It was my birthday, but we both had long days, and our big night out was scheduled for following day. But I wanted to have some wine on my birthday, so Betsy invited one other couple. They made and brought a chicken liver mousse, we did sous vide strip steak and some D’Artagnan sausages (wild boar and duck/armagnac) , greens, and potatoes
2010 Francois Carillon “Referts” Puligny-Montrachet 1er
Great showing, full and rich but with lively acidic backbone. Pear, hazelnut, and wet stones. A-
1988 Gruaud-Larose
I’ve had a bunch of these, but this didn’t have Zachys (where I bought mine) barcode sticker, and I think might have been a gift at some point. Pretty saturated cork. Doesn’t explicitly taste cookedbut softer and less dense than used to, the usual Cordier funk is more pronounced. Maybe seen some warmth at some point? B- for this bottle
2007 Chandon de Briailles “Ile de Vergelesses”Pernand-Vergelesses
Tart red fruits (raspberry and cranberry), blood orange, bright. B+/B
Wednesday we did the big splurge and went to Blue Hill at Stone Barns for first time in more than a decade (and first since they went to all tasting menu format). I considered carrying a bottle ($90 corkage!), but with varied menu no bottle was going to be perfect. So we shared some BTG (nice pours, in Zaltos)
2018 Claudio Vio Pigato (Riviera Ligure di Ponente)
Light crisp and saline with pit fruit and citrus. Very versatile. B+
2016 Domaine de la Borde 'Veneon' Arbois Pupillin (Jura)
Who knew there was white Poulsard? Fuller, stony, not an oxidative style (I asked before ordering), though there is a hint of nuttiness on fihish. B
2016 Abbatucci 'Faustine” ( Corsica)
Taut rose, herby/piney, good mineral. B/B+
2017 Rootdown 'Dry Bone Ranch' Mourvedre (Amador County)
Light, blackberry and cherry, anise. Don’t think I’d have guessed Mouvedre if blind but very good, in a Gamayesque style. B
Great night. The wines were in the background, but they gave us nice choices with the 20 or so courses, and all were fun. And new producers to me except for the Abbatucci.
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.