Birthday Wines

[William P]

Well I hit the venerable age of 70 today and for the first time in more than a year Lin and I are going to dinner with a small group of vaccinated friends. Even though my friends are not enthusiast (they like wine just not on the same scale) I thought I would celebrate our friendship with a few bottles from the cellar.

2010 Dom Perignon.
2000 Pontet Canet
2019 Walter Scott Chardonnay Cuvee Anne

I'll either bring a 2012 St. Innocent Shea or a 2019 Walter Scott Pinot Cuvee Ruth.

I having difficulty separating from the Shea. Hopefully it will be a fun night. I'll try to post notes tomorrow.

Bill

[AKR]

Now you can start taking the QCD election from your IRA/401k etc. !!!

Congrats

[JimHow]

Happy birthday, Billy!
Looking forward to your notes.

[jal]

Happy Birthday Bill! These are amazing wines, hope they show great!

[Dandersson]

Happy Birthday Bill! Enjoy your wines!

Best, Dan

[Nicklasss]

Happy birthday Bill. Have a good one with Lin and friends.

The wines will just make it a bit more festive.

[s*d*r]

Happy b-day, Bill. Enjoy your evening.

[Harry C.]

70? You lie! Enjoy

[stefan]

Welcome to the septuagenarian club, Bill! Bet you are having a good time.

[SF Ed]

Lisa shares your birthday! We opened a 2002 Cristal tonight in celebration. Very tasty with citrus notes and a long finish, but in no way worth the tariff.

[Comte Flaneur]

Happy birthday Bill! And Lisa!

[JimHow]

...and Lisa!

[Claudius2]

Yes
Happy birthday let’s see the tasting notes!

Ed
I rarely buy prestige Champagne these days as the NV wines from the best producers are so good I just don’t see the need to buy them. I also age NVs which may sound unusual but the better wines age as well as vintage cuvées. Some decades back I would buy Cristal, Dom, Krug Vintage, Perrier Jouet Belle Époque and Salon but now I just don’t see the need for it.

Cheers
Mark

[Jay Winton]

Happy birthday to both BWEs!

[William P]

Thank you for all the well wishes. Also happy birthday to Lisa. It was a fun night.

2000 Pontet Canet. A beautiful mature Bordeaux that has just enter its plateau. I think it will have many more years ahead. The scent of this wine is special. It's very floral, earthy, leather, and tobacco make up a most pleasurable olfactory experience. Structurally, it is a medium bodied wine and by today's standard maybe a medium minus. It had been opened about an hour earlier than consumption. Tannins are present but very mellow as a result of aging. This bottle was wonderfully balanced given the fruit, tannins and sufficient acidity.

The restaurant was a bit dark making color identification difficult. It appeared to be a dark purple robe and opaque.

On the palate, again wonderfully balanced, flavors of mature blackberry, leather, earthy. Above average finish.

For me, this was confirmation of my decision to cellar Bordeaux. It was a wine worthy of my birthday.

2010 Dom Perignon. I admit that champagne is not a wine that I pursue. I appreciate great champagnes especially those brought to our annual convention but I general do not purchase them. The Dom is a very focused wine, almost linear in nature. It had a wonderful scent of yeast and bread. Moderately intense on the palate. I saw someone describe it a lithe and that's a good description. I recognize its breeding but again I'm not overwhelmed by champagne and for the money, I rather buy a Grand Cru White Burgundy. A fine wine, it simply doesn't push my buttons though age should increase its beauty.

2019 Walter Scott Pinot Cuvee Ruth. I didn't pay as much attention to this wine as I should. Complex on the palate, dark cherry, minerals, and stemmy as they crush whole clusters. Medium bodied on the lighter side. Very precise. Clean. It has a fine acid backbone and will age nicely. This will be a fine intermediate Oregon Pinot.

Bill