, but the taste pointed me (incorrectly) straight to Madeira! Medium sweet, lovely mouth feel, silky smooth, finishing long and with lots of acidity.