A rare dinner with friends (and some great wines)

[jal]

Last night Jill and I hosted our friends, their daughter and her S.O. We had all tested negative recently, all very Covid fearful and disciplined.

With stone crabs, some Bulgarian caviar on potato pancakes we drank a delicious bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee 167th. Crisp,light, and yet complex with a nose of brioche and a palate of apples, it is weightless and profound, absolutely stunning. 93.

That was finished very quickly so we opened a 2000 Ravenneau Montée du Tonnerre that was corked. To get over the disappointment we opened a 2017 Corton Charlemagne from Domaine Rollin. This was more open than I thought it would be, a bit of oak helps and can't hide the great terroir, good minerality, white stone fruits and some citrus, good finish. It is very nice but not a Grand Cru quality. 92

We finished the Corton Charlemagne with our green salad and with a leg of lamb and some roasted sweet potatoes we opened a couple of Bordeaux side by side. The 2003 Leoville Las Cases I decanted 3 hours, it was a crowd favorite but I was a bit disappointed. Purple deep color, the nose is of ripe, extracted grapes and I'm a bit worried, it has with dense black fruit and not much else, it would have easily been mistaken as New World Cabernet, the wine does have a decent backbone and a seamless finish but has very little complexity, obviously a result of the vintage and in that context probably is a success - 92.

Next to it we drank a 1995 Calon Segur - popped and poured, it is closed at first and I'm surprised that it gives very little, it needs maybe ten minutes to completely transform; dark color with a little bricking, the nose is classic Medoc with earth, cedar, graphite, the tannins are supple, impeccable balance, focused and bright with a great core of black fruit, the wine has excellent structure and is very enjoyable. One of the better Bordeaux I've drank since Texas with Bill, Jan and and Jim. 95

We finished with some fresh mango with Tajin - that weird Mexican spice mix - a first for me but our friends swore by it and heck the flavors work, the spice mix adds color and depth to the sweet fruit. As our glasses were empty we re-filled them with a half bottle of 1999 Rieussec that I loved, the color is bright yellow and not as dark as I would have thought, the botrytis nose jumps right out and is intoxicating, the flavors are of apricot jam and this has a great balance of sweetness and acidity. Not the richest Sauternes and that's actually fine by me, I don't need to finish a heavy meal with a heavy sweet alcoholic wine. 93.

A nice evening with friends, a rarity these days.

[JimHow]

Wow! Tremendous. Those Calon Segurs from 95 and 96 are such classics.
I don't know whether we are going to be able to do a family Thanksgiving this year.

[Musigny 151]

Can you tell us about Bulgarian caviar?

Also a Calon fan; and the 1995 is a real sleeper.

[jal]

Can you tell us about Bulgarian caviar?

They had it at Costco in Sarasota for $60 a jar of 50gr Plaza Osetra. Sustainably Bulgarian Farmed Russian Sturgeon Caviar Malassol. It was ok, nothing more; good sized eggs, looks like Osetra, the smell and taste are boring. I like it more briny and salty.

[jckba]

Nice notes Jacques and you can count me too as a fan of the ‘95 Calon since it has re-emerged from its slumber.

[Nicklasss]

Nice report Jal.

So the 2003 vintage was hard even for LLC? I never had that wine, but my experience with the few other 2003 I had is that if I'm buying a LLC, 2003 would one of my last choice. I wish you could try the 2004. I had it twice and thought it is a very fine LLC.

Unfortunately, it is now that we understand that from the 1995 and 1996 vintages, we did not bought enough Calon Segur, Grand-Puy Lacoste and Ducru Beaucaillou...

I remember bringing a 1996 Calon Segur to Ottawa, for a dinner with dstgolf, and it was ________ (i need your help here, what would be the right word between excellent and great wine?)

Nic

[jal]

Nic, the 2003 LLC was a gift that I received back in 2007, I liked it enough but I would never have guessed Bordeaux. I have a bottle of 2004 (as well as some 2002 and 1998) I am not in a hurry to open any of them.

I have drank all my 1996 Calon Segur, I had a case, this 1995 was great. We may not have bought enough, you're correct, but if we had, we would have drank them all by now, they are that good.

[Nicklasss]

But receiving 2003 LLC as a gift, anytime! You know the giver took care of you Bordeaux wine enthusiast with the gift!

[stefan]

Nice dinner. '95 Calon-Segur is fine and, along with the '96, helped to move C-S up in the pecking order (which was a bad thing for me). '99 Rieussec is one of the many winners from that outstanding estate.

[DavidG]

Great report Jacques. Sounds like a wonderful evening with some excellent wines. Happy that you and Jill were able to enjoy a real in-person evening with friends. We're still Zooming here. Tired of the lack of live interaction. Looks like Thanksgiving will be a quick visit from our daughter to pick up food and say hi. I have high hopes that we'll be vaccinated by spring or early summer and personally able to move about safely in the community even if the US hasn't yet reached a critical mass for herd immunity. Not looking forward to another 4-6 months of this.

[Jay Winton]

A nice dinner indeed, Krug is always a nice starter. Yes, the lack of socialization is very tiresome but we will persevere. I brought a 99 Rieussec to my London dinner BC with Ian and his wine group. Young but enjoyable.