Last night was a lovely NY evening, and we had friends over for dinner on the patio. Nancy is the one who brought our spare keys to the airport after our European bag snatch, so theme was "thank you." We started with some smoked salmon from a local smokehouse, and then a Ming Tsai recipe for corn soup with crab salad (yum!). Wine for these courses was the 2002 Patrick Javillier "Cuvée des Forgets " Bourgogne Blanc. A bit riper and fatter than I remembered, though not flabby. Oak is integrating nicely, giving a little hazelnut accent to the ripe pear fruit. Good length for the level, nice if not compelling. B
Main course was lamb chops with a 5-spice, soy, and rice wine marinade. Served with rice, bok choy, and a couple wines:
2004 Norton Reserva Malbec
Blueberries and a little blackberry jam, big whopping dose of oak. Sweet and a tad heavy on the palate. Others liked, me not so much. B-/C+
1996 Penfolds Bin 389
I chose this as the lamb recipe was from an article on "modern Australian" food. I knew as soon as I decanted this (half hour before guests arrived) it was a winner. This and the 1991 have been my favorite 389s. Ripe cassis with a little hint of framboise, delicate integrated oak notes of cedar and chocolate. Great fruit ripeness supported by columns of tannin and acids. Everything nicely integrated, this is really coming into its own. If more Australian wine (that makes to states) was like this, the category would be more than 0.35% of my cellar. A-
With the cheeses (Sprout Lake's Eden and Toussaint, a Delice de Bourgogne, a Reblechon):
1995 Champy Beaune 1er Cru
At first this seems really thin, but that's partially just because it's following 2 beefy wines. A little air helps a lot, with strawberry and black cherry fruit beginning to show. Fairly high acids, but not shrill. Some citrus zest and a little cedary oak. Could use a bit stronger finish. B
Fun night.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. 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