No wine Monday with a Japanese curry. Tuesday was miso-chicken with radishes, broccoli with sesame, and couscous. Wine was the 2015 Hudelot-Noellat Bourgogne rouge. Lovely balance and drinking well. Red and black cherry, a touch of smoke, some supple tannin in background, lively but not obtrusive acids. Not super complex, but excellent for level, B++
Tuesday our Bordeaux group was actually drinking Bordeaux.We met at Bobby Vans. All wines were bagged and mixed up, then numbered, so no one knew which was theirs. Ben announced there was one extra that was a ringer, but not what. After we went through, we each revealed just vintage of our wine before we voted and then unveiled.
2020 Vacheron Sancerre
Melon, just a hint of grass, moderate acids, tasty. B
NV Suenen Oiry Grand Cru Champagne (2017 base, disgorged 6/20, 3 g/l dosage)
Apple, grapefruit, brioche, chalk. Nice cut, bright, fine mousse. A-/B+
Ok, the bagged wines
Blind #1- powerful ripe and young, with cassis and tobacco. Lovely balance, good now but long future. I thought Paulliac, and guessed ‘89Pichon Baron. 1990 Leoville Las Cases A-
Blind #2- more elegant, sweet fruit, I liked a lot, and guessed 1985 Pomerol, but Chris thought it somewhat stewy (I didn’t) so advocated for riper vintage 1989 La Conseillante A-/B+
Blind #3 - structured, stern, needs time. I think we all thought Medoc. Probably tightest wine of night. 1989 Leoville Barton B
Blind #4 - very ripe compared to predecessors, though not unbalanced, rich black fruit with mocha and . Initially I thought this was the ringer, but when Frank said he had brought a 2003, that made a lot of sense (and I guessed Montrose, but I knew Frank owned that). Young. 2003 Montrose B+/B
Blind #5 - redder fruit with a bit of a green streak, I was thinking Northern Medoc, maybe Sociando, but when we realized that #4 was probably a 2003, this was my (and I think most) guess for ringer. And a good ringer! 1999 Dunn Napa Cabernet Sauvignon B+
Blind #6 - Black plum, a little espresso, cedar, rich texture. I was thinking this was my wine (it was) until I tasted #8 and convinced myself that was mine. Should have gone with first instinct. 1989 Vieux Chateau Certan A-/B+
Blind #7 - fully mature, elegant, cigarbox over quiet red fruits, Once we knew vintages everyone knew this was ‘81. 1981 Cos d’Estournel B+
Blind #8 -black cherry and plum, a light menthol note, cedar and saddle leather. Lovely and balanced, I thought the ‘89 VCC. 1989 Pichon Lalande A-
Group voting (6 pts per person, no more than 3 per wine)
1990 LLC (#1) 16
1989 Conseillante (#2) 11
1989 Pichon Lalande (#8) 5
1989 Vieux Chateau Certan (#6 ) 4
1989 Leoville Barton (#3) 3
1981 Cos (#7) 2
1999 Dunn Napa (#5) 1
2003 Montrose (#4) 0
Really fun night with good group. Food was good steakhouse- I had wedge salad and ribeye, we shared mushrooms, sauteed spinach, and fries. The blue cheese on the salad is certainly a claret-killer, but water solves that, and a good backdrop for the wines.
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.