WTN: Bordeaux (mostly 80s) at La Fonda del Sol

Patrick was in from Colorado (and Maureen from London) so Ramon arranged for a nice group to meet at La Fonda del Sol. Theme was Bordeaux, and some good bottles were popped. Restaurant gave us plenty of room and stems. We did some tapas (jamon, chorizo, calamari, tuna tacos, tomato bread), and then I had octopus with suckling pig for my main.

2007 JM Boillot “Les ChampsGain” Puligny-Montrachet 1er
Fresh, ripe fruit, light oak, some minerality on finish, very enjoyable. B+/A-

1996 Neillon “Les Vergers” Chassagne-Montrachet 1er
A bit advanced at first pour, quickly advanced into full oxidized mode, too bad as there was interesting stuff for first couple minutes. C

2002 Remi Jobard “Charmes” Meursault 1er
Full, rich, but with a bright acidic spine, very good. A-

Blind wine- Maureen had already guessed Super Tuscan by time I tasted. Black cherries, fairly broad/soft texture, good finish. 2001 Crognolo B/B+

Flight One
1982 Leoville Poyferre
Beautiful, dark fruits intertwined with cigarbox and forest floor notes, very balanced. B+/A-

1982 Leoville Barton
Stern, still tannic, dark fruits, doesn’t move me. B-‘

Flight Two
1988 Pichon Lalande,
Herby, elegant, pretty green aromas around cassis fruit. B+

1988 Magdelaine
Feminine for an ’88, redder fruits than its flightmates, cocoa, pencil lead. B+

1985 Talbot
Full, a little barnyard, seems a bit simpler than flightmates. B

Flight Three

1978 Haut Brion
Elegant, cedary, tobacco, long and fine. My WOTN by a hair. A-

1986 Palmer
Glad to taste this as a bottle was corked at a tasting last week. Really well balanced, very fresh, both red and black fruits with some citrus zest, flowers, and cigarbox. B+/A-

Flight Four
1990 Sociando Mallet
Very Sociando, with fresh herbs and green tobacco over cassis fruit. B+

1990 Gruaud Larose
Maybe most divisive wine of night. Some loved, I thought it showed a bit roasted , with cooked plums. A little brett though not enough to bother me. B

Flight Five
1986 Pape Clement
Strange lactic note on nose. Better on palate, but I liked flightmates better. B

1986 Talbot
Clearly related to the ’86 Gruaud, a bit less bulk and depth, but very good. B+

1986 Gruaud Larose
Always love this wine, full, rich, just a touch of the Cordier funk, very long. A-

We finished with the 1988 La Tour Blanche. Very nice bottle from my favorite Sauternes vintage, with the vintages acids bolstering the sweet tropical fruit.

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.

As usual, Dale's notes are spot on for my palate. There was pretty broad consensus on the top 4-5 wines, though our voting process fell apart in outburst of good-fellowships half way through, so nothing quantitative to report.

Here are my favorites reds (in order of preference):
Haut Brion 1978 : classic scorched earth, balanced with great depth, excellent complexity, just so classy.

Leoville Poyferre 1982 : very 1982, so delicious, better on the palate with layers of fruit and length.

Gruaud Larose 1986 : a classic, drinking wide open these days.

Pichon Lalande 1988 : I loved the complexity, minty herbs, plummy fruit, class and elegance.

Palmer 1986 : acquitted itself well in the flight with the Haut Brion, showing a bit of the stern side of the 86 vintage, but very, very nice.

1988 Magdelaine : terrific and an endangered species, wonderful bouquet, I really liked this and on most nights it would be top in class, but tonight it was just a bit light.

1986 Talbot : I've had better bottles, this showed a bit chunky and without the aromatics some 86 Talbots can have, but very solid.

1990 Sociando : I got a fair amount of the telltale Sociando greenness -- which I am a fan of within reason -- good fruit, so smoky notes, seems a bit light and tight in this company.

1986 Pape Clement : the lactic bouquet was tough for me to get past, but nice palate.

1985 Talbot : solid, but foursquare, funky, a bit green.

1982 Leoville Barton : green, stemmy nose, pretty dry-austere palate, not bad, but a disappointment given the vintage and producer.

1990 Gruaud : good but roasted and a bit dull.

For the whites, I was enthralled by both of the sound bottles, the 2007 JM Boillot “Les ChampsGain” Puligny-Montrachet 1er and the 2002 Remi Jobard “Charmes” Meursault 1er. Just look for Dale's spot-on descriptors, but I could drink either happily every night of the week. I found the Boillot brighter and lighter with some minerals and a deft kiss of oak, while the Jobard has more gravitas, depth of fruit and richness. Both were a treat.

The La Tour Blanche 1988 was excellent, perhaps lacking the complexity and finesse of say the 88 Climens, but seriously good with that 88 acidic zing keeping it in perfect balance. Mature but with lots of life yet.