City Bordeaux group met at Balvanera for Pauillac night
2017 Chartogne-Taillet “Heurtebise” Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
Nicely snappy, green apple and grapefruit peel, elegant mousse, nice finish. B+/A-
1996 Roederer Vignoble de la Montagne
Very good, but not like the great 1995 we had last year. Sweet pear, tangy, nice mousse. B+
We started with bacalhau corquettas, arancini, octopus, and salad
1999 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling
I don’t think of this as a long aging vintage, but this is very good at 25! Light petrol, wet rocks, some light grapefruit and peach fruit. Nice! B+/A-
2017 Duplessy “Vaillons” Chablis 1er
A little riper and more tropical than I expected, peach and orange, lots of minty notes. Not what I expected but quite tasty. B+/B.
Then skirt steaks, morcilla, carrots, and salad
Red wines were blind. Theme was Pauillac, knew we had one ringer. We unveiled after voting for all the wines.
#1 - this was thin and green, some cigarbox hiding behind the thin black plum and green pepper.. Later I was surprised (shocked) to see it was 1990 Grand Puy Lacoste C+
#2- much better, Ripe and rich, with some tannic structure, no hurry here 1986 Clerc Milon B+/A-
#3 I took a sniff, declared corked. 1986 Grand Puy Lacoste
#4 - earthy and soft, rich texture, cocoa and a light gamey note. 1990 Pichon Baron B+/A-
#5 - classic, cassis with pencil lead, earth and walnuts, powerful, long, I thought Pichon Baron. 1990 Lynch Bages A-/B+
#6 a little lighter than #5, but similar profile of cassis and graphite, good finish. 1989 Pichon Baron B+
#7 Easy going, round, more plummy on fruit, enjoyable. No one pegged it as same wine as #4! 1990 Pichon Baron B
#8 Herbal and a little musty, some thought corked at first, I didn’t, it seemed to clear. Cedar and redder fruits. 1994 Rauzan Segla
B
#9 Good, young, elengant and big, powerful, needs time but very good. 2000 Pichon Baron A-/B+
Group voting (everyone has 6 votes)
#5 1990 Lynch Bages 20
#9 2000 Pichon Baron 14
#4 1990 Pichon Baron 10
#2 1986 Clerc Milon 7
#7 1990 Pichon Baron 1
#8 1994 Rauzan Segla 1
#6 1989 Pichon Baron 0
#1 1990 Grand Puy Lacoste 0
#3 1986 Grand Puy Lacoste 0 (corked)
Fun night
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.