1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 5:06 am

General thoughts to follow tomorrow ...

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:36 am

So with Ian stating that he would be in the city and available one night on Friday September 14th. We exchanged a few emails, threw around a couple of themes, expanded the size of the group to a headcount of 8 NYC wine enthusiasts and then settled on a mainly 1980’s left bank Bdx theme at Sutton Inn on E54th. It was great but to see Ian again and conversation flowed freely from the start and I must say that I had a very enjoyable evening. On to the wines;

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:53 am

So we started off with 2006 Philipponnat Le Leon (Dale); is a single vineyard BdN that I had never had before and was spicy and distinctive (91 points). 2004 Laville Haut Brion (Jayson); waxy fruit and some nice minerality on the palate (92 points). 2005 Smith Haut Lafitte (JC); ripe and unbalanced (82 points).

2004 LHB > 2006 PLL > 2005 SHL

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:58 am

A trio of 1982’s which in retrospect was the weakest flight of the night for me. 1982 Leoville Barton (Justin); corked (no rating). 1982 Lafon Rochet (Ramon); sweet candied nose and a little 4 square on the palate, drink up (86 points). 1982 Figeac (Jim); leafy and green pepper and a somewhat restrained palate, this was not a representative btl (89 points).

1982 F > 1982 LF > 1982 LB

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 12:07 pm

For me this was my flight of the night. 1995 Gruaud Larose (JC); pop n poured as this was my backup in order to allow for a 3rd wine, earthy and leathery gained steam as the evening progressed (93 points). 1985 Leoville Las Cases (JC); nose was a little reticent at first, but as I came back to it it showed dark fruited, lead pencil, and leather, good taste and a long finish, not as complete as my last btl (93 points). 1985 Rauzan Segla (Ramon); higher toned and more perfumed than either of my wines, elegant and drinking the best on the night (95 points).

1985 RZ > 1985 LLC = 1985 GL

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 12:15 pm

Dubbed the flight of the night as we a nice set of 4 wines. 1983 Pichon Lalande (Dale); initially vegetal but it blew off to reveal a beautiful nose of dark fruit and leather and with a plush mouthfeel (94 points). 1983 Leoville Poyferre (Jayson); nose of dark red fruit, earth and cedar and a long pleasing finish (93 points). 1983 Chateau Margaux (Jim); some red fruit and earth but backwards, you could sense that it wanted to strut its stuff but it was not destined to do so on this night (91? points). 1983 Rauzan Segla (Jim); took a while to open but still needs more time and you could taste the house style but it was just darker than the 85 tasted before (91 points).

1983 PLL > 1983 LP > 1983 M > 1983 RZ

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 12:26 pm

Due to the 1986 Ducru Beaucaillou (Ian); corked (no rating) I opted to retry the 1985 Gruaud Larose up against the 1986 Gruaud Larose (Jay); beautiful dark fruited nose, with leather and tobacco which continued on the palate, the only knock is that it seemed to fall off a little as the night progressed (94 points).

1986 GL > 1986 DB

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 12:29 pm

Great stuff, JC.
FYI, your pictures always appear sideways.
The top one appears perfectly, I'm assuming because you held your iphone horizontally.
The following four appear sideways, with the tops of the bottles leaning to the left.
This is always the case with your pictures.
Don't ask me why, but, unless you originally take the picture horizontally like you did in the first photo, you have to "edit" your pictures by spinning them around counter-clockwise. You actually have to edit it twice for some reason. When you click the little arrow thing on the left that spins your picture around, after the first time it will say "revert." You do not want to "revert." At that point you have to click "done." Then, once you do that, you have to go back into "edit" and click the little arrow thing one more time, so that your picture is now right side up again. At this point you click "done" again, and your picture is ready to send as an attachment to your email. Yes. I know. Pretty dumb process.

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 12:43 pm

No meal is complete without dessert! 1988 Climens (Jay); honeyed orange and profile that is eerily similar to my 05 splits which while good (93 points), it was dwarfed when tasted side by side with the 1988 d’Yquem split (Ian); honeyed orange marmalade, with lift and a second gear, a treat (97 points).

1988 Y > 1988 C

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 12:53 pm

And over dessert, I took a page out of Dale’s book and asked everyone what their top 3 top red wines of the night were, so here is that viewpoint;

Dale. 86 GL, 85 RZ, 83 PLL
Ramon. 86 GL, 83 Margaux, 85 RZ
Ian. 86 GL, 83 PLL, 85 RZ
Jayson. 85 RZ, 83 LP, 83 PLL
JC. 85 RZ, 83 PLL, 86 GL
Jim. 83 PLL, 85 RZ, 83 Margaux
Justin. 83 PLL, 83 Margaux, 85 RZ

Total votes:
85 RZ - 2 #1, 2 #2 and 3 #3 = 13
83 PLL - 2 #1, 2 #2 and 2 #3 = 12
86 GL - 3 #1 and 1 #3 = 10
83 Margaux - 2 #2 and 1 #3 = 5
83 LP - 1 #2 = 2

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 1:58 pm

Very impressive tasting and pictures jckba. Great selection of wines.

I agree about the 1985 Léoville Las Cases, an excellent Saint-Julien. Gruaud of the 80's are just all great, as is 1983 Pichon Lalande.

Sorry for the first fligth that should have been better.

1983 Margaux is big. Is the 2015 will be the same?

Finally, like says Alex my brother "Yquem is Yquem"!

Nic

AKR · Post by **AKR** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 3:09 pm

Very cool. I know most of those guys!

Dale actually is visiting us next month.

A real classic selection of wines.

I had a slightly off Branaire-Ducru last night.

stefan · Post by **stefan** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 4:22 pm

Excellent wines! 83 Margaux, 86 Gruaud, and 83 Pichon Lalande are three of my favorites. It is hard to catch a good bottle of 86 Ducru as so many are tainted. Too bad the 82 flight was not great with the corked LB and underperforming Figeac.

Blanquito · Post by **Blanquito** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 5:07 pm

The 83s strike again!

Great line up and notes, thanks for posting.

marcs · Post by **marcs** » Sat Sep 15, 2018 5:41 pm

Blanquito is barred from tasting notes threads until he posts more notes on the awesome lineup at his Denver event

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 12:37 am

Back in Blighty now. My colleague told me there were some very famous actresses on the flight but I didn’t recognise any of them.

It was a brilliant evening and thanks to JC, Ramon and I think James for organising. It was a whistle stop tour starting with a full day of meetings in DC on Thursday. I also managed to ship back 10 of my preciouses from my NY stash (see photo)

I wish I could have stayed for longer but the only window was Friday night. I hope we can persuade some of last night’s attendees to join (rejoin) our flock.

I met Jay Miller for the first time and he is a charming chap, as is James Simring who brought the Margaux, the Figeac and an extraordinarily dark bottle of 1983 Yquem which we didn’t end up broaching.

Jayson too, whom I met for the first time would be a worthy addition to our brotherhood. As would Justin who joined us last time we were in town in October 2916.

Philipponnat Le Leon 2006 - a single vineyard BdN. Satisfying, precise. ***(1/2)
Laville Haut- Brion 2004 - taut, waxy semillon, good potential ***(*)
Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 2005 - aggressive, over-extracted **(1/2)

Lafon Rochet 1982 - laboured, alive but struggled *1/2
Leoville Barton 1982 - corked
Figeac 1982 - bottle was in bad condition, picked itself up and went from strength to strength. I have had better bottles of this but it was inspiring all the same. I found myself going back to it several times. ****

Rauzan Segla 1985 - beautifully elegant, quite a lean palate; fine boned ****
Leoville-Lascases 1985 - tasted clunky next to the R-S, a lot of heft and potential ****(1/2)
Gruaud-Larose - suffered initially from being popped and poured it evened out, and once it did it showed beautifully ****

Rauzan-Segla 1983 - quite similar to the 1985 dark fruited, plenty of life, if anything it needs more time. ****
Leoville-Poyferre 1983 - showed extremely well, perfectly a point ****
Pichon Lalande 1983 - exuberant, firing on all cylinders, on top form *****
Chateau Margaux 1983 - curmudgeonly and obstreperous still; a colossus; needs decades ***(**)

Ducru Beaucaillou 1986 - corked
Gruaud Larose 1986 - magnificent, density, power and authority *****

Climens 1988 - had a slightly bitter streak, not flawed but have had better bottles of this ***
D’Yquem 1988 - different league to the Climens on the night; fine bottle and last one from the case *****

This was a pretty good showing. The Rauzans punched above their weight - more like Sugar Ray Leonard than Joe Frazier - and were a delight.

I have been pessimistic about the longevity of the 1983s. On this showing my theory is dead wrong. They all showed superbly last night.

Really pleasantly surprised by the Poyferre but the Pichon waltzed away with the wine of the flight. The Margaux is still a brute, shockingly backward for a 35 year old wine.

But one thing I have learned is that you never bet against Gruaud Larose 1986 in a head to head. It was my red wine if the night by a nose, over the 83 Pichon Lalande. Love the mid palate density and it is really drinking well now.

Sutton Inn was low key but was an ideal venue for our informal gathering.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/sEAEYzcEm3xxRVbw8

AKR · Post by **AKR** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 12:46 am

Which Jay Miller graced your table? The one I know? or his evil twin?

I assumed it's the NJ one since I see Climens showed up, and Jay has that running through his veins.

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 12:56 am

Arv if you look at the second to last photo he is at the end of the table, on the right.

TomRippe · Post by **TomRippe** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 1:11 am

Hi, this is a message for Jim How. I'm sorry to post it here but I'm not proficient on the computer and I can't negotiate the PM function.

Hi Jim, I'm not computer proficient so I hope this PM reaches you. My name is Tom Rippe and I've met you several times at BWE events. Ian too and others I would know by in person. Apparently there is a private BWE email list that announced this wine dinner during Ian's visit. I will tell you that I am distraught (for myself, not for you lucky attendees) that I missed this night. I faithfully check the BWE offline listing at least weekly looking for the yearly (or less) dinner. I've enjoyed the 82 dinner and last year the dinner at a French restaurant on the East Side (83 bordeaux?) (and other dinners) But I always found the announcement on the BWE listing. Not to whine too much but I wait all year for these dinners and, so, wonder if I might be included on the mailing list? Thanks very much. Tom Rippe tomrippe@gmail.com

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 1:37 am

I hear you, Tom.
I wasn't aware of the dinner, either.
Not much can be done I suppose. Sometimes I get invited to private dinners, sometimes I don't.
I agree it is not exactly in the spirit of BWE, but I don't think we can dictate to people who to invite/not invite to events that people organize behind the scenes.
Our annual BWE conventions of course are open to everyone.
Jim

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 3:54 am

Hi Tom,

This wasn’t a BWE dinner, though you probably wouldn’t be able to tell that from the lineup. Ian’s one night in the city coincided with a planned dinner with some friends of mine, so we changed the theme, included Ian and opened it up to a couple of his friends from his old NYC tasting group. I wanted to in turn open up the invite to increase the BWE representation but some of the group was opposed to going above a headcount of 8 so I simply abided by their wishes.

TomRippe · Post by **TomRippe** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 7:09 am

Thanks Jim and jckba. I apologize for assuming this was a BWE dinner. I understand how/what the dinner was. So when's the next dinner!

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 11:35 am

No worries and let’s try and get something on the calendar, Jim what does your workload look like for the rest of the year?

marcs · Post by **marcs** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:36 pm

Comte Flaneur wrote: It was a brilliant evening and thanks to JC, Ramon and I think James for organising. It was a whistle stop tour starting with a full day of meetings in DC on Thursday.

let us know the next time you're in DC and we'll set something up here!

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 6:58 pm

I’ll have a clearer idea of my schedule after this week, JC.

AKR · Post by **AKR** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 7:10 pm

Comte Flaneur wrote:Arv if you look at the second to last photo he is at the end of the table, on the right.

Ahhh yes, just as I suspected. The Climens appearance of course is the dead giveaway. It's like the old game of Clue - the Culprit Jay Miller in the Conservatory with a double mag of Climens

AKR · Post by **AKR** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 7:27 pm

TomRippe wrote:Hi, this is a message for Jim How. I'm sorry to post it here but I'm not proficient on the computer and I can't negotiate the PM function.

Hi Jim, I'm not computer proficient so I hope this PM reaches you. My name is Tom Rippe and I've met you several times at BWE events. Ian too and others I would know by in person. Apparently there is a private BWE email list that announced this wine dinner during Ian's visit. I will tell you that I am distraught (for myself, not for you lucky attendees) that I missed this night. I faithfully check the BWE offline listing at least weekly looking for the yearly (or less) dinner. I've enjoyed the 82 dinner and last year the dinner at a French restaurant on the East Side (83 bordeaux?) (and other dinners) But I always found the announcement on the BWE listing. Not to whine too much but I wait all year for these dinners and, so, wonder if I might be included on the mailing list? Thanks very much. Tom Rippe tomrippe@gmail.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zngeSzH3cFk

Comte Flaneur · Post by **Comte Flaneur** » Sun Sep 16, 2018 9:17 pm

marcs wrote:
Comte Flaneur wrote: It was a brilliant evening and thanks to JC, Ramon and I think James for organising. It was a whistle stop tour starting with a full day of meetings in DC on Thursday.
let us know the next time you're in DC and we'll set something up here!

Hi Marc

I would have dearly loved to have arranged something with the DC crowd which, unless I am mistaken, is much more populous that the Manhattan BWE crowd. But the schedule was so tight that I arrived late one evening and had to fly out the next. C’est la vie. Hopefully next time.

I don’t know of any full time BWErs in Manhattan because JC is in CT and Ramon is no longer part of our brotherhood, both of whom are my natural first ports of call. It was fortuitous that something was already in the works for that date. Hopefully next time we will have more time as in October 2016.

As they say in Roman Catholic wedding ceremonies ‘peace to you’ all.

CFdB

P.S. if the 2019 convention is in Denver count me in!

1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Re: 1980’s left bank Bdx @ Sutton Inn 9/14

Who is online