Arnie celebrated his birthday over the weekend with some friends at his home in Tagaytay. There were lots of wine on offer, probably about 20 bottles, but I concentrated on the few that seemed the most interesting to me and/or stuff I haven't tried prevously/
Domaine La Roubine Gigondas 2008 - Southern Rhone nose; a little rustic with dried herb, raspberry and a green, leafy component. Pretty much the same on the palate. Rather soft and light. Needs drinking up. OK but not too interesting.
Bogle Phantom 2007 - Petite Sirah, Zinfandel and Mourvedre. Strong Coca Cola nose. Ripe and juicy. Plum and blueberry. Lots of oak on the finish. Not a style I like. Too bad as the oak completely overwhelmed the fruit.
Pauillac de Latour 2000 - Chateau Latour's third wine. Still very dark although the rim is starting to brown. Good complexity on the nose with earth, tobacco and ripe berry showing. On the palate, cassis, blackberry, cedar plus the earth and tobacco elements from the nose. Full-bodied, round, completely integrated and in perfect balance. Real easy to drink. Beautiful wine. Excellent and at peak now. I had a couple of bottles of this but judging by this bottle, I drank them way too early as they didn't really impress me. For most of the people at the party, this was the WOTN.
Bruno Giacosa Nebbiolo d'Alba Valmaggiore 2008 - This was a bit lost among all the Bordeauxs and other more robust wines. Good nose; fruity and fragrant. Tart raspberry, tobacco leaf, A bit tight even with an hour decanting. Needs more time. Firm tannins and bright acidity. Better with food. Give it maybe another two years before trying again.
Chateau Gazin 2000 - Very dark, youthful looking. Meaty, prune and black olives and dried red cherries. Complex and seems rather developed in flavor already. Tannins are still firm. Although the flavors seem fully developed, it could do with a bit more softening in the tannins. Maybe another 3 to 5 years might soften it sufficiently. Still, excellent wine and better than two previous examples I've had. After the Pauillac, my favorite in this lineup.
Chateau Pavie 2004 - Deep, deep purple. Rich and tannic. Very ripe fruit. I probably would have guessed Napa if this were served to me blind. Raisiny and woody. Plum. Still very primary despite about an hour in the decanter and another hour in my glass. Needs maybe 5 more years before you can get anything interesting out of this. Good length, though. Judgment reserved.