Tuesday night our Bordeaux group visited Keen’s for a blind Pomerol tasting. Diane started us off with the NV Lilbert-Fils Perle Champagne ( I think was BdB). Very fine mousse, crisp, dry, on elegant side. B+/A-
The problem with steakhouse dinners with Bordeaux is the appetizers. I finally settled on a butter lettuce salad, but the dijonnaise dressing required copious amounts of water to settle clashes.
On to the blind Pomerols. Ben furnished bags, everything was shuffled, nothing was revealed till end of night after voting. I took limited notes, we had a packed table, and it was hard to write.
#1- lightly lifted aromas, some green/herbal notes, but fairly solid base underneath. Those that re-tasted at end thought it improved dramatically. B/B- 1988 Vieux Chateau Certan.
#2 - Ripe, full, oak, young. B/B+ 1998 L’Evangile.
#3 - weird, a little hot, disjointed. I thought at first I could blame vinaigrette but never warmed to this. C+ 1995 Clinet
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#4- best so far, ripe but balanced, nice length. B+ 1990 L’Evangile
#5- kirschy, ripe, young, lots of questions re whether a Cali ringer. C+/B- 2007 L’Eglise Clinet
#6 young, full, powerful, B+/A- 1995 La Conseillante
I split a rare/bleu porterhouse with Diane, we had sides of potatoes, mushrooms, spinach, and beans. Food made all the wines show better.
#7 -lovely, full, blacker fruit than most. B+/A- 1990 Certan de May
#8 Ripe, lush but balanced, this is the iron fist in velvet glove. A- 1995 L’Evangile
(note- I’m not 100% sure about this final flight of 3- I went to restroom as they were clearing crowded table, and THINK I got my stems in correct order)
#9 Elegant, pretty, good length, A- 1990 La Fleur de Gay
#10 I thought this just a tad musty, but not corked, but seemed to clean up. Young. B 1989 Conseillante
#11 Plummy, floral lavender notes, balanced finish, B+/A-1983 L’Evangile
We voted our usual way (3 for fave, 2 for 2nd, 1 pt for 3rd). I didn’t do much revisiting. I was pretty surprised at voting, based on earlier comments during first few flights it seems the revisiting of the earlier wines with more air (still blind) made a big difference.
#1 88 VCC 5 pt
#2 98 L'Evangile 10
#3 95 Clinet
#4 90 L'Evangile 7
#5 07 L'Eglise Clinet
#6 95 Conseillante 11
#7 90 Certan de May 7
#8 95 L'Evangile 11
#9 90 La Fleur de Gay 6
#10 89 Conseillante 3
#11 83 L'Evangile 1
We did a tiebreaker vote for WOTN, the 95 L’Evangile edged the 95 Conseillante so Frank got the free dinner. Overall a nice dinner (and most of the wines seemed to get better and better based on others’ retastes. Fun night.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. 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.