SOBER at John’s last night, he greeted us with the 2004 Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs. Lovely and elegant, with pear, brioche, and gunflint notes. B+/A-
John had a nice assortment of cheeses as well as some mousse, olives, etc out
(John was re-using stickies on decanters, which is why numbering is repetitive)
1st red Flight - Cathleen said Burgundy, Dan declared both CdBeaune.
#1- crunchy raspberry fruit, herby, some citrus peel. With huge clues from John (not from a typical appellation we’d serve, he’s served before) I got Auxey. 1999 Coche-Dury Auxey Duresses B+
#2- black cherry, earthy, elegant. Loved at first, after a while this seemed to close down in glass
1999 Drouhin “Clos des Chenes” Volnay 1er A- at peak
2nd red Flight
#3- this had an unusual exotic nose, with folks mentioning dill/pickle juice , herbs,
Divisive but I was in crew that liked, though my first guess (ripe mature Loire) was way off. The more unusual parts of the nose seemed to calm/integrate, leaving a very nice mature Margaux (but still a tad exotic). 1970 Malescot St. Exupery B+
#4 - Dan guessed Lynch, when John said wrong but good guess not hard to try Mouton. This had plenty of life/fruit remaining, muscular but a bit sullen. 1970 Ch. Mouton-Rothschild B
White intermezzo
Clearly Riesling, with the lower acids we agreed very ripe vintage, but I opted for ‘05 or ‘07 as I didn’t think enough botrytis for ‘06. Oops
#1- Orange marmalade,tropical fruits, ripe peach, low acids, Too heavy for me. 2006 Donnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Spatlese (auction) #10 B-/C+
#2- better acids but still soft, herbier. Yellow plums, apple. 2006 W. Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Spatlese (auction) #4 B
3rd red Flight (initial guesses were divided between Piedmont and Burgundy)
#1- A little tight but a lot going on underneath. Stony, earthy, with black cherry fruit and light notes of mocha and damp leaves. Coffee notes get more prominent after a while in glass. This has a long way to go but I still really enjoyed now. 1993 Drouhin Griotte-Chambertin A-
#2 Craig impressively guessed RSV quite early. This is tight and coiled, but floral notes and cocoa make themselves apparent over dark fruits. Big and framed by both tannin and acids. I think this will be quite something in time. 1993 Hudelot-Noellat Romanee St Vivant B+/A-
4th red Flight
#3 Very herby, exotic, with cigarbox and dark ripe fruits. Excellent length. 1970 Ch. L’Evangile A-
#4 Red fruits, spice, coffee. 1970 Ch.Magdelaine A-/B+
John served a really excellent beef stew, with orange zest on top which is an idea I will copy.
5th red Flight - I think we all thought Piedmont at first!
#1- light volatility, tar, herbs. Herby but not eucalyptus, because it obviously wasn’t Martha’s we named about half the producers in Napa in the 70s before getting to Heitz. 1977 Heitz Bella Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon. A-/B+
#2 -sweet fruit, cedar, earth, nice but a little simpler than flightmate.
1977 Silver Oak “alexander Valley” Cabernet Sauvignon B+
Really fun night. You know the wines are good when the 1st growth is my last place red.
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.