In typical Saturday fashion, the pack descended on the renowned Champagnes. DavidG was gracious enough to share a special bottle with us.
2002 Krug- I've never seen a wine poured that fast. I would say approximately 3 minutes from the first pour and it was gone. The closest I've seen to this was at the 2021 Saturday night with Ed's 1996 Dom. Clearly we all knew which wines to seek out. The Krug was in a very good spot, started to develop that dark golden color with a touch of ox that integrated well in the glass. I'm betting this would have been insane if allowed to have 1-2 hours of bottle air. Thanks for sharing this, David. 96pts
2004 Laurent Perrier Cuvee Alexandria Rose- Quite good and downed quickly. Needs some time/air to integrate and gain complexity. This did not receive that. 94pts
2004 Bruno Paillard Nec Plus Ultra- Probably my Champ of the night by a hair and was probably largely missed by the crowd. Perfectly balanced, touch of oak and ox. Lower dosage that allowed the fruit and acidity to really show through. I sipped on this throughout the evening. 96pts
No one bothered to bring any white Bordeaux as many including myself aren't very big fans.
We started to pick tables and set up mini experiments. Marcus's OCD about 2003 helped us create a whole 2003 staging table that many focused on to start. I did not and just made sure to get a little bit of a few. I mostly ignored this 2003 table until the end.
2003 Latour- I let this sit in an extra glass for at least 45 minutes before even touching it and it showed this wonderful early drinking fruit sweetness with a balanced minerality and amazing freshness. This was more open for business to me than the brooding 2002 was last year. 96pts
2003 Leoville Barton- This was the only other 2003 that stood out to me. Much more open than its 2000 counterpart right now and with more complexity and layers than the 2002. 94+pts
Some other sub themes that we went for were 1983(40 year mark), 1985 (wonderful nearby vintage that is in an amazing spot right now, 1998 right banks (25 year mark).
We also had some mini verticals and horizontals listed below:
I brought a mini Pichon Lalande horizontal and tracked them throughout the evening as well as sharing side by side pours with the other tables. The 83/85 both showed quite well and folks were mixed on which they preferred. There was also a 2003 on the 03 table that I don't think I got around to trying. Others said it was good, but not all that memorable.
1989 Pichon Lalande- Sadly the 89 appeared to be slightly corked. NR
1985 Pichon Lalande- This came out firing for me, then started to die off. However, we took this to MP/Nalan's hotel after and it got an amazing second wind and became one of my top 3-5 of the night for sure. 97+pts
1983 Pichon Lalande- The 83 was leaner and brighter than the 85. Many chose this as one of the better wines of the evening and I can see why. 95pts
Other overlapping pairings:
1989- Lynch Bages, Pichon Baron, Pichon Lalande, Montrose- Sadly the underperforming flight to me. Both The Lalande and Montrose were slightly corked.
1989 Lynch Bages- One of those slightly closed bottles, similar to the London one for me. The greatness is clearly there underneath but this probably would have benefited from a decant. 94pts
1989 Pichon Baron- My wine of the this horizontal by default. But I still wasn't wowed by it as I much prefer the 1990. A bit disjointed in that the fruit/structure never fully balanced. 94+pts
1985- What a horizontal. I just love 1985. My favorite Bordeaux vintage of all time at this point. Especially if factoring for prices. Two of my top 3-5 wines of the night in this horizontal and definitely my pairing of the night.
1985 La Mission Haut Brion- The La Mish was the consensus WOTN around the room. Just bursting with classically balanced notes, pencil, spices, subtle fruit to round it out. It got better and better over the course of 1-2 hours then did start to fall off a bit finally. I wonder if this would have caught that same amazing second wind that the Lalande did if we had more time with it? 98pts
1985 Pichon Lalande- The Lalande beat the Baron early for me, and crushed it late. 97+pts
1985 Pichon Baron- I was extremely happy to finally get to try the 1985 Baron as I've wanted to for a while. 94pts
1983- Another great horizontal, probably my second favorite of the night. Also probably my second favorite Bordeaux vintage across the board. Especially when factoring for prices.
1983 Rausan Segla -Probably my favorite, but hard to pick. It was light on its feet but had an array of flavors and spices. Really in a perfect spot for me right now. Fruit just starting to fade but I don't mind that. WOTF by a hair. 95+pts
1983 Gruaud Larose- Had just a touch of the beloved Cordier funk and was wonderfully balanced. 95pts
1983 Pichon Lalande- Notes above. 95pts
1983 Pavie- I don't remember much other than it being nice but not that memorable. 92pts
1983 Cantemerle- Far and away the overperfomer/surprise of the night. A slightly darker fruited version of the Rausan. 94+pts
1983 Climens- at the end of the night was absolutely on fire. Spices, fruit, tartness, perfect dark golden, bordering orange color. I think that I prefer it over most other Climens that I've had recently, except for the 1975 at the 2021 Saturday dinner. 97pts
1998 Rights- Fun but not quite at the level of some other pairings of the evening.
1998 Angelus- After trying Jim's amazing 1/2 bottle of this in London, I was quite curious to try this again. Thanks to Harry for bringing it. This was certainly a great bottle, firing on all the same cylinders with spices and depth. However I'd argue that like many great 98 righties, this needs a bit more time (out of 750 at least). 1-2 Blanquito's should do the trick. BWE 2028 with this versus some others like Figeac, Magedlaine, L'Evangile, VCC, Trotanoy would be amazing. I might have to borrow some of Marcus's OCD and plan this one out far in advance. A fairly consensus top 5 of the evening. It either just made or just missed the cut for me. 96+pts
1998 Pavie- A very good, pre-Perse Pavie. Others seem to enjoy these more than I do. A good wine, with pretty minerality and acidity. Not at the level of some other 98 rights IMO. 93pts
1998 Quinault L'Enclos- In a great spot. I've been lucky to have this wine a few times before and it's definitely great QPR. A bit ripe and simple like some 98's can be but very enjoyable and balanced. Shows the pretty yet simple Merlot quite well. The complexity of the 2000 is better and a wine to seek out. 93pts
Other great bottles of the evening
1982 Gruaud Larose- Mine and the groups consensus #2 WOTN after the 1985 La Mission. This was so much better than a previous bottle that I've had, that I did not understand the hype. This one showed me. Some Cordier funk of course, and a bigger, meatier version of the 79,83,85. So many layers and depth. This easily could have been the WOTN but there was an extra elegance and gear to the the 1985 La Mish. 97+pts
1986 Talbot- A consensus top 5 of the evening. The best bottle of this that I've had. Others have been too monolithic and structured for me. This one had the perfect mix of fruit and complex aged notes and spices. Just lovely. A few thought this might be a top 2 of the night, but when pressed, they had trouble picking it over the La Mish and Gruaud. Thanks to WinonaChief for bringing both this and the 1982 Gruaud. He's always brining one or two of my top wines of the night. Legend. 96+pts
1990 Pichon Baron- I always seem to prefer this over its 1989 counterpart, however this was the first time that I've gotten to try them next to each other. Again, the 90 did not disappoint. Slowly unfurling, a bit like RPCV's bottle did last year. Just developing layer upon layer. Probably in my top 5 of the night however the group was completely mixed on which of the Baron's they preferred. 96+pts
2000 Lynch Bages- This bottle was on fire and seemed to have started to develop more structure and complexity than previous fresh bottles that I've had. I much preferred this over the slightly closed down 1989. It's in a great spot right now, with clear upside. 96pts
1986 Rausan Segla- A BWE favorite. However like many 1986's are to me, overly structured and monolithic. Clear greatness underneath and in fairness, I didn't get a chance to try it later in the evening with more air. When will these 86's ever be ready for my palate? 95pts
1959 Rauzan Gassies- As usual, MP brings an especially fun older wine. It showed quite well out of the gate, although it was a bit lean and we hoped that a fair amount of air would help it gain weight. Sadly what it seemed to gain most was VA. Still quite drinkable, but this became overpowering. 93+pts
1995 Pichon Baron(Magnum)- A very good wine on any other day however it was a bit lost in the shuffle here. Good balance and complexity but lacking in the mid palate and missing layers/extra gears. Fun to try, but I much prefer other vintages of the Baron as well as the 95 Lalande over it. 92pts
There were some other wines at other tables that I missed. But I did a great job of trying almost all of the pre-2003 wines.
My wines of the night, which mostly line up with the group, at least towards the top.
1) 1985 La Mission Haut Brion
2) 1982 Gruaud Larose
3) 1985 Pichon Lalande
4) 1983 Climens
5) 1986 Talbot
Just missed the cut:
1990 Pichon Baron
1998 Angelus
As usual, we made some speeches at the end of the night. I kept mine short and sweet, sadly I don't think anyone grabbed a video of it. To sum it up, I reiterated my love for the community of BWE and it facilitating trips all over the world to share this passion and friendship. I also took the time to thank the wonderful creator of this site, Jim Howaniec. His vision, engagement and enthusiasm has created something wonderful that can't be replaced. Even when we get sidetracked and have issues, this needs to be remembered and celebrated. I'm not exactly sure where we'll go from here, I just know that I don't plan to give up and hope that everyone can come together to revive/rekindle/grow this lovely community because so many others can benefit in the future.
Once I was done with my speech, MP and Marcus both got up to tell us some great stories as usual. I tried to post the videos and some other pics but I’m getting told that the files are too large. If anyone has any tips, please let me know.
After the speeches we started to clear out. MP, Nalan, my girlfriend Catalina and I all went to their hotel to keep chatting and drinking some leftovers. The wines we brought with showed surprisingly well still. With the 1985 Pichon Lalande coming back with a vengeance. Becoming the best bottle that I've had of it. Air always helps this wine. We had a great time catching up with MP/Nalan. Talking about travel, work, their move to Vegas etc. As one of our favorite Canadian's loves to say, BWE is about the people, not the wine. So many very intesting and unique folks that I never would have met otherwise.
That's four years straight of a DC convention and I very much hope to keep this streak going next year. I will plan ahead better next time and would be happy to organize again. However, I'm totally happy to go anywhere else for another one. Two conventions a year sounds wonderful to me. Long live BWE.
