2005 Prager Riesling Smaragd Steinriegl
Drinking superbly now, showcasing florality, a steely minerality and developing fusel and creamy notes around a core of rich lime, pear and grapefruit flavours. Very fragrant, unravelling more nuances and layers with air and perfectly balanced.
2009 Do Ferreiro Albariño Rías Baixas Cepas Vellas
Bright grapefruit flavours accented with saline and seaspray notes, but there's a powerful vegetal/grassy topnote that dominates and a back end sourness that puts me in mind of a Sauvignon Blanc.
1985 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Les Perrières
This is tremendous. An incredibly pure expression of cassis and dark berried fruit that's still very fresh and youthful, seasoned with a vivid forestal greenness and earthiness. Very polished in the mouth with fine, mostly-resolved tannins and bright acids, conveying flavour with a lightness of touch and remarkable elegance. Fantastic wine.
1998 Azienda Agricola Montevertine Le Pergole Torte Toscana IGT
Gorgeous scent; a lovely perfume combining all sorts of savoury earthy, smoky and leathery elements with more exotic sandalwood notes around a core of fresh black cherries. It's quite rich and youthful right now with bold fruit and still some grainy tannin on the back end, but there's a sense of lightness and real purity to the flavours that makes it very easy to drink.
1990 Château Troplong Mondot
This is a powerhouse. Layers of ripe currants and blackberry fruit, cedar, sandalwood, pipe tobacco and dark chocolate notes in a package that's still very youthful, dense and ripe - it's a big wine that still has a lot of stuffing and structure indicating plenty of time before it's mature, but it's superbly balanced and compelling to drink with so much depth and nuance.
1991 Bodegas Muga Rioja Gran Reserva Prado Enea
Starts out with a lovely scent of damp, freshly turned earth with gentle red fruited flavours, touches of cedar wood, worn leather and spice in the background; with time the fruit deepens and gains intensity and it's a very enjoyable drinking experience with all the components resolved into a single, seamless whole.
2007 Aubert Pinot Noir UV Vineyard
I think this was brought to test whether Jay Miller or I might spontaneously combust upon contact with Aubert Pinot. I think he disliked it even more than I did. ("Will someone please dump this?")
Pretty much the poster boy for over the top, Zin-like CA Pinot with goopy, candied fruit, a blast of new oak and fiery finishing heat. But the reactions/discussions certainly were entertaining.
2005 Achával-Ferrer Malbec Finca Altamira
Powerful, ripe blackberry and plummy fruit with a violet topnote and a patina of spicy oak. The oak's not overwhelming and blends in with the other flavours quite seamlessly, and there's a sense of polish and finesse to the flavours that makes this come across like a rather young Ridge Monte Bello. Impressive.
Fun night, thanks all!
My notes on the '09 Do Ferreiro Cepas Vellas match yours pretty well. I'll be interested to see where it goes with time. Who brought that Aubert? Was it really to torture Jay, or were there more nefarious motivations?