Over the past week or so:
With cheese plate to celebrate Bob's return from the dead:
2007 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Chardonnay
Even outside with the sea air in my face I could smell the powerful aromas from three feet away. Immediate note of lemon jelly donut plus, as a prior reviewer captured it: "Exquisite bubbles that coat the tongue, wonderfully balanced acidity and body, this is an outstanding champagne with nearly all the pointy edges removed. Smooth for days. Citrus and chalk, but also floral and brighter fruit notes in the middle."
With filet of sole:
2017 Verget Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons Chardonnay
Excellent bottle from a favorite producer. Bright and minerally, showing good bottle development. Drinks well now but might improve over the next few years.
With lamb burger and Israeli tomato salad:
1997 Chateau Musar Bekaa Valley Red Blend
Excellent tawny red color. Great nose right off the bat of spiced cherries and carrot cake with same and more spices to follow on the palate. Drank over three hours with minimal improvement and zero degradation--it held up perfectly. It's my last bottle but I wouldn't rush on remaining bottles if I had them (as one might tend to if judging by the community drink dates on CT).
With black truffle omelets:
2009 Michel Magnien Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Monts-Luisants Pinot Noir
Classic burgundy nose with black truffles and dried leaves from a cool, dark forest. A bit more hollow on the palate than expected from that entry. Didn't decant in advance but neither did we experience much of an opening over the course of the bottle, food a must.
With grilled swordfish:
2019 Grosgrain Vineyards Sémillon Skin-Contact Semillon Les Collines Vineyard Walla Walla Valley
Not usually a semillon fan but this one's a game-changer. 10K gold color, nose of orange blossom and straw with green gauge plums and ripe yellow pears on the palate. Gorgeous, slightly oily texture with plenty of acidity to keep it clean and focussed.
2010 Gramercy Cellars Mourvèdre Columbia Valley
CORKED. Damn--don't you hate it? Nurse a singleton for ten years and finally decided it's time only to find El Corko in the bottle.
With bacon and potato gratin:
2018 Structure Cellars Cabernet Franc Red Willow Yakima Valley
Fairly raw at this stage, needs about two year to integrate the tannins.
With black truffle and parmesan pasta:
2017 Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis
Repeating my own note from 10 months ago because every word still applies: "Yellow splendor. Apple and quince fruit softly layered with minerality and sweet butter pastry. As classy an Arneis as you could ever find--blind, I'd probably guess White Burgundy."
Tasted at a party, first wine I've tasted from new appellation Candy Mountain:
2018 Liberty Lake Wine Cellars Sangiovese Tahija Candy Mountain Vineyard Yakima Valley
Where I don't think it's fair to expect the depth and myriad nuances of Tuscan old vines in a young Wa-Ital sangiovese, it's entirely fair to compare it to producers who are already excelling with the grape like Walla Walla Vintners and Leonetti, especially since it's priced over $30. And in that, the Tahija falls short. It's pleasant, it just has no POV--might change with time but right now it's merely drinkable red wine.
NV Ensemble Cellars Release Number Six Walla Walla Valley Red Bordeaux Blend
Much better, perhaps because this was a magnum, than recent reports on presumably 750's. Decanted four hours, some sediment removed, and taken to a party where it was the hit wine of the night. This is by no means at peak but barely at middle age, elegantly so, showing the fruit and structure for further development. Additional secondary nuances would be most welcome.
2015 Robert Mondavi Winery 50th Anniversary Maestro Napa Valley Red Bordeaux Blend
I'm amazed to see some the prices (mid-$20's) others paid; I wasn't one of them. About $50 in 2018, a sentimental and spontaneous buy because 'Maestro' is also the name of my favorite cat who is doing poorly at the moment, hence we drank this--a prayer in wine, as it were. Not decanted. Initial flavors of jammy, roasted red fruit acquired heft and freshness over time with cassis, bay leaf and tobacco. The tannins became more apparent too and a wine that initially seemed on the edge of expiration ended up showing further cellar potential. Very good.