The '70 l'Evangile has been uncorked ...

[Roberto]

It has been a long, hard week with a few nice surprises built in. I was trying to decide what to pull in honor of CDP month. I just don't own any so I decided to try something with a little bottle age. This bottle won the lottery tonight.

When I first started cellaring Bordeaux, I bought many differnet wines, often without having had my own first-hand experience. I layed down wines that others had rated highly and figured the higher the points the better the juice. I guess we all figure out certain wisdoms in life. I realized, after years of collecting wine, that my cellar was somewhat hodgepodge, lacking a certain amout of my personality. I found that certain properties spoke to me more than others. A purely personal experience. Just what I liked.

I rebalanced my cellar at that point and moved out wines that were highly rated but just not for me. I cut back the number of total producers in my cellar and foucsed on the wines that moved me. l'Evangile is a wine that I focused on.

l'Evangile is a special Bordeaux. It is well-located and can reach the heights of some of Pomerol's best. I remember fondly the '82 that CabFan brought to New York City several years ago. I remember drinking through several bottle of the '90 that I bought when I first got into wine. The fruit had a certain richness. Hard to put into words. I remember Joe Belmaati and the Copenhagen boys gushing about the '98. I enjoyed the '95. Until tonight I had not had the '70. I have found '70 to be a decent vintage for certain Pomerols, though.

The color is orange at the rim with pale red in the center of the glass. The nose is that of mature Bordeaux with tertiary aromas. I get some orange peel, smoke and spices intially. On the palate the wine has little tannin and the fruit is hiding but hope will come out after some air time. I can't help but get a takehome message of elegance at this point.

More to follow.

Roberto

[JimHow]

Rough week for me too, Roberto, dealing with an incompetent inexperienced judge in a custody case. Friday night is my favorite night for winding down with a nice steak and fine wine, watch the Jim Lehrer News Hour and Gwen Ifill, the Sox in summer. Very relaxing....

[Roberto]

This old lady just could not bring it together tonight. The wine remained tertiary on the nose with little to no fruit, tar and leather on the palate. It was drinkable with and herb-crusted rack of lamb but really did not give much pleasure.

Oh well. So it goes with old bottles. A few times a year I'm in the mood to take a chance on a bottle like this. Tonight was the night. Normally, if I drink an older bottle, I go for something with a better reputation or something that I know.

Friday night wines is a tradition around here.

Roberto

[Chasse-Spleen]

Next Friday, Roberto, go for something a bit more indulgent - you've earned it ;0)
Enablingly,
-Chris

[sdr]

Great note, Roberto; very evocative.

L'Evangile is a marvellous Pomerol when it's singing; that's for sure. The '82 and '90 are fabulous and still on the up-swing. Some BWE-ers declared the '82 L'Evagile was as good as, or even better than, the '82 Lafleur and the '70 Petrus last year.

The '70 vintage at this point is frustratingly irregular though. The acidity is usually on the high side, which is OK, but sometimes the fruit has faded and nothing has filled the hole. A '70 Palmer I had recently was dull, even though it was ex-Mahler-Besse 2007.

~stuart

[Roberto]

Stuart, I've never had a great bottle of the '70 Palmer. I much prefer the '78. The '82 Lafleur to my palate has the extra element to push it up into the Pantheon of fine wine. I can't say that the '82 l'Evangile did that for me while it was still a great bottle of wine. I don't have much experience with either wine so take my comments with a grain of salt.

Roberto