Friday Japanese takeout (beef with grated daikon was main), I was mourning the loss of an old friend. He was a poet/writer, and Betsy had dug up some old emails, one of which was thanking me for a gift of Pomerol (he liked wine, but wasn’t at all geeky). So I opened the 1989 Vieux Chateau Certan. Really lovely showing nose of plums, coffee, and earth, on the palate long and luscious. Still some tannic and acidic structure, develops through night, pretty classic Pomerol with long future. A-
Oysters, grouper with tomato and olives, green beans, potatoes
2017 Sauzet “Garenne” Puligny-Montrachet 1er
Larger framed Puligny, rich pear accented with hazelnut, lots of body, good acids, chalky finish. Really tasty but seems to need time. B+ for now/
Short ribs with miso, noodles (cause screwed up rice), Chinese broccoli
1999 Burgaud Cote Rotie
Drinking well, blackberries and ferric note, a little bacon. Long finish. B+/A-
On our Zoom call (with roast chicken,sweet dumpling squash, and salad), the 1970 Ch. Fourcas-Dupre. Who ages Listrac 50 years? It actually was quite alive. Little overt oxidation, still some rather clean fruit. But finish is short and there’s not a lot of there there. So it lasted 50 years- why? Fun to try. C+/B-
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.