WTN: SOBER drinks Rhones, Bdx, Burgs, and more

Cathleen hosted SOBER last night, and did a fabulous job. She and Steve provided a great dinner, a succession of interesting and tasty wines, and a nice atmosphere for lively conversation. Somewhere between picking up Franco and David at the train station and sitting down to dinner I seemed to pull something in my neck, but I tried to pay attention despite that.

All wines blind except for second Champagne

Blind Champagne- toasty, full, fully mature. Definitely a drink up. John got 1990 quite quickly, it’s the 1990 Veuve Clicquot “La Grande Dame” B+/B

Non-blind Champagne: 1996 Henriot- crisp, lively, lots left here. B+

Red Flight #1 (with a delicious charcuterie plate- wild boar sausage, duck breast, proscuitto, and country pate)

Wine #1 -a bit herby, clipped, I thought someone’s guess of a (not very good) Loire might be on correct track. Several length behind other wines in flight. I’m surprised when it turns out to be 2007 Jamet Cote-Rotie B-/C+

Wine # 2 - hint of merde, full, expressive, when revealed I’m surprised it’s that young, 2006 Jamet Cote-Rotie. B+

Wine #3- Full, meat and smoky notes, couple of people immediately declared N. Rhone, elegant, long, very very nice. 1988 Jamet Cote-Rotie A-

White intermezzo (single white )
Clearly Riesling, petrol, just offdry, citrus and herb. I like. 1994 Schloss Schonborn Johannisberger Klaus Riesling Kabinett. B+


White Flight (with an incredible dish of roasted salmon in a miso/dashi/yuzu broth with tomatoes and edamame)

Wine #1- Some find this entering PremOx, I didn’t find much overt oxidation, but it’s ready, ripe white fruit, some interest but a bit ungainly with a touch of heat, 03 white Burg? 2006 Jadot Batard-Montrachet. B (I had liked this in a barrel tasting in 07)

Wine # 2 - totally mature, not a lot of depth and complexity, but nice example of aged white Burg. 1990 Jadot Chassagne-Montrachet (pretty impressive for 22 year old negoce village wine!) B

Red Flight #2

Wine #1 - this has a pleasant edge of mint (some called eucalyptus) that had a couple of early calls for Cali. Power and elegance, complex and long. Due to green notes I suggested Sociando or Pichon Lalande, but she nixed Pauillac and St Estephe, so I guessed Graves and when she nodded then LMHB -I’m hot on the 4th guess
1981 La Mission Haut Brion A-/B+

Wine # 2- Plum, blackcurrant, cigarbox, a little animal edge. We knew Bordeaux but I missed with St. Julien guess. A little ferric mineral on end. Mark gets 1978 Montrose. A-

Wine #3- flatter than flightmates, slightly lifted edge, outpaced in this flight. 1982 Cos d’Estournel. B-

Red Flight #3
Wine #1 - red fruit, lifted nose, meaty, David quickly guesses CdP. I liked more than some others did. 1988 Beaucastel Chateaneuf-du-Pape. B/B+

Wine # 2- lighter, floral, full and ripe but a tad clipped. 1988 Font de Michelle “Cuvee Etienne” Chateauneuf-du-Pape. B

Wine #3- cherry, raisiny, some others like more than I did. 1985 Altesino Brunello di Montalcino. B-

Bonus blind wine from Poland Springs bottle (brought by Paige)
OK, maybe my tastebuds were shot by this, others liked, I thought it tasted old and not much else, I’d have thought a good showing if a basic 70s CalCab, a little disappointed to find it was the 1970 Latour (from Mag, opened at noon). B-/B

Fun night, despite my stiff neck. Great food, interesting wine, interesting company.

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.

Wine #3- Full, meat and smoky notes, couple of people immediately declared N. Rhone, elegant, long, very very nice. 1988 Jamet Cote-Rotie A-

I'm not surprised that this wine showed so well, Dale. Did you find much of a stylistic difference between this wine and the younger Jamets? (Hard to judge, I realize, given the disparity in ages) It's rather amusing to hear you declare that you liked a Grenache-based wine more than others I did notice that you mentioned a number of wines seeming "clipped" to you -- do you think that the pain you were from your neck might have affected your perception of the wines? (bummer about the neck, too -- I hope that it's getting better!)

Mark Lipton

Great line-up of wines. And I'm impressed how with only 4 chances you positively nailed the LMHB! One of my favorite Bdx.

You really do varied flights!

Mark, just thought the 07 Jamet and 88 FdM were a bit short. Who knows what neck caused, but I'd think it cut into my concentration more than altered tastes. But it cleared up within 2 days, thanks.

James, it wasn't like 4 straight guesses. Host generally answers direct questions. She had confirmed Bdx before my Sociando guess, and others guesses had eliminated St J and St Estephe before I guessed Graves. Once Grave not hard to get LMHB. Yes, varied flights, part of the fun is that people like to really mix it up (as hostess is generally Burg centric, I had brought Burg glasses- foiled again!).