Xmas 2023

[stefan]

This year was too hectic for me to keep a journal of our holidays, but I thought I would share the dinner experience we had on December 25 with stefanJr and family.

We began in the late afternoon with

2004 Winston Churchill. Pol Roger Champagnes have been family favorites for a long time. We don't drink the luxury cuvee often, and stefanJr begins by 'complaining', "Yummy; I could drink this every week..." I think, "maybe with a richer dad". "Very apple-y", Lucie and stefanJr say simultaneously. This is a good but not exceptional vintage for Winston. I opine that it should be drunk in the next 2-4 years, and Irena agrees. "Really rich", comments Irene, and stefanJr adds, "and the bubbles are superfine". The family is in pretty much agreement about the wine; what about the scores?
stefan 92. Irena 91. stefanJr 93. Lucie 94.

With prime rib we drank

1983 Lafite. This bottle has that magical nose that is unique to Lafite--rose petals steeped in a leather-laced red and black berry compote. After a few minutes stefanJr says, "now the leather and pencil lead is coming out", and I agree. "Every time I take a sip it gets better", comments Lucie, and I agree. I probably should have given the bottle more air time. "I just got some cranberries", says stefanJr. "Every time I taste I get something different", Lucie adds. Agreeing, stefanJr says, "that is amazing". This is why one should judge wines when drinking through an entire bottle. s 94. L 94. I 93. sJr 93.

1986 Pichon Lalande. "Very pronounced nose', Lucie. "Crazy licorice", Irena, "but something else". "Brett", says stefanJr, "and a lot more tannin than was in the Lafite". "Some TCA", complains Irena; both stefanJr and I agree. At first we thought the slight offness was from a different mold, but with time it became clear that this bottle was slightly corked. "It is such a huge wine that it fought through the TCA", pronounces stefanJr.

After eating chocolate mousse, we had a second dessert of potica with
1990 Yquem. I sniff and go into a sneezing fit even though I don't detect excessive Botrytis. The potica is unusually non sweet and makes the sugar in the Yquem more pronounced; the match is really good. The minerals in the Yquem become strong and I understand why I sneezed. While less unctuous than the typical Yquem, "it gains weight as it airs", says stefanJr, "I love the sourness on the sides of the tongue". s 93. sJr 95. I 94.

[JimHow]

Merry Christmas, Stefan and family. We too had prime rib on Christmas Day and tenderloin roast on Christmas Eve, two traditions that match well with red Bordeaux. On Christmas day we were joined for the second year in a row by Bobby DeNiro’s lawyer Laurent Drogin, he brought 2008 Leoville Poyferre, 2008 La Mission Haut Brion, 1995 Leoville Barton, 2006 Haut Bailly, 2019 Haut Bages Liberal. I brought 2014 Ducru Beaucaillou, 2009 Giscours, 2014 Duhart Milon, 2018 Niellon Clos de la Maltroie, 2014 Pichon Baron, 2011 Calon Segur. They matched well with the prime rib. It was a fun second year with Laurent, he is a true Bordeaux wine enthusiast, he regaled me with Bobby DeNiro stories.
On Christmas Eve I brought 2014 Leoville Barton, 2019 Ridge Lytton Springs, 2020 Felsina Chianti Classico, 2019 Pavelot Aux Guettes, 2019 St. Innocent Dijon Clone Freedom Hill Chardonnay, 2010 Chateau La Confession.
Prime rib plus family plus Bordeaux over the holidays…. Mmmm.

[Tom In DC]

Another prime rib for Christmas dinner here! 1975 Giscours is still a wonderful bottle of wine, and 1987 Dunn Napa Cab matched beautifully with the beef.

[AlexR]

My Christmas bottle was 2009 La Tour Figeac, which exceeded my (already high) expectations. Great wine.

AR

[Jay Winton]

Santa brought me covid so pretty low key holiday. Had a nice 2016 Rondi Barbaresco last night though.

[Comte Flaneur]

Good choices for Christmas Day stefan. That vintage of Comtessa can be variable but at least the Lafite showed its class.

[JoelD]

Merry Christmas to everyone. Glad that the lafite turned out so well. I could see it being quite great in that vintage.

Sadly all three bottles of the 86 comtesse that I’ve had, have had the same problem. Some have posed that it was a non tca bacteria in the cellar that vintage that was the issue (similar to the Ducru issues in the 80s). I have a couple bottles that I’ve been meaning to check in on at some point in the near future but I’m not hopeful.

[stefan]

>>
Some have posed that it was a non tca bacteria in the cellar that vintage that was the issue
>>

Hmm. That would explain our puzzlement. Previous bottles of the 96 have been fine.

[DavidG]

Sounds like a lot of nice Xmas dinners and bottles opened.
Feel better Jay.

[stefan]

Here is an interesting footnote on the bottle of the 1986 Pichon Lalande we drank on Xmas day. I corked the 2/3 of the bottle that we did not drink and put it into cold storage. Yesterday I tasted it. It was somewhat oxidized, of course, but I got nary a hint of taint. I poured a glass for stefanJr to taste blind when he came over. He also detected nothing off other than the oxidation. Now TCA never goes away, but whatever the analogous chemical in the bottle is, it apparently does.

Next time I open a 1986 Pichon Lalande (I have five more) I'll air it for a long time if it seems possible that the bottle contains taint.