2003 Lafon Rochet uncorked and other ramblings....

[JimHow]

Sitting on the back deck at Chateau How on an absolutely perfect June night.
Been doing some fasting in anticipation of some medical tests later in the summer, but I've been dealing with the U.S. Government U.S. Attorneys this week, enough to drive any man to drink....

[JimHow]

The film about the Somali-led state champion Lewiston High School soccer team has been picked up by Netflix.
One of the greatest sports stories I have ever witnessed:
Such an inspiration.

http://www.sunjournal.com/book-about-le ... y-netflix/

Fuck you, Donald Trump.

[JimHow]

So I was in the bowels of the United States Attorney's Office yesterday in Portland, Maine.
Obviously I can't talk about the specifics of the case, but I can tell you that, usually when a criminal defense lawyer is in the bowels of the fedral prosecutor's office, it is because of a matter involving a serious federal crime.
For purposes of this thread it doesn't matter what the charge is.
What is so disturbing is the Orwellian nature of the place.
The hyper-security: You almost literally have to take yoir clothes off to get into the place, go through security to go from room to room, including the bathroom, cameras everywhere, large portraits of Trump/Pence/Sessions everywhere, Trump of course elevated above the others in the Holy Trinity, the stone-faced receptinist and staff, next thing I know we are in a tiny room with a perfectly coifed U.S. Attorney and 6 FBI agents, and a perfectly coifed law student intern from Duke who just finished his first year, and the lady FBI agent is taking over the rapid fire questioning of my terrified, completely innocent (seriously) client, and she starts badgering my very meek female client, trying to confuse her.
Excuse me, m'am, can you slow down a bit, you're confusing my client.
The lady FBI agent, across the table, does not even look at me, does not even acknowledge my existence, I'm just a country lawyer from Lewiston, after all, and continues to rattle off questions to my poor client, who is about to melt.
Excuse me, m'am, I'm going to have to ask you to stop bdgering my client....
I'm not even in the room to this lady, she just arrogantly continues to badger my client, I'm just a piece of shit.
LISTEN, LADY, LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!
The pretty prosecutors and FBI agents startle. The questioning stops.
GET OUT OF THIS ROOM!
IF YOU CAN'T TREAT MY CLIENT WITH RESPECT, WE'RE DONE HERE!

All six of them, in unison, leave the room.
My client and I remain in the plain federal office conference room...

Story to continue....

[JimHow]

A lot of times, when we are talking about quality Bordeaux, we are talking in the negative:
It is NOT overly alcoholic.
It is NOT over-extracted.
It is NOT Parkerized.

Here, the 2003 Lafon Rochet is NOT flabby.
It is not raisiny.
It's NOT volatile.

This wine is a beauty! Lead-pencil, cedar, balance, grip.
Very, very nice. A really nice St. Estephe leather and licorice nose, lots of cedar and lead pencil.
And yet, just the slightest hint of flirtatiousness to remind you that this is a 2003.....

[JimHow]

So after the big blow up I told the guy, hey, we've got nothing to hide, if you just be more nice my client will answer any question you have.
He said, Attorney Howaniec, I've never had anyone treat a female agent that way.
Oh, boy. Dude. I'm giving you a chance to be nice, dude... don't push it.
The dude is perfectly coifed. He's probably in his mid-forties. He probably went someplace like Duke. He had like a perfect red tie.
I do mostly state level cases, I'm a piece of shit state level defense attorney from Lewiston, so they've heard of me but don't know me that well at the federal level.
I frowned. Treat a female agent that way? I would treat her the same way whether she was male, female, or transgender.
Then the federal prosecutor frowned. He knew what he said he was wrong. He didn't cry, like I've made other prosecutors cry. But he knew he'd fucked up.
The federal prosecutor apologized to me.

To be continued...

[Racer Chris]

You go Jim!
Make America America again.

[JimHow]

Anyway, the rest of the meeting went reasonably well, after I had to tame down these federal lunatics.
The point I'm trying to make is that I have this girl who I know is completely innocent, and yet we have 6 FBI agents and a federal prosecutor who have completely made up their minds otherwise. And at the federal level we have to deal with a whole different ballgame: Federal sentencing guidelines, federal prison, the resources of the most powerful government in the history of mankind, etc., etc., etc.
But who polices the police?
When these rogue law enforcement officers do wrong, who stops them?
Their resources are unlimited.
You know, we make fun of the Teabaggers and the Sovereign Citizens... deservedly so... but our government is out of fucking control.
And the average citizen has NO idea what goes on in these deepest bowels of their government.
It is so, so scary.
Very treacherous times.
I'm just a country lawyer. I don't know what I or anyone else can do about it.
I'm thinking we are just completely fucked.

[JimHow]

In any event, I rate both the 2003 and 2004 Lafon Rochet at 94 points each, they are both great but very differently styled wines.

[AKR]

Now just imagine all that, in Tax Court, where the IRS can pursue filers under civil and/or criminal paths.

And the burden of proof is reversed - the filer has to prove they are innocent.

The best way to have less government persecution is to have less government.

[jal]

Ok
I'm properly annoyed, terrified and disgusted all at once

[AKR]

More importantly, for drinking today, where does 2003 stack up against earlier/later vintages?

[JimHow]

The federal prosecutors have you by the balls because of federal sentencing guidelines.
If you don't "accept responsibility" you get punished more.

As for 2003 Lafon Rochet drinking window, Arv, you are asking the wrong guy.
In my mind this wine is drinking beautifully right now, at the 15 year mark.
But I'm guessing others would think it could use a few more years.