Brief notes on some wines served last night at a small dinner party for a friend's birthday:
1991 Heitz Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa
Decanted for about an hour before being served, sports the classic eucalyptus and sour millk nose of a good Martha's. Burnished color, seems about peak, could hold here for years but drinks perfectly now. Just wonderful.
1995 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa
Our hosts only have one decanter, so this went in when after the Heitz was poured, which probably gave it 30 minutes of air. Totally youthful look and a bit tight on the palate. Almost no secondary development and still quite tannic, especially following the Martha's. Little secondary development, drinks okay but needs more time.
1995 Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma
My wine, and what a surprise. Two years ago this was showing almost jammy fruit and I thought the 95's were going to beat the 94's into the barn, but no, not now. This wine is in total lockdown and an hour in the decanter failed to budge it. So in the meantime we drank:
1997 Pontet Canet, Paulliac, Bordeaux
Also my wine. Drinks pretty well right out of the bottle, though some decanting would have helped as it only got better in the glass. Classic PC aromas, a little lighter than usual on the palate but very nice. Needed food; wish we'd had this with the beef kebobs and saved the Heitz for sipping, but I had no say in the order.
And last Thursday night we opened the 1986 Clerc Milon for our wedding anniversary. This one's drinking beautifully right now. Very traditional, lots of cedar and cigar and earth and old leather armchair stuff amid the plums and black cherry. A great bottle that assauged our disappointment over the tanked 86 Talbot we'd had earlier in the week.
