Grand Puy Lacoste Dinner

Wines were all excellent, would be happy having any of them again.
2001 GrandPuyLacoste: Tasted thin at first though opened as night progressed. Showed some real structure on the mid-palate and finish. Worth the $35

2003 Grand Puy Lacoste--From a different planet than the 2001--huge core of fruit as expected.
Began as a real drink-me-now wine but developed some differentiaion on the palate as night wore on..developed a finish with refreshing acidity after 2+ hours. Would love to try again in 2012

1982 Grand Puy Lacoste--all secondary flavors, to taste and the nose. VERY DIFFERENT from the other two, but a bit monolithic, even after being open for hours & hours. Tasty but i wondered if it needed a few more hours of decanting to show its stuff.

1989 Canon La Gaffeliere, St Estephe (or Emilion??) The winner in a close race while we were eating and drinking. Fresher fruit than the 1982 GPL...but it is 7 years younger. Had a better finish ,in balance ,with nice acidity.

Recommendation: If you can find it i just drank the 1995 Tenuta San Leonardo from the north of Italy. A dead ringer for a top notch Bordeaux --smooth with layers of flavor combining with clearly defined structure...

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste Dinner

Well, we had quite a line-up for the Puy-Lacoste dinner that started with Robin egging me on to bid for the wines during the Montgomery County SPCA Wine Tasting Fund raiser. Unfortunately for us we got in a bidding war with on woman and had to guard our position. Lucky for us she was bidding on another wine. All for a good cause in the end.

Attendees: Robin, Susan, Tara, Roger, Lori, John and myself.

Line-up included:
Chateau Les Vergines White Bordeaux 2001
Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc-Viognier California 2002
Trinitas Chardonnay Russian River Valley 2005
Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste Pauillac 1982
Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste Pauillac 2001
Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste Pauillac 2003
Chateau Canon La Gaffelierre St. Emillion 1989
Rene Renow Bonnezeaux Tir de Vendanges 1998



Appetizers provided by Susan:
Savory Shortbread
Olive Spread with Roasted Red Pepper
Dried Sausage with herbs and pepper
Dinner:
Beef Tenderloin with Port and Shallot Gravy
Harlot Verts with Shallots and Fennel
Roasted Fingerline Potatoes

Dessert: Napoleons with Orange Creme and Cranberry Sauce


As far as the wine drinking, it didn't get off to a good start with the older whites that John brought - never entrust a red wine guy with bringing the white to start. Then again, he forgot about the three loafs of bread he brought but I digress. Tara was disappointed that she missed two wines while parking the car - no you didn't miss much. Good thing I had the Trinitas chilled as opposed to a dinner many years ago where Tara said that the dinner would go well with a nice white and I didn't have any white in the house! I thought the Trinitas was a fine example of chardonnay from the Russian River.

As for the reds, Tony, would have been most disappointed because we voted on decanting and decanting won - the thought of using a thumb and shaking in was strongly discouraged by all around the table. Why decant, well, Roger had printed a bunch of reviews of the wines and learned that many of the reviews including those for the 1982 strongly urged decanting which we all thought was odd for a wine that old. We later realized that over the course of the evening that wines really did change. The 2003 started out as a fruit bomb and went tannic as the 82 before coming back around again. I do think the 89 Gaffelierre was my overall favorite of the evening and the 82 as a close second. Out of the reds there wasn't a dud in the bunch. Pretty much this was what Bordeaux was all about. Nothing better than a piece of beef and a sip of Bordeaux.

New York Wine Experience

Well, its been a couple of weeks since the big show and I'd like to give you a feel for atmosphere and wine along with a couple of discoveries I made. Having to navigate two floors at the Marriott in Times Square was daunting enough but all those great wines in one place made it appear to be impossible to enjoy in one night! Luckly, Tara was there to provide the openning move - Champagnes of course because there was an immediate scrum around the the first growth Bordeux - all of whom were pouring the less than successful 2002 vintage.

The important lessons were as follows:
1. It was really easy to determine which our favorites were Grand Dame and Annee. The others in my opinion weren't up to the task. The Dom Perignon was the most disappointing of the lot.
2. If you want to eat you needed to go upstairs and try not to dump over you 97 Monte Bello.
3. The 2002 Margaux was very similar to the 1999. Thanks to John to making it possible for me know that.
4. What were they thinking when they brought 2003 Barolos? They were awful tannic monsters that had no business being opened and poured.
5. Craggy Range - who recommended that?
6. Kristina Dunn of Dunn Vineyards is a saint for patiently putting up with Tom in 8th floor bar after the event and what the heck was she doing having a martini?
7. I would have never believed the 8th floor bar in Times Square could have held so many Red Sox fans all look of doom on their faces. Should have never doubted them.

Now to the reviews which were done in the bar while watching the Red Sox.

Achaval-Ferrer: Tough to determine after the ports.
Bacio Divino: Don't remember anything about the wine but the guy pouring looked uncomfortable in the jacket and tie he bought for the event. I told him he was easy to spot as someone out of their element.
BV Georges de Latour - interesting but tannic. had elements of pervious vintages I've tasted.
Bollinger: FANTASTIC!
Pia Cesare: Too tough!
Concha y Toro Don Melchor: Yuk - I don't know what that problem was. Maybe I just don't like cab from Chile.
Craggy Range: Not good - funky, not in a good way.
Domaine Alfred: Lovely pinot. I need some of this.
Dominus: Didn't strike me down.
Dow's 1994: Fabulous.
Graham's 1997: Fabulous .
Guigal Chateau d'Ampius 2003: Another baby killer but nothing like the wines at Tony's.
Harlan Estate: Smooth as silk and probably my #1 of the evening.
Chateau Haut-Brion: Did not like at all!
Heitz: You call that cabernet? Yuk.
Paul Hobbs Pinot: Very nice to outstanding. They apologized for not having some of their wines from Argentina.
Krug: Tara was spot on with the tangerine. Not my style.

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars FAY a Star in the Patriots Win!

Thanks to the Black family for providing a key element in the Patriots win today with the Stag's Leap FAY Cabernet 2003. A multi layered that just begged you to come back again and again. While everyone thought the Canopia 2007 Malbec was a fine drinking wine at 5.99 it was nearly undrinkable once the FAY was opened. No decanting needed here. This along with a Patriots win against the Colts made all right with the world. Thanks to BAM for the excellent shells and Kathleen for being the sous chef. My only other comment is "How many desserts did Liam have?"

Plan Pegau

Pretty much what I expected. Hmmmm, something like a World Series WIN by the BOSTON RED SOX! HAH! I consumed with a Domino's Brooklyn style pizza. For around $10 you can get much better juice. Really just about everything you like in a Rhone style wine like a RED SOX WIN.

Guigal Dream Tasting at Tony's

2003 Guigal la Landonne

Dense purple to the rim with a nose of graphite, creosote, earth, olives, and black, black, black fruits, the primordial, full-bodied, monumental 2003 Cote Rotie La Landonne is amazing stuff. I suspect this is more akin to a dry vintage port than most Cote Roties ever tend to be, but the purity, the richness, the texture, the length are all out of this world. This wine does need some patience on the part of its purchasers, probably five years, more likely 8-10, but then one of the world’s most compelling elixirs will be at its peak for another 20-30+ years.

$759.99/bottle

2003 Guigal la Mouline

The 2003 Cote Rotie La Mouline is by far the most delicate and elegant wine (11% Viognier is co-fermented with 89% Syrah). but the enormous aromatics of spring flowers intermixed with creme de cassis, black raspberry, mocha, caramel, and cola, and enormous full-bodied opulence and striking velvety, seamless texture make for one of the most memorable wines anyone could every drink. This wine should age effortlessly for 25-30 or more years.

$759.99/bottle

2003 Guigal la Turque

A pure aromatic smorgasbord is offered by the 2003 Cote Rotie La Turque, which has an amazing aromatic profile of espresso coffee interwoven with scorched earth, tar, truffle, incense, blackberry, bacon fat, and flowers. Powerful, thick flavors ooze across the palate with a viscous texture, amazing purity, and just enough acidity and tannin to give uplift and precision to this remarkable tour de force in winemaking. Of the 2003s, this is also approachable, but ideally 2-5 years of cellaring would be suggested, and the wine will evolve for at least 30 more years.

$759.99/bottle

2003 Guigal Ex Voto Rouge

The good news continues as the 2003 Hermitage Ex-Voto may even be the richest of all these wines. Only 4,000 bottles were produced from Guigal’s favorite parcels of Hermitage, Les Bessards, l’Hermite, Les Greffieux, and Les Murets. It is the most alcoholic of all the wines at 15%, but its off-the-chart richness, full-bodied, powerful, and amazing creme de cassis flavors along with truffle, crushed rocks, and acacia flowers, are utterly profound. This is one of the great Hermitages and it should last for 50-100 years. Just amazing.

$549.99/bottle