I did taste both the 1988 and 1989 La Lagune last Saturday. They were both drinking wonderfully. In fact, Paula said they were her favorite wines after the blind tasting. If someone brings the 1989, it will be enjoyed.

Jon

Alex's and David's comments are interesting in that I was involved in some similar conversations over the weekend at the BWE convention. I'm even a few years ahead of both Alex and David. My last vintage of buying something more than a sampling was 2000. I bought a couple of cases of 2003 Pontet Can...

Paula and I are safely back home in Chicago. We left DC early this afternoon in bright warm sunshine and I am now looking out the window watching snow fall! What a great gathering last night. Thanks to those who did the planning and organizing. And thanks to everyone who brought the wines. The wines...

Paula and I arrive early afternoon on Thursday. Mobile is 312-286-3038

Jon

This week my wine club held a wine dinner at the NoMI restaurant at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Chicago. This is an annual event where members each invite a guest, everyone dons his tuxedo, and the dinner committee works with the chef to pair wines from the club's cellar with each course. Standout food ...

Jim,

Did you see the article on whoopie pies in todays New York Times?

Jon

Rick,

It now looks like Paula and I can make the Thursday dinner at Capital Grille. Looking over the mentions of wines, and knowing the restaurant, I will probably bring a couple of Rhones.

Looking forward to seeing folks.

Jon

I sense that this has become a bit of a meandering subject. But on the question of capturing red light offenders, I somehow find it hard to support an argument that red light offenders do not cause accidents. If the point of installing traffic signals is to prevent intersection collisions, then I ca...

Got an email today from The Chicago Wine Company (TCWC) offering Bad Boy at a reduced price of $17.50. Only 48 bottles available, so it could already be gone.

Jon

The City of Chicago employs this approach to identifying and ticketing red light offenders. I am not one for government intrusions into private lives, but I don't have problem with these cameras. In my mind they are acting as an extension of the "arm of the law" without an officer having t...

Those indeed were the heady last days of the "Internet Bubble." And not long after that, the Dow began to tank - just about a year before BWE 2001 in Chicago.

Jon

Just got at email yesterday from The Chicago Wine Company with a listing of 2004-2006 Bordeaux. Among the items was this:

2005 Carruades de Lafite, Pauillac (1.5L) Reg: $399.50, Now: $240.00

A veritable bargain compared to NYC pricing!

Jon

David,

Unfortunately, my collection is pretty slim in this era. The only match I can make from your list is the '88 Lynch. I could also do a 1986 Ducru.

Jon

I just mentioned on another thread that the $120 rate was still available about 15 minutes ago.

Jon

David and all, I am happy to report that Paula and I will be able to attend the dinner this year. It took us a while to work out schedules, but it's now looking good! I just followed Howard's instructions on Priceline, and we are confirmed at the Westin for $120. So now I just need to arrange to get...

Mike, I look forward to seeing the notes from your Beaucastel vertical. About 3 years ago, I attended a Beaucastel vertical tasting that Rick (on this board) and a friend of his organized - great fun. I think it went as far back as the late 70's or 1981 - cannot remember for sure. Anyway, it was a g...

David,

I agree on the '88 Lynch. I bought a half dozen several years back. The last one I opened was about 3 years ago. It was decanted for 2-3 hours and it seemed to be really coming into its own. Reminds me that I probably need to try out another one soon.

Jon

Jim, I absolutely concur with you on the point that you would expect restaurants to go after wines like these. But my guess is that most of the people at restaurants making those decisions do not really know wines. So many places load up their lists with "listless" overly ripe and unstruct...

Jim, I was an avid lurker and occasional poster on the original Spectator site. In the beginning I enjoyed the energy and comraderie that seemed to develop (not counting the occasional "mine's bigger than yours" discussions). But when they implemented the new site, it was almost immediate ...

David,

Thanks. I missed that indicator. It's just a matter of training my eyes to look for different clues.

Jon

David,

Perfect line of demarcation !!

OK, I'll play.

I don't think that I can visually tell if I have clicked on the most recent version of a thread. In the old system, the shade/color of the link was visibly different so that I knew I had already read the latest comment.

Any chance of doing something with that?

Jon

Out of curiosity, I went to the old site just now to see if anything was happening. This is the most recent post (yesterday) was a reply to Jim's announcement that we were live - from one of the family bidding a fond adieu. Message 5 of 5 in Discussion From: PappaDoc1 Sent: 1/26/2009 11:26 PM Good N...

Day 4 (Tuesday): There was still better than a glass of wine in the half-bottle decanter after I tasted some last night. It was still enjoyable to drink tonight. The cedar component was more prevalent, but it still possessed pretty good balance given the amount of exposure it's had to the air. I was...

Roberto,

I do have the 95 GPL. I have been waiting for a good reason to open one. I think this qualifies.

Jon

Roberto,

I like the idea, and hope to be a part of the VLT.

Jon

So this is a test. Already had login to open the reply window.

Jacques,

Thanks for letting me know. I'll try again later tonight or tomorrow and see if I have a different result.

Jon

In anticipation of the launch of the new BWE, I felt it was time to enjoy a nice Bordeaux with dinner that past Saturday. So with mustard-herb coated roast rack of lamb, Paula and I opened this 1996 Right Banker. Sadly, this was the last bottle I have of this wine, purchased on release at about $25 ...

I wonder if anyone else has tried accessing the site via iPhone. I can get to the site and read posts in the forum. But it appears that the login process for creating a post or replying does not work on the iPhone. It asks me to login. After I do, it tells me I've been successfully logged in, and al...

I think that I am in after a very simple registration process - thank you designers and programmers!

I'm really looking forward to this new site. In honor of this opening day, I hope to post a Bordeaux tasting note later this evening.

Jon