Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Michael Malinoski

Tom, this is the second time I've had the '75 Giscours within the past year and both times it has managed to show mostly a softer side of the vintage. Just fwiw, here is the note from last May: 1975 Chateau Giscours Margaux . This opens with a bit of a musty note, which diminishes with air, but neve...

Michael Malinoski

JimHow wrote:I keep hearing good things about the 2005 d'Issan, glad I picked some up in NH.

Same here, Jim. I got some in NH, but clearly now I know that it wasn't enough! Sometimes you have to listen to the hype...

-Michael

Michael Malinoski

Did anyone get the name and vintage correct of any of these, even the bottle they brought? A few years ago, at a small BWE gathering in SF, the '70 Giscours bested the '70 Latour, so when it is on, it is really special. I have not had the '75 Giscours, but other examples from that vintage are consi...

Michael Malinoski

It was nice of my friend Ed to ask me to fill an empty chair at his monthly tasting group’s latest get-together this past Monday night. I was told only that the theme was wines from the appellation of Margaux. That sounded pretty good to me, so off I went to their regular restaurant haunt with a bot...

Michael Malinoski

The the bigger vintages like '99 and '02 are probably in the dumb phase now? I'm not sure, Werner, but I tend to agree with that. Surely that was part of the story with the '99 Bouchard CdB and perhaps the '99 Bocquenet Echezeaux we had that night. I've had a very ungiving bottle of 1999 Domaine G....

Michael Malinoski

Tremendous notes as usual. The '05 Jean Grivot Vosnee Romanee we drank in my room in DC last week was similar to the '06 you've described. 1998 was about the time Clos des Lambrays started "turning it around," was it not? I drank two cases of the '99 Lafarge village wine when it was young...

Michael Malinoski

Last Saturday, our regular tasting group opted for a theme of “Grand Cru Burgundy”—which easily rallied a good-sized group of us to make the trek down to our host and hostess' home in Scituate. We had great cheeses, outstanding dinner dishes and some delicious desserts to accompany all the wine. All...

Michael Malinoski

Good to hear!

Michael Malinoski

Jay, this particular bottle was in great shape, too. The cork had like 1/16th of an inch of wine above the disc, if that. I was happy to spend $60 to get it and would pay that again and cellar for perhaps another 3-5 years before trying again. But otherwise, mum's the word!

-Michael

Michael Malinoski

Thanks, David. The Etude was surprisingly rustic aromatically, but not really at all on the palate--where it resembles the Etudes you are used to. I think that volatility or reduction or whatever funk it has on the nose may be a bottle-specific characteristic. The Laurel Glen was a revelation--a fin...

Michael Malinoski

Having missed one previous poker game and knowing I was going to miss the next one as well, I pushed for an interim Friday night game and lo and behold we got a full house together. I supplied the pizza, everyone brought a bottle to drink and the winnings were in the form of QPR bottles that served ...

Michael Malinoski

Wow, that is indeed epic. And wonderfully written and insightful notes, thank you so much.

I was excited about a tasting I am attending tomorrow night, but how can it ever live up to such as what is going on down in DC?!?

-Michael

Michael Malinoski

Stelio's in Billerica was the site of a recent off-line billed as "Beef in Billerica II" with a theme of gutsy Rhones to go with prime rib and steak. It was nice to meet some new faces at this off-line and to be able to add to the list of local BYO destinations. I thought the food was just...

Michael Malinoski

Thanks, Stefan.

That '89 is the oldest CFE I've had. I would recommend it. The wine I would very much like to try again is the '90 CFE VT--that is a truly stunning wine.

-Michael

Michael Malinoski

Six of us gathered at my house for our monthly group tasting, this month featuring the wines of Alsace. We had several delicious pot luck dishes to sample throughout the evening as we drank through the line-up. N.V. Willm Cremant d’Alsace Brut Blanc de Blancs . We started out the evening with this s...

Michael Malinoski

Thanks, Jacques. I've enjoyed several bottles of the 1995 Gloria but never have tried the 1996. We did coincidentally drink a 2000 Ch Gloria two nights ago at the end of a long tasting of Alsatian wines (the masses were clamoring for red wine the way some carnivores clamor for red meat). It was show...

Michael Malinoski

Thank you for the great notes. Maybe it is only because I've been served it 3 times or so in the past 2 years, but it sure seems like a lot of folks are digging into and really digging the '83 PLL. It seems to be drinking in a great spot right now and your note sure would support that. By the way, a...

Michael Malinoski

Thanks, Harry. I just came across the discussion elsewhere about the management issues. I appreciate the heads-up and the clarification of what led to the closure.

-Michael

Michael Malinoski

What?! I was hoping to dine there in a few weeks when I am out for a visit. Wow, times are tough...

Michael Malinoski

Hi Stefan, Sounds like you are a pro at this cloak and dagger stuff--I'll have to reach out for some pointers next time!! :D On the Lynch Bages blanc, I'm not really sure exactly what the problem was with this bottle--I have a feeling this is just not a long-lived wine (and had the slight premox thi...

Michael Malinoski

A local restaurant we’ve been frequenting for years recently got a liquor license and it seemed the BYO option was pretty much off the table. Still, Bill arranged for us to have an off-line there and six of us accepted his invitation to join him last week. As the date approached, we received instruc...

Michael Malinoski

Karl asked a bunch of folks back on Feb 11th to join him at King Fung Garden II for an off-line with a loose theme of Nebbiolo. His cat pulled a hamstring or something right before kick-off and Karl had to bail on us, which was a shame. However, there were still eight of us to split a bunch of ducks...

Michael Malinoski

Great stuff! The Barolo that really got me into Barolo was an '89 Giacosa at a wonderful little restaurant in Denver during a big snow storm. I can still almost taste it now... Monfortino (especially from a good vintage like 1990) is very high on my wine To Do list--I'm jealous! Thanks again, Michael

Michael Malinoski

At the very end of January, Ed hosted a gang of folks at his place in Brookline, with a loose theme of Champagnes and red wines from Washington State. On paper, there was no real reason for this combination of themes, but it felt perfectly normal to me! Everyone brought food and I brought a bottle o...

Michael Malinoski

Ten days ago, a bunch of us got together at one of Boston’s finest restaurants to taste through a range of 2001 Vosne Romanee 1er crus. Each person brought a bottle (or in some cases, two) and the wines were served blind--with our host at the restaurant organizing the flights for us. We started out ...

Michael Malinoski

Nic, it's funny but another thing I specifically meant to put in my write-up was that I could see any one of these wines bombing in a random blind tasting! I mean we went out of our way to serve these with appropriate food and we were all at least somewhat prepared for the style. And it still took a...

Michael Malinoski

A couple of weeks back, Joe and Amy Perry had 5 of us over for a wonderful meal prepared by Joe to accompany some fine bottles of Vin Jaune. I’ve wanted to try these wines from the Jura for some time now and was really excited to have this opportunity to try several of them at once to begin to get a...

Michael Malinoski

Roberto, I am sure that was not a representative bottle, but I have since heard from others like yourself that the wine is pretty tight, dense and unforgiving at this stage of the game, even for pristine bottles. Probably much better in 5+ years. This one was just flat.

Kind regards,
Michael

Michael Malinoski

You know, I usually indicate WOTN but to be honest nothing really jumped out as a clear-cut favorite. I think the Cote Rotie was the most complete wine, but I liked how the Barbaresco was drinking. It was between those two for me. I think Philip went for the Cote Rotie and Karl went for the port as ...

Michael Malinoski

A couple of weeks back, we had a whole bunch of people lined up for a frozen Friday night jeebus at King Fung II in Brookline and then for various reasons people started dropping like flies. Eventually, our organizer himself bailed on us--leaving a fearsome threesome and a drop-in guest to try and w...

Michael Malinoski

I agree with Andy's assessment of that 2001, but I have read from some of those "in the know" that 2001 was not the best vintage for Yacochuya, anyway.

-Michael

Michael Malinoski

Exactly as I remember it from last March! Thanks for the update. My feeling at that time was that the 3 hour decanting I gave it might not have been quite enough--it shows a bit more charm the longer you stay with it, but the graphite/iron and spiny backbone never really deviate from that typicity t...

Michael Malinoski

There is an idea with some definite merit! I'd be happy to invite myself and to offer services for planning something.

Michael Malinoski

Well, I couldn't let Andy go up on his own... It would be nice to meet, you, Jim, and I love the area, of course. I went to school up there and my wife also has lots of connections to the Bar Harbor area. Combining all that with wine is naturally appealing.

-Michael

Michael Malinoski

These notes are long-delayed, but not for lack of excitement about the wines tasted on this afternoon in Billerica back in mid-December. Andy outdid himself with a great wine line-up and his usual amazing cuisine. The poker went into quadruple overtime and still ended in a tie somehow, so the two fi...

Michael Malinoski

Bill, they did have the wholesale prices listed on a sheet, but I didn't bother to ask. I guess I should find that out before I state with confidence that I'll be buying Fombrauge, but I liked it well enough that I'm not going to get hung up about it if it is a few bucks more than I expected. -Michael

Michael Malinoski

I was at the Expo both days, but did not make it to any of the seminars. I did get a chance to taste a small smattering on the floor, though, and several showed really well. Fombrauge, La Tour Carnet and Rieussec were all quite young but impressive. In particular, the Fombrauge was a real pleasant s...

Michael Malinoski

Thanks, folks! I'm looking forward to continuing the journey. BWE is where I met my very first "offline" contacts for sharing wine together. That has grown and grown in concentric circles since then, but it all started here (or there, now here, if you follow my drift!).

-Michael

Search found 678 matches

Re: Margaux appellation TN's: 8 wines spanning 4 decades

Re: Margaux appellation TN's: 8 wines spanning 4 decades

Re: Margaux appellation TN's: 8 wines spanning 4 decades

Margaux appellation TN's: 8 wines spanning 4 decades

Re: TN's: Ten Grand Cru Red Burgundies

Re: TN's: Ten Grand Cru Red Burgundies

TN's: Ten Grand Cru Red Burgundies

Re: TN: 1996 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac)

Re: Cabernet TN's: Etude, Lewelling, Ristow, Laurel Glen, Ramey

Re: Cabernet TN's: Etude, Lewelling, Ristow, Laurel Glen, Ramey

Cabernet TN's: Etude, Lewelling, Ristow, Laurel Glen, Ramey

Re: TN: Mouton Madness: SDR's BWE Thursday Night Dinner

TN's: Mix of Rhones with beef

Re: TN's from a night of Alsatian wines, plus 2000 Ch Gloria

TN's from a night of Alsatian wines, plus 2000 Ch Gloria

Re: TN: 1996 Gloria St Julien

Re: 82 Cos & Lagune, 83 Lalande, 73 Mouton, 86 Gruaud & more

Re: Winecask in Santa Barbara Closed?

Re: Winecask in Santa Barbara Closed?

Re: TN's: Sneaking down the alley with Sally

TN's: Sneaking down the alley with Sally

Nebbiolo on 2-11 at KF-II

Re: Belated notes on some amazing Barolo

TN's: Champagnes and Washington State Reds

TN's: 2001 Vosne Romanee premier crus

Re: TN's: Vin Jaune

TN's: Vin Jaune

Re: Frozen Friday TN's: Joguet, Roumier, Gresy, Vins de Vienne

Re: Frozen Friday TN's: Joguet, Roumier, Gresy, Vins de Vienne

Frozen Friday TN's: Joguet, Roumier, Gresy, Vins de Vienne

Re: Anyone remember Yacochuya

Re: TN: 1988 Château Sociando-Mallet (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc)

Re: BWE Maine '09

Re: BWE Maine '09

TN's: Piedmont & Poker (with a '94 Yquem kicker)

Re: Boston Wine Expo Bordeaux 2005 seminar!

Re: Boston Wine Expo Bordeaux 2005 seminar!

Re: WELCOME TO THE NEW BWE!