Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Beautiful purple color.
Nice cedar nose from the opening.
Tart as a witch's nipple on the first sips.

Gonna let this sit for a bit.

Well, it is just starting to snow, we're in for another 8 inches tonight into tomorrow. WTF.

March officially going out like a lion. Or is it hopping in like a kangaroo, and then it stays a kangaroo for a while, and then becomes a slightly smaller kangaroo....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMZFpf-1wp0

Still thinking back to that great trip to SF.
We repeat it every year but we have developed more than friendships on BWE, I truly feel it is more akin to family.
For those of you who have not yet attended one of our weekends, you really owe it to yourselves to do it at least once.
No final decisions have been made yet but I see no reason why we shouldn't continue our every-other-year trip to DC in 2018.
That is a very accessible location, very food and wine friendly, accommodations are usually reasonably priced, and it is a great place to walk around and sight-see.

Hope to see you all in DC in 2018!

Mmmm now this wine is starting to open up.
As I suspected, it just needs some air and attention.
I've had it a couple times at BWE conventions and was not really impressed, but was also not really able to focus on it in the madness.
This is developing into another classic 2002 St. Julien.
Love this stuff!
It is the first bottle from my case.

Drinking fantastic wine is wonderful, of course, but the best part of the BWE convention consists of visiting with old friends and meeting some new ones.

Here it hit 88F today. Time to move south, Jimbo.

Tonight we'll drink a bottle of 95 Potensac that I picked up at K&L on Saturday. I haven't bought any Potensac for 20+ years because way back then I bought a case that contained 8 corked bottles! No wine for me daytime Saturday and Sunday as I have to grade take home exams, but I will open something good for dinners. Grading is the one part of my job that I dislike, but every once in a while I learn something new when I grade papers of very talented students, of which I have several in this class.

You know, it's weird -- and maybe the experience is slightly different as the BD -- but just being in the same room with someone once every year or two brings a certain comfort. just one of several examples: I had'nt seen Howard since France '15. I really didn't get to talk to he and Lisa that much this past week. But they looked great, happy, healthy. That's all I needed to know. As was the case with numerous others. As BD I don't always get to spend as much time with everyone as I would like. But just seeing a person once a year or two or three brings me a certain level of comfort and happiness. Great group we have here!

I was surprised by how friendly the 02 Barton was last week. Very drinkable, especially with the meat.

It's at a good point.

-----

That sucks about the Potensac. I wasn't really enthused about the 95 there. The 96 took a long time to come around. Very lean in its youth.

I'm thinking I'll pull a 95 Croix du Casse to go with the pan seared salmon tonite. Maybe a burg or pinot would be slightly better. But I feel like something with complexity.

I already post about the people, and still depress as these weekends are magic. I can't imagine a nicer couple, welcoming us at 11:30 pm in their hotel room Friday night, to have a last glass of wine, like Stefan and Lucie. We were feeling so bad, but i felt like my best uncle saying "come on Nic, i'm happy to see you".

I believe the Léo Barton is great. I did not sample it last Saturday, but the 1996 Montrose in magnum was still young and full of promises.

Tonight, just a simple 2014 Chanson Viré-Clessé for us, that is ok on it's own, but an excellent fit with the leak garam Masala cream sea scallops!

I'll talk to Dstgolf soon, to see if we can organize something in Canada this summer. If not, I'll figure out way to see some BWEers anyway later in 2017.

Nic

Here it hit 88F today. Time to move south, Jimbo.

I'd like to find some property in Florida that I could go down to in the winter....
jesus Christ, I sound like an old fogie.

The Potensac is on the downslope, but still good for drinking. Lucie was very happy with it. Probably I'll buy a few bottles for midweek drinking in the fall.

Thanks, Nic. Dunno why ya'll were reticent about coming in. We were expecting you and would have been disappointed if you had not come.

I was very impressed by the 96 Montrose that Arv brought to Saturday night. I will look for some.

This 2012 Leoville Barton was everything I would expect from this great estate in this great left bank vintage.
It was pleasantly austere, medium bodied, balanced, defined by cedar, cherries, strawberries, a lovely St. Julien nose, bright deep purple color, classically styled, 12 point 5 fucking percent alcohol, the way they USED to make claret. I think we paid, what, $25 per bottle for the stuff? I love it! 93 points.

The big question, of course, is how long to continue to allow this to age?
Now that I have cracked open my case I will have to battle my mental health demons to not drink them all up.
If I can control myself, it'll be one bottle per year for the next 11 years.
The wine is still young but I get the sense that, at age 15, it is beginning a long plateau.

JimHow wrote:

Here it hit 88F today. Time to move south, Jimbo.

I'd like to find some property in Florida that I could go down to in the winter....
jesus Christ, I sound like an old fogie.

Peggy and I are learning to embrace our fogieness. Planning to spend next February in Sarasota.

February out of DC also in our discussions. Maybe Hollywood area. We got lucky with winter this year but lots of snow/cold weather and dealing with it is less exciting as the years pass.

Last year I was able to take 6 weeks off in January and February.
This year it has only been about 3 weeks.
And March has been absolutely miserable.
And they are projecting more snow this week.
I think it is time to find a little getaway property somewhere in Florida.

Easter is 'early' next year, btw.

We had a friend who was supposed to be visiting us last night. Weather scrubbed her flight and her arrival today is still being sorted out.

My view of discretionary travel is that April tends to be much more reliable for flight delays/cancellations versus March.

I usually plan a visit to Minnesota in February. Of course I don't mind snow or cold weather. January is for hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

Chris Bublitz