99 Fombrauge (December 2008 in Lyon) – clear, plum/prune red with touches of brown and orange tints throughout. Sweet and sour nose of cherry juice and grape juice. Immediate pour: smooth, soft, good mouth feel weight, not a lot of fruit but interesting touches of leather, smoke and tea. Also overl...

Danny:

I like the idea of an Italian night in Chicago, so count me in. Although it pains me to give up the potential for another Bordeaux night....

05 Serilhan (January 2009 in Dubai) - clear, medium to light garnet red, pink and purple tints. Light nose of oak and blackberry that needed coaxing. Very clean and pure, smooth, lots of cherry and apple (!), touches of smoke and ham with a solid tannic finish of medium length. Nice but simple and ...

Some 7 or 8 years ago I was at a Christies London wine auction and had just won a lot of Bordeaux. The next lot was a dmag of Einaudi 85 and it must have been at no reserve because it seemed absurdly low priced for a dmag of anything and had little interest in the room. Knowing nothing about Barolos...

Hound:

Or maybe you just drank the Fieuzal too quickly? My samplings of 05s under $50 have mostly been indicating good QPR. For example, I don't recall any Dauzac or Fieuzal ever being as good as the 05s. That said, I don't think either will ever become +95 pointers. Still, nice wines.

05 Giscours (July 2009 in Dubai) – opened ala Francois 2.5 hours before pouring. Opaque, medium garnet red with hints of yellow/orange that makes it look a lot like blood. Nose of alcohol, blood, heat, roasted strawberry, black pepper, some chemical (formaldehyde?) that eventually blew off. Smooth,...

05 Fieuzal (December 2008 in Lyon) - with my trip to Lyon in Dec 08, trip to NY in Jan 09 and moving apartments in Dubai in Jan 09, I seem to have misplaced some of my TNs, finding only the TN from day two for this wine: Thick, fresh concentrated cherry and blackberry, lots of smoke and wet gravel,...

04 Reserve de la Comtesse Lalande (December 2008 in Lyon) – opaque, dark red, lots of purple and pink tints. Lots of blueberry, lingonberry, light alcohol, light sour fruit. Smooth, lots of forward fruit with lots of blueberry, some cherry, light hints of smoke but not much earth, good balance, lig...

05 Dauzac (February 2009 in Dubai) – beautiful thick opaque color, medium red with lots of purple and pink tints. Nose with lots of strawberry, some red raspberry, watermelon, light sweet cherry syrup, steak tartare. Very tannic, quite closed but obviously a thick concentration of black fruit with ...

As the saying goes “there are only good bottles”. The 70 Conseillante that I brought to dinner in NY on 22 Jan 09 (along with the 59 Magdelaine and 89 Conseillante) was definitively better IMHO than the 70 I brought to the BWE Annual in DC in April. Both had wonderful finesse and complexities but th...

Stuart:

Come join the BWE SF offline on Thursday 6 Aug and I'll pull some oldies from the cellar....

89 Conseillante (22 January 09 in New York) - medium red and a touch of very fine sediment making it just a bit cloudy. Rich nose of chocolate, smoke and cherry. Big, rich, very concentrated fruit, tons of chunks of black fruits packed in, thick almost syrupy, with a very long sweet unending finish...

70 Conseillante (22 January 09 in New York) - medium red with touches of brown tints, clear. Wow, a nose that jumps over 1m away with tons of blackberry and blueberry. Big, rich, classic pencil lead, very blueberry fruity, smooth, very spicy, smoke, pear, apple, cherry, chocolate, nice complementar...

90 Conterno Fantino Vigna Del Gris Barolo (March 09 in Dubai) – bn, not very red, lots of brown/orange tints throughout, lots of visible fine dust sediment. Big nose that jumped right out with cherry, bubblegum, raspberry, bacon, water, clean fruit. Big, thick, rich, round and full, tons of spices,...

The SF BWE team is getting together on Thursday the 6th in SF.

Stuart: Everytime I get to the U.S., I try to pull some of my wines from my cellar in San Francisco. When I'm there, its easy. Otherwise I ship to wherever I am in the U.S. For example, I shipped more wine to DC for the BWE Annual 09 just so I had left-overs to bring with me to Dubai. I've had so ma...

Well done Ben! All the best!

62 Giscours (May 09 in Dubai) – very fine sediment, dark red-brown with lots of brown tints throughout. Nose first of alcohol and acid, which quickly blew off, then hints of raspberry, cherry and a very slight touch of smoke. Smooth and soft, nice mouth feel, spicy Cayenne pepper finish, but not mu...

59 Magdelaine (22 January 09 in New York)(Armand Roux, Bercut Vandervoort) - light prune color and very cloudy. Rich nose lots of black fruits. Initially quite acidic, but big and rich with lots of concentrated raspberry and blackberry, some strawberry, some subtle complexity, touches of old wine d...

05 Cantemerle (December 2008 in Lyon) – clear, clean, medium dark red with lots of purple, lavender and brown tints. Without waiting on opening, the nose seems a bit confused as it changes quickly, initially quite acidic, then grapes, then strawberry, then blackberry, and alcohol. The taste is simp...

01 Dominique (in Dubai, spring of 2009) – medium red with lots of brown tints (almost a bit aged? or maybe too much heat sometime?) and very light fine cloudiness. Strong scents of red fruits and alcohol, touch of brett. On opening soft, smooth round but light bodied, soft tannic finish, soft acid,...

Sorry if I missed a notice on this on the New BWE, but now that the MSN BWE is down, how do we access Mike's BWE TN catalog? Thanks.
Michael-P

Looks like I will have a guest joining me, so I'll send a second check. Michael-P