SF BWE offline
SF BWE offline
Amazing dinner at SFEd’s place tonight. Kicked off with 96 Dom then 99 Comtes. Just gets better from there! Lots of notes to come I am sure!
Re: SF BWE offline
- 370A19A0-E5F5-4F43-BFB8-1FFE89C3C188.jpeg (58.67 KiB) Viewed 707 times
- 7AA79063-B8C5-484E-87BF-E4E7F3DAEFCE.jpeg (64.25 KiB) Viewed 714 times
Re: SF BWE offline
Excellent lineup and I am fully looking forward to the notes and what reigned supreme!
-
JimHow
- Posts: 20217
- Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:49 pm
- Location: Lewiston, Maine, United States
- Contact:
Re: SF BWE offline
Very nice!
Re: SF BWE offline
What a great evening of classic BWE fun! Arv was coming to SF and that was the impetus to get us all together. MichaelP and Nalan joined us, as did Peter (cabfan) and a guest star from Paris, Tim.
Lots of great conversation and food, but you all want to hear about the wines. I didn't take notes so what follows are more impressions than anything else.
The 1999 Tattinger Comtes de Champagne was excellent, crisp and refreshing.
The 1996 Dom Perignon was rich, lush, and perfectly mature. A total pleasure.
Only theme was Bordeaux, so given this group, you knew stuff was going to have some age on it
We decided to drink from back to front. We started with a couple of MichaelP specials:
1934 Talbot - Remarkably sound, very savory/unami, perfect for cheese.
1934 Montrose - Great condition, with a very similar flavor profile to the Talbot except for having more fruit and depth. Outstanding and a real treat. 1934 is a very good vintage that doesn't get enough love (Broadbent only gives it 3 stars out of 5)
Then we moved on to a number of middle aged bottles:
1964 Canon - My WOTN. Loads of life, deep red fruit, moderate tannins and very long. I love 1964 Right Bank wines.
1975 Lynch Bages - 44 years old and still not ready. Ripe fruit but a bit dilute, with loads of tannins on the backend. Classic 1975.
1982 Brainaire Ducru - tasted very much like it did in the famous BWE NYC 1982 tasting in 2003. Well balanced and complete. Really nice and still good "value", if such a thing exists in 1982 BDX.
1985 Haut Brion - perfect example of a great wine that gets lost in a tasting. Very 1985 profile, with good fruit and balanced light structure. Would have been more enjoyable on its own since it didn't have the peaks needed to shine at a dinner like this.
Then we had some "young" bottles:
1995 Canon La Gaffeliere - solid but nothing special. Still could use more time to evolve.
1999 Peby Faugeres - too much ripe fruit too late in the evening for me.
2000 Clos Dubreuil - too much ripe fruit too late in the evening for me.
And finally Sauternes:
1971 Rieussec - Brilliant. Not very sweet, loads of botyrtis, exactly what I want from a Sauternes.
2005 Suiduiraut - Very good but still far too young for me to properly enjoy/evaluate.
I saw others taking copious notes, so I expect much better to follow. But any evening with this group, with such amazing wines, is a pleasure.
SF Ed
Lots of great conversation and food, but you all want to hear about the wines. I didn't take notes so what follows are more impressions than anything else.
The 1999 Tattinger Comtes de Champagne was excellent, crisp and refreshing.
The 1996 Dom Perignon was rich, lush, and perfectly mature. A total pleasure.
Only theme was Bordeaux, so given this group, you knew stuff was going to have some age on it
We decided to drink from back to front. We started with a couple of MichaelP specials:1934 Talbot - Remarkably sound, very savory/unami, perfect for cheese.
1934 Montrose - Great condition, with a very similar flavor profile to the Talbot except for having more fruit and depth. Outstanding and a real treat. 1934 is a very good vintage that doesn't get enough love (Broadbent only gives it 3 stars out of 5)
Then we moved on to a number of middle aged bottles:
1964 Canon - My WOTN. Loads of life, deep red fruit, moderate tannins and very long. I love 1964 Right Bank wines.
1975 Lynch Bages - 44 years old and still not ready. Ripe fruit but a bit dilute, with loads of tannins on the backend. Classic 1975.
1982 Brainaire Ducru - tasted very much like it did in the famous BWE NYC 1982 tasting in 2003. Well balanced and complete. Really nice and still good "value", if such a thing exists in 1982 BDX.
1985 Haut Brion - perfect example of a great wine that gets lost in a tasting. Very 1985 profile, with good fruit and balanced light structure. Would have been more enjoyable on its own since it didn't have the peaks needed to shine at a dinner like this.
Then we had some "young" bottles:
1995 Canon La Gaffeliere - solid but nothing special. Still could use more time to evolve.
1999 Peby Faugeres - too much ripe fruit too late in the evening for me.
2000 Clos Dubreuil - too much ripe fruit too late in the evening for me.
And finally Sauternes:
1971 Rieussec - Brilliant. Not very sweet, loads of botyrtis, exactly what I want from a Sauternes.
2005 Suiduiraut - Very good but still far too young for me to properly enjoy/evaluate.
I saw others taking copious notes, so I expect much better to follow. But any evening with this group, with such amazing wines, is a pleasure.
SF Ed
Last edited by SF Ed on Sun Oct 06, 2019 5:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: SF BWE offline
Well done SF group. Sorry I missed this one. Looks like a great time was had by all.
Bill
Bill
Re: SF BWE offline
Thanks to ED and Lisa for hosting. Great group of folks and fun conversation. Learnt more about Tim's work (French company) and his leading them setting up a U.S. sales presence. Learnt about Peter's new house and the sale of Arv's 71 Corvette.
Actually I thought the food, especially the main course, a salt encrusted duck cooked by Ed, was the consumable highlight of the evening.
Regarding the wines, I also did not take notes but all of them were intact and showing well, a few thoughts in ranking order:
64 - WOTN, rich, long and very balanced and very complex (96)
34 - Montrose - fresh and rich (94)
75 - Lynch - big and rich. I like tannins (94)
85 - HB (94)
71 - Rieussec (94)
82 - Branaire (93)
96 - Dom (93)
99 - Peby (92)
99 - Tat (90)
05 - Sud (90)
00 - Dubreuil (89)
95 - Canon Gaff (87)
Michael-P
Actually I thought the food, especially the main course, a salt encrusted duck cooked by Ed, was the consumable highlight of the evening.
Regarding the wines, I also did not take notes but all of them were intact and showing well, a few thoughts in ranking order:
64 - WOTN, rich, long and very balanced and very complex (96)
34 - Montrose - fresh and rich (94)
75 - Lynch - big and rich. I like tannins (94)
85 - HB (94)
71 - Rieussec (94)
82 - Branaire (93)
96 - Dom (93)
99 - Peby (92)
99 - Tat (90)
05 - Sud (90)
00 - Dubreuil (89)
95 - Canon Gaff (87)
Michael-P
Re: SF BWE offline
Nice reports guys. I like especially the pictures.
SF crew made it again. i'm impressed by the array of vintages and a bit jalous. Having AKR and Tim on site make it just more rocambolesque.
After not liking at all the 03 Péby Faugères i had many years ago, I was looking forward your TN on that wine, and knowing the vintage. What I understand, other were better.
Nic
SF crew made it again. i'm impressed by the array of vintages and a bit jalous. Having AKR and Tim on site make it just more rocambolesque.
After not liking at all the 03 Péby Faugères i had many years ago, I was looking forward your TN on that wine, and knowing the vintage. What I understand, other were better.
Nic
Re: SF BWE offline
Thanks for Ed & Lisa for hosting the elite cadre of West Coast BWE!
=============
We started with pates, charcuterie, and breadstuffs along with
96 Dom Perignon [Champagne] Lovely, still lots of bubbles, some relative sweetness to it when compared to the other sparkly
99 Tattinger Comtes de Champagne BdB [Champagne] a little cooler textured than the Dom. crisper to me.
34 Talbot [St Julien] smoky, charcoal, quite light in color, fresh, some orange peel flavors, bricking at edges
34 Montrose [St Estephe] Dark ruby in color, salami notes on the nose, also some smoke. both 34's showed a lot of zippiness. Tannins are gone but maybe they lived on a spine of old school acid. denser than the Talbot
With a first course of roast stuffed eggplants and a spinach salad we segued into:
64 Canon [St Emilion] sweet, harmonious, amazingly complete wine, nose of sandalwood. a great year for right bank wines, and still vibrant. my favorite wine of the evening.
75 Lynch Bages [Pauillac] some iodine on the nose, bloody notes. color is pale. still kind of tannic. Although most of the wines tonight were new to me, I don't think I'd ever tasted this before.
82 Branaire Ducru [St Julien] Very well done. pure & balanced.
85 Haut Brion [Pessac Leognan] Fabulous, rich, sweet texture. My second favorite wine after the old Canon.
With the main course of salt baked duck breast & haricots verts we had the brash 'young' wines:
95 Canon La Gaffeliere [St Emilion] I liked this very much too, and it was my 3rd favorite. It's an excellent, balanced wine, at its peak. We discussed the relative merits of their great efforts of that decade - 1990, 1995 and 1998. SFEd felt 98 was the best of that era.
99 Peby Faugeres [St Emilion] Even at age 20, compared to all the other older wines, it seems primal, even grapey/fruity. I get some oak too. Modern styled
00 Clos Dubreuil [St Emilion] Dark & dense. In this era, this was associated with Mitjavile (Tetre Roteboeuf et al) so its going to be in that big style. I wish I'd had this earlier, before my palate was diminished, since this was my only experience with it. They make a couple thousand cases, but you don't see it much.
There was an impressive spectrum of cheeses and a buttery fig tart to pair with the Sauternes:
71 Rieussec [Sauternes] Apricot / amber in hue, lots of zestiness. It has kept well.
05 Suduiraut [Sauternes] Lush, some coconut flavors, more honey gold in color, pale compared to the other Sauternes. I actually like this better though.
=============
Fabulous food, great company, and lots of luck with the wines. Everything was sound and in great form, which given age/bottle variation/TCA etc. is pretty lucky. I'll try to post some pictures if I have any good ones. Fortunately, I drank a lot of water, and didn't over imbibe, so I was able to have a busy/productive Sunday....even if finely focused thoughts on the last round of reds are missing.
Thanks everyone!
=============
We started with pates, charcuterie, and breadstuffs along with
96 Dom Perignon [Champagne] Lovely, still lots of bubbles, some relative sweetness to it when compared to the other sparkly
99 Tattinger Comtes de Champagne BdB [Champagne] a little cooler textured than the Dom. crisper to me.
34 Talbot [St Julien] smoky, charcoal, quite light in color, fresh, some orange peel flavors, bricking at edges
34 Montrose [St Estephe] Dark ruby in color, salami notes on the nose, also some smoke. both 34's showed a lot of zippiness. Tannins are gone but maybe they lived on a spine of old school acid. denser than the Talbot
With a first course of roast stuffed eggplants and a spinach salad we segued into:
64 Canon [St Emilion] sweet, harmonious, amazingly complete wine, nose of sandalwood. a great year for right bank wines, and still vibrant. my favorite wine of the evening.
75 Lynch Bages [Pauillac] some iodine on the nose, bloody notes. color is pale. still kind of tannic. Although most of the wines tonight were new to me, I don't think I'd ever tasted this before.
82 Branaire Ducru [St Julien] Very well done. pure & balanced.
85 Haut Brion [Pessac Leognan] Fabulous, rich, sweet texture. My second favorite wine after the old Canon.
With the main course of salt baked duck breast & haricots verts we had the brash 'young' wines:
95 Canon La Gaffeliere [St Emilion] I liked this very much too, and it was my 3rd favorite. It's an excellent, balanced wine, at its peak. We discussed the relative merits of their great efforts of that decade - 1990, 1995 and 1998. SFEd felt 98 was the best of that era.
99 Peby Faugeres [St Emilion] Even at age 20, compared to all the other older wines, it seems primal, even grapey/fruity. I get some oak too. Modern styled
00 Clos Dubreuil [St Emilion] Dark & dense. In this era, this was associated with Mitjavile (Tetre Roteboeuf et al) so its going to be in that big style. I wish I'd had this earlier, before my palate was diminished, since this was my only experience with it. They make a couple thousand cases, but you don't see it much.
There was an impressive spectrum of cheeses and a buttery fig tart to pair with the Sauternes:
71 Rieussec [Sauternes] Apricot / amber in hue, lots of zestiness. It has kept well.
05 Suduiraut [Sauternes] Lush, some coconut flavors, more honey gold in color, pale compared to the other Sauternes. I actually like this better though.
=============
Fabulous food, great company, and lots of luck with the wines. Everything was sound and in great form, which given age/bottle variation/TCA etc. is pretty lucky. I'll try to post some pictures if I have any good ones. Fortunately, I drank a lot of water, and didn't over imbibe, so I was able to have a busy/productive Sunday....even if finely focused thoughts on the last round of reds are missing.
Thanks everyone!
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 304 guests