DC BWE mini get together!

[marcs]

I got together with Joel and Joel's friend Mark, another DC wine fanatic we are trying to get involved with BWE (MARK IF YOU ARE READING THIS JOIN THIS WEB SITE RIGHT NOW!) got together this weekend to taste some Bordeaux. Even though only two of us are BWE members I am going to say that this was a BWE gathering conducted in honor of the traditional March BWE dinner. In fond memory of the March 2020 dinner and eager anticipation of what should be a great fall 2021 DC dinner.

We ate outside at a nice restaurant under a heat lamp. Despite the heat lamp I have to say that as the evening went on (in grand BWE tradition we were there from 6:00 through the closing of the restaurant at 11:00) the cold got to be more of an issue for wine appreciation. Temps were in the low 50s, perhaps high 40s by the end, and we could not keep the wines warm enough to be as giving as they should have been. It's pretty remarkable how narrow the effective temperature is for red wine enjoyment, outside of about 58 degrees to 70 degrees ambient temperature you're going to have some problems.

Due to our limited numbers we could open "only" five reds and one Champagne. Three of the reds -- the 2000 Lynch, 1998 Clos L'Eglise, and 2004 VCC, were the stars of the night and dominated the evening, not only because of their inherent quality but also I think because we were most interested in them because of their reputation.

2004 Ruinart Blanc de Blancs -- this started out somewhat pointed/acidic/severe for my taste. Contrary to current fashion I like some sweetness and depth in my Champagnes. When people praise acidity and "precision" in champagne it often signals I won't like it. However, it opened up, sweetened, and broadened out over the course of the evening in a nice demonstration of the benefits of moderate age for champagne. It retained balance but got a nice creaminess and sweetness to it. We got antipasto to start and I have to say champagne really shines in the random appetizer setting because of its food flexibility. I used to not be into Champagne but now I'm appreciating it more, especially when it's deeper/fuller/more complex. Just what I need, something else to spend on.

2000 Lynch Bages -- this wine has a stellar rep and has zoomed up to over $300/bottle on the secondary market, it's kind of becoming the new 1989 Lynch. It is very good if you are looking for a very classic Pauillac experience -- touch of green, razor sharp structure but fruit that gives impact, just a super Cabernet wine. I missed a little sensuality in it to be honest, especially when drinking it alone. The temperature of course didn't help with that. However, it really was a perfect match to the braised lamb entree I ordered, it's so good that you can drink it alone in a cocktail setting if you like a classic expression of cab but this is a wine that was born to drink with lamb.

1998 Clos L'Eglise -- I brought this one. I was pretty much bowled over by a 1998 Clos L'Eglise I had a few weeks ago. I was astounded because this was Michel Rolland's first (or second?) vintage at Clos l"Eglise and neither the producer nor the vintage had a particularly celebrated rep. I was all prepared to find some kind of chocolatey fruit bomb that was already fading. But what I got was just a gorgeous stunner of a Pomerol, seamlessly mixed the hedonism and subtlety. Yes, it had a very pleasurable milk chocolate element to it, but it also had a saline edge, a touch of ocean freshness, along with a nice leafiness and just a beautiful ease of expression. Off the strength of that bottle, I actually reloaded on this, once again violating my now very tattered "moratorium", adding three bottles to my holding so I now have four left.

The bottle tonight, from my second batch (K&L) was not quite as good as the first one I had, but it was still a super pretty wine that vied with the Lynch Bages for WOTN on a very equal plane. I think the temperature hurt this wine more than others as you do need to warm up to fully express that soft chocolatey Pomerol quality. It still did have a nice soft right bank sweetness along with a more pronounced leafiness that added complexity. Others commented on residual oak in the wine but it was just a hint that I really liked, gave a bit of caramel that added complexity. This had enough leafiness that Joel actually compared it to the Lynch. This led to a great BLIND TASTING MOMENT where I challenged Joel to blind me on the Clos d'Eglise vs the Lynch and I unhesitatingly and correctly identified the Clos. The Pauillac/Pomerol distinction was quite evident. I am a truly horrible blind taster on fully blind wines but I love trying to distinguish wines single-blind and have done it OK a couple of times.

2004 Vieux Chateau Certan -- the second bottle I brought, very interesting bottle here. Amazing fill, halfway up the neck. Remarkable nose, very fruity with intense brown sugar to the level of molasses / burnt sugar. However, the palate was clenched and harsh, with significant tannin and and a left bank quality -- definitely the cabernet quality to the fore on this one. The palate was imposing and fruity enough to be fun, but it just wasn't that giving or open. I feel like the temperature might have hurt this one too, because it definitely needed all the warmth it could get to help open up that palate. Remembering the 2004 VCC I had on the Zoom, that also had a very structural/imposing quality, definitely not soft, but it was more giving and just less aggressive with the tannins and acidity. Again temperature may have had something to do with this. The nose indicates that this one has a LONG way to go. Consensus was that this evening it was a step being the Lynch and Clos.

2012 Pontet Canet -- I didn't focus on this one much because of the sheer challenge of handling so much alcohol. But it was a nice wine. The very first Pontet Canet I've tasted. Early in the evening it was the warmest wine as Mark had brought it from home in insulation. I did find it a bit weak and flabby in comparison to what I normally expect from Bordeaux. Kind of soft for a left banker. But at the same time it was pleasantly fruity and enjoyable, reasonable depth. Felt ready to drink even though it is rather young. Don't remember a ton of detail here.

2000 D'Issan -- opened at the end of the evening. It was really quite chilly by then and I think this one would have benefited a lot from opening up over time in a warm room. Very imposing nose with heavy charcoal mixed somehow with some floral sweetness. Clearly a good and impressive wine but I didn't really have the focus or tasting ability left to come to a full assessment of its quality.

Awesome evening, we literally shut the place down!

[JimHow]

Wow, sounds like a great BWE adventure, worthy of BWE month.
Your first Pontet Canet, no less...

[DavidG]

Superb report Marcus. I always love your notes, great combination of specifics and generalities, clinical and emotional.

[Blanquito]

... we literally shut the place down!

Now that sounds like a true BWE night!

[AKR]

Lot of wine there!

[JoelD]

Here is the lineup pic for the night.

What a great time, and very glad we were able to get together. The three of us turned out to be a great crew for wine tasting. Probably because all of us can drink and talk for two, so it felt like six! (And I actually mean that in the good way)

Great restaurant called Lena's on the Arlington/Alexandria border. Great food and amazing corkage prices. First 2 bottles free, $20 a bottle after that with no restrictions. Only thing they lack are good red wine glasses and decanters. So I would recommend bringing both. The cold definitely wasn't a problem for sitting outside, although it did make a few of the wines just a tad too cold. Although I would argue this is better than the 75 degrees it gets inside restaurants sometimes!

I got there a bit earlier than my late companions, with no complaints. So I got to pop and taste the 2000 Lynch early and it was amazing out of the gate. Lots of freshness, and I'd argue more sensuality than Marcus seemed to think. Just a touch of green but barely noticeable. Very balanced. Might even call this wine a little glossy, in a good way. We all agreed it was one of the two wines of the night.

Clos L'eglise 1998. 1a, 1b between this and the Lynch for WOTN. For current prices I would go with the Clos though. They both had an uplifting freshness to them, but the Clos had more rustic and tertiary notes with just random different flavors popping and a touch of coffee beans on the nose. Very good wine from an amazing vintage.

The Ruinart 2004 opened up fairly nicely, with a great nose that had some richness and some oxidative notes. Both of which I am a big fan of usually. However something about this wine just didn't do it for me and I'm starting to believe I'm not a huge fan of the producer in general. on the mid and back palate it had too strong of an oily almond(Marcona?) that just sat and while it didn't ruin it by any means, its not what I look for in a good vintage brut. The quality of the wine was clear, maybe just not my style.

The VCC 2004 came out of such a perfect bottle that I shouldn't have been surprised that it was hard as nails to start. So we decided to do my new favorite trick of decanting half of the bottle and leaving the other half PNP to try later. As I worried, the decanter softened it too much, too quickly. Although, it felt like it came back around toward the end of the evening. The wine came out much more balanced with some PNP air over an hour or two and was very enjoyable. Just a step behind the first two reds of the evening.

The 2012 Pontet Canet- Maybe the only wine to benefit from cooling down. I have yet to be a fan of this producer's style. However I was very pleasantly surprised and with air, and cellar temps for the tasting it really came into balance towards the middle/end of the night. I think Marcus may have missed out on this since he only tried it early. It had a greenness to it, but was light and floral and balanced. Really came around and I prefer this to both the 2000 and 2008 Pontet that I've had in the recent past. Ready to be enjoyed.

2000 D'issan- Opened at the very end when we ran out of wine, came out with a lot of noticeable oak. But blew off before we closed down the restaurant. I saved 2/3 of the bottle with a Repour as this is one of my favorite wines and I will check back on it this week.

Great night and thankfully remembered to use a spit cup for a fair amount. (Which never seems to happen enough with that evil step sister that we call Burgundy)

Very glad I only had that 375ml of Beychevelle on the zoom the night before. Nothing can replace these in person tastings and hopefully this summer and fall once we've been vaccinated, we can do more of them and more of you can join.

[mrico]

Great post Marcus. Saturday was a lot of fun. For me, the 1998 L'Eglise Clinet was the most unique wine of the evening but I definitely agree that the 2000 Lynch took the evening as the best wine. Glad I could share the Pontet-Canet with you. If I knew it was your first time trying it, I would have brought a bottle of the 2009. I still thought the 2012 was drinking very nicely though. And thanks to Joel as well. The 2004 Dom Ruinart Champagne and 2000 d'Issan also were lovely.

I look forward to our next tasting.

BTW, YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY MARCUS, I JUST JOINED THE WEBSITE!

[JimHow]

Welcome, mrico!

[Nicklasss]

Welcome mrico.

Very nice event, in a BWE spirit. Lucky you.

I agree that the 2000 Lynch Bages is a solid wine. I guess saying it is the best since 1989 is also correct. I'm also in the camp that it is surely a great 2000.

Never had a Clos l'Église and happy to read your comments. 04 VCC seems to need just a few more months/years from your comments. The starting gun is about to fire.

At the Chateau in 2015, the 2012 Pontet Canet was probably less interesting than the 2011 or 2014, but still an excellent modern Pontet Canet. But mrico, wait our visit to DC maybe later this year, as the 2009 is... phenomenal, best young wine i ever had, beating the 2003 Montrose!

2000 d'Issan Was having a strong competition, and being opened last and cold probably did not do honor to it. Happy that Joel will report back on leftover.

[Comte Flaneur]

Well done guys that was an act of heroism keeping the BWE flame burning in the pandemic and as the mercury dipped into the 40s.

Its amazing how the price of 2000 Lynch has soared. It is following in the hallowed footsteps of the 1989, glad your bottle showed well.

I have done a 360 on Lynch. In 2015 I was 180 the other way and our shabby treatment at the estate in 2015 was confirmation bias. It was the least good visit of our trip.

But now I am convinced Lynch is a super second - the market figured this out long before I did but that is why I loaded the truck with the 2019s.

Pontet Canet I think overall is in good egg territory. The only question mark is that Alfred seems to be so agog with Michel Rolland that he was prepared to let go his trusted lieutenant of 30 years, Jean-Michel Comme. One of the most poignant moments of Bordeaux 2015 was when I quizzed JMC about MR and he just rolled his eyes in exasperation.

[JimHow]

$102 for the 2019 Lynch Bages at Zachy's.
Buy or no buy?

[Blanquito]

Well done guys that was an act of heroism keeping the BWE flame burning in the pandemic and as the mercury dipped into the 40s.

Its amazing how the price of 2000 Lynch has soared. It is following in the hallowed footsteps of the 1989, glad your bottle showed well.

I have done a 360 on Lynch. In 2015 I was 180 the other way and our shabby treatment at the estate in 2015 was confirmation bias. It was the least good visit of our trip.

But now I am convinced Lynch is a super second - the market figured this out long before I did but that is why I loaded the truck with the 2019s.

Pontet Canet I think overall is in good egg territory. The only question mark is that Alfred seems to be so agog with Michel Rolland that he was prepared to let go his trusted lieutenant of 30 years, Jean-Michel Comme. One of the most poignant moments of Bordeaux 2015 was when I quizzed JMC about MR and he just rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Lynch may have gone to the dark side for a stretch (2005-2010?), based on what I’ve read (I haven’t tried the wines), but from 1978-2000 at least it’s always one of my favorite clarets and I think the 2016 is a gem. I was delighted to get 4 bottles of the 2016 for $100, which I bet is pushing $300 as well in another 10 years.

What’s the 2019 running?

[JoelD]

$102 for the 2019 Lynch Bages at Zachy's.
Buy or no buy?

I bought some for 95+tax from total wine concierge before they ran out recently. The fact that they allow cancelation for any reason, including tariffs made it so much easier. I would hesitate with Zachys as they are hardasses about anything of that nature. I had a whole tariff argument with them before when they didn't make that clear.

The price is fair, but the tariffs are not lifted for good yet. I would find a different retailer that will let you cancel if there are any at the time of import, or wait until they are lifted for good.

[JimHow]

Sounds like good advice.

[SF Ed]

Sounds like a great evening in the true BWE spirit.

I have a 3L of the 2000 Lynch Bages. I will open it someday at a BWE event. As everyone is saying, it is a very good wine, and one that will continue to improve for a long time.

[JCNorthway]

Also, Wine-Searcher shows it priced in the $90s at several places, including Sothebys in NY.

[JimHow]

Thanks Jon, I guess the question is when to buy.

[DavidG]

Nice notes, Joel, and welcome mrico!

The 2000 Lynch was $75 as a MacArthur future. I was in on the 2019 @ $95. Millesima in NY has it for $88, and I think they’re reliable.

[JoelD]

Update on the 2000 D'issan. Its not a corked or bad bottle but any means, but does not have any of the flair that my previous two bottles have. Almost just a tad muted, not much fruit and no sexy Margaux nose. Slightly sour but that opened up to just a bit of sweetness after 30-45 min in glass. Still very drinkable but not the best showing of a wine that I have Loved a couple times in the last 1.5 years. Glad it was just the backup bottle to the 2000 Lynch which was fantastic.

[jckba]

Nice lineup. I absolutely love the 2000 Lynch. And I would tend to agree, the mutedness of the d’Issan could have very well been due to the bottle being served too cold.

[Jay Winton]

Great gathering and welcome mrico. If my fading memory is correct, I remember popping a bottle of 2000 LB late one night in our BD's hotel room with MichaelP and Tom from (used to be ) DC. This was during the convention in Glen Ellen. We all agreed that the future would be wearing wear shades for this wine.

[Racer Chris]

I had a chance to sample the 2000 LB in 2017 where it stood above the other bottles at the table.
My contribution that night was a 2005 Ch. Bellevue which was excellent to outstanding, and my #2 of the night.

[jal]

Such a wonderful tasting, great job guys. The only wine I have of your line-up is the 2012 Pontet Canet, I think flabby is mainly an issue with the vintage. I'll probably wait a while before opening.
I love the 2004 Ruinart BdB, glad it finally showed up for you.
I now feel bad for selling my 2000 Lynch Bages but I was paid around $170 back in 2011, which was not too shabby. At least I didn't have to store them for 10 years.

And finally, welcome Mark, I'm glad that you successfully navigated the tough challenge question to join the group

[marcs]

Superb report Marcus. I always love your notes, great combination of specifics and generalities, clinical and emotional.

Thanks Dave, really appreciate it. My only compensation for these notes is the appreciation of my fellow BWEers

I do aim in my TNs to combine objective and subjective ("clinical and emotional") in a way that I don't always see in notes. To me, wine tasting is always highly subjective, with your reaction dependent on your personal quirks, your personal history with the wine and your personal expectations for it, the current state of your palate, and all these factors in the setting like the company, the time of night, what else you have drunk, etc. At the same time there is an objective component to what's in the glass. I view each taste/glass/bottle as almost a mini-story where you have to try to tell both the subjective and objective sides. To put it simply, rather than pretend to give a scientific description of what the wine IS in some universal sense, I try to just tell the story of how I personally reacted to the wine that particular night and why, in as straightforward a way as I can.

[s*d*r]

Superb report Marcus. I always love your notes, great combination of specifics and generalities, clinical and emotional.

+1

Great notes from Joel, too.

[JoelD]

Thanks David and Stu,

I try my best but I am no story teller like our favorite DC lobbyist. Looking back, it was hard to give good notes on the VCC, other than thoughts about it's evolution with air. Probably because it changed so much. But I was very glad to try as it was my first VCC, but certainly won't be my last. I have some older ones coming in that should be fun.