A Very BWE Night, Largest Gathering Since Covid
Posted: Sun May 23, 2021 9:08 pm
It took a couple months, and a few other smaller tastings to be able to get a full group together but we finally did. With all 10 people in this group vaccinated, we found a perfect time for an end of spring tasting. What better than a Bordeaux(with some age) theme. As well as a few champagnes and Sauternes.
A few BWE'ers mixed in with some of the DC crowd and a few new friends. Great to see Winona Chief and Marjorie in person after many zoom tastings this last year. We (almost) made it to midnight to do a champagne toast for Chris's birthday but alas, we had such a good time early that we didn't quite make it.
Started with 3 champagnes and a white burg.
-NV 2017 dis, Perseval Farge Jean Baptiste-Bit of a hidden gem, great with some air and some nice aged notes. A tad rich at first but precision showed later
-2006 Taittinger Comtes- Started out a bit closed, but opened up for me around 30-60 minutes and gave some real enjoyment. Interesting, greenish color which I noticed on a bottle a few years ago as well.
-2008 Vilmart Grand Cellier d'Or- Definitely my favorite champagne of the night. Had all sorts of interesting notes, with good acidity and great balance. Very glad to try and will seek out.
-2014 Bouchard Meursault Genevrieres- Decent wine, but not my style. Rich and not much precision. Great color, no premox.
-1985 Pichon Lalande- Started out with tons of green pepper and vegetal notes, I didn't have high hopes and ignored for an hour or two. Thankfully Eric and Janet have great palates and it was their favorite, so I tried again and wow. It really balanced, most of those early notes faded and the structure balanced out the wine. A little fruit showed as well. WOTN candidate, top 3 for sure.
-1986 Pichon Lalande- Came out of the gate very nice, with beautiful structure. Very 1986 wine. But much more approachable for me than the 3L that was brought to BWE 2020. However sadly, as the night went on, a small amount of cork taint showed. Not enough to be undrinkable but clear that it was slightly off.
-1989 Pichon Lalande- This also came out of the gate, and was just fantastic. Great structure and balance. Perfectly aged. Probably at peak, maybe coming down from peak. Still a touch of fruit left, but great secondary and tertiary notes. WOTN candidate, top 3 for sure.
-1995 Grand Puy Lacoste- Also came out firing. What a perfect combination of nice spice notes, balanced by some acidity and a little fruit. Also a WOTN candidate, top 5 for sure. Although didn't have Quite the complexity of the 85/89 Pichons
-2000 Calon Segur- Tasty wine, ready to drink but could easily use a few years. I liked this, although some of the other wines outshown it a tad. I found it to be something in between the 95GPL and the 2000 Ducru.
-2000 Ducru- Wow, what structure. If you want serious bordeaux, this is it. Likely still a bit closed, but I think it is almost out of its slumber. This had such beautiful complexity while being completely structured with some acidity. This needs a blanquito or two. But so fun to taste now. WOTN candidate, top 5 for sure.
-2000 Pape Clement- Definitely the most modern styled wine of the night, big, big wine. Needed a decant. But really strutted its stuff after an hour or two of air. A very good balance of modern/classic bordeaux. Reminded me of some Smith Haut Lafite and Leoville Poyferre. Classicists might not like it, and I enjoyed but not as much as some of the others.
-2001 Pichon Lalande- What a sexy wine. Glossy maybe? Definitely more feminine than its 2001 Baron counterpart. Came out firing, probably the best nose of the night on any wine. Ready to go, although could benefit from a few years in the cellar. Very tasty.
-2001 Pichon Baron- This one had clear potential, but a bit too tanic and young. A decant would have probably been good. I tried the last glass that was left of this and the 01 lalande on the second night. And not surprisingly, the baron was better than the lalande on the second day. Although both wines were still better on the first night.
-2008 Ducru- Short decant on this bottle, and it needed it. But wow, what a wine this already is. If you like your wines younger and with a bit more fruit, this is the clear winner over the 2000. I loved it, but if you made me choose, the 2000 is more my style. Both great.
1959 Guiraud- Wow. What a beautiful golden color, looked 20 years old, not 60. I was a tad worried about the fill, but shouldn't have been. It completely lived up and surpassed expectations. Great with the crumble apple pie that Eric brought. Didn't have much as I was still focused on the reds at that point, but so much fun.
1988 La Tour Blanche- Very orange color, although still a good wine. Some don't like these dark sauternes and I tend to be in that group. However this was quite solid. Did not come close to the 59 though.
This was just a fantastic night. Came together perfectly. Thanks to Ben for hosting as his nice courtyard outside. Perfect amount of wines. I believe 16 wines opened for 10 people. Not a single bad wine, other than the slightly corked 86. And most wines were excellent, with a couple outstanding. Great combination of people. Hope to do more like this during the summer. Especially good to get a Bordeaux night in before it starts getting a bit warmer.
If I had to rank the wines, instead of rate with points, this is about how I see it even though I usually prefer to only compare similar wines. So many close calls and awesome wines though.
1. 1985 Pichon Lalande
2. 1989 Pichon Lalande
3. 2008 Vilmart Grand Cellier
4. 2000 Ducru
5. 1995 GPL
6. 2008 Ducru
7. 2001 Pichon Lalande
8. 1959 Guiraud
9. 2006 Taittinger Comtes
10. 2001 Pichon Baron
11. 2000 Pape Clement
12. 2000 Calon Segur
13. Perseval Farge
14. 1986 Pichon Lalande
15. 1988 La Tour Blanche
16. 2014 Bouchard Genevrieres
A few BWE'ers mixed in with some of the DC crowd and a few new friends. Great to see Winona Chief and Marjorie in person after many zoom tastings this last year. We (almost) made it to midnight to do a champagne toast for Chris's birthday but alas, we had such a good time early that we didn't quite make it.
Started with 3 champagnes and a white burg.
-NV 2017 dis, Perseval Farge Jean Baptiste-Bit of a hidden gem, great with some air and some nice aged notes. A tad rich at first but precision showed later
-2006 Taittinger Comtes- Started out a bit closed, but opened up for me around 30-60 minutes and gave some real enjoyment. Interesting, greenish color which I noticed on a bottle a few years ago as well.
-2008 Vilmart Grand Cellier d'Or- Definitely my favorite champagne of the night. Had all sorts of interesting notes, with good acidity and great balance. Very glad to try and will seek out.
-2014 Bouchard Meursault Genevrieres- Decent wine, but not my style. Rich and not much precision. Great color, no premox.
-1985 Pichon Lalande- Started out with tons of green pepper and vegetal notes, I didn't have high hopes and ignored for an hour or two. Thankfully Eric and Janet have great palates and it was their favorite, so I tried again and wow. It really balanced, most of those early notes faded and the structure balanced out the wine. A little fruit showed as well. WOTN candidate, top 3 for sure.
-1986 Pichon Lalande- Came out of the gate very nice, with beautiful structure. Very 1986 wine. But much more approachable for me than the 3L that was brought to BWE 2020. However sadly, as the night went on, a small amount of cork taint showed. Not enough to be undrinkable but clear that it was slightly off.
-1989 Pichon Lalande- This also came out of the gate, and was just fantastic. Great structure and balance. Perfectly aged. Probably at peak, maybe coming down from peak. Still a touch of fruit left, but great secondary and tertiary notes. WOTN candidate, top 3 for sure.
-1995 Grand Puy Lacoste- Also came out firing. What a perfect combination of nice spice notes, balanced by some acidity and a little fruit. Also a WOTN candidate, top 5 for sure. Although didn't have Quite the complexity of the 85/89 Pichons
-2000 Calon Segur- Tasty wine, ready to drink but could easily use a few years. I liked this, although some of the other wines outshown it a tad. I found it to be something in between the 95GPL and the 2000 Ducru.
-2000 Ducru- Wow, what structure. If you want serious bordeaux, this is it. Likely still a bit closed, but I think it is almost out of its slumber. This had such beautiful complexity while being completely structured with some acidity. This needs a blanquito or two. But so fun to taste now. WOTN candidate, top 5 for sure.
-2000 Pape Clement- Definitely the most modern styled wine of the night, big, big wine. Needed a decant. But really strutted its stuff after an hour or two of air. A very good balance of modern/classic bordeaux. Reminded me of some Smith Haut Lafite and Leoville Poyferre. Classicists might not like it, and I enjoyed but not as much as some of the others.
-2001 Pichon Lalande- What a sexy wine. Glossy maybe? Definitely more feminine than its 2001 Baron counterpart. Came out firing, probably the best nose of the night on any wine. Ready to go, although could benefit from a few years in the cellar. Very tasty.
-2001 Pichon Baron- This one had clear potential, but a bit too tanic and young. A decant would have probably been good. I tried the last glass that was left of this and the 01 lalande on the second night. And not surprisingly, the baron was better than the lalande on the second day. Although both wines were still better on the first night.
-2008 Ducru- Short decant on this bottle, and it needed it. But wow, what a wine this already is. If you like your wines younger and with a bit more fruit, this is the clear winner over the 2000. I loved it, but if you made me choose, the 2000 is more my style. Both great.
1959 Guiraud- Wow. What a beautiful golden color, looked 20 years old, not 60. I was a tad worried about the fill, but shouldn't have been. It completely lived up and surpassed expectations. Great with the crumble apple pie that Eric brought. Didn't have much as I was still focused on the reds at that point, but so much fun.
1988 La Tour Blanche- Very orange color, although still a good wine. Some don't like these dark sauternes and I tend to be in that group. However this was quite solid. Did not come close to the 59 though.
This was just a fantastic night. Came together perfectly. Thanks to Ben for hosting as his nice courtyard outside. Perfect amount of wines. I believe 16 wines opened for 10 people. Not a single bad wine, other than the slightly corked 86. And most wines were excellent, with a couple outstanding. Great combination of people. Hope to do more like this during the summer. Especially good to get a Bordeaux night in before it starts getting a bit warmer.
If I had to rank the wines, instead of rate with points, this is about how I see it even though I usually prefer to only compare similar wines. So many close calls and awesome wines though.
1. 1985 Pichon Lalande
2. 1989 Pichon Lalande
3. 2008 Vilmart Grand Cellier
4. 2000 Ducru
5. 1995 GPL
6. 2008 Ducru
7. 2001 Pichon Lalande
8. 1959 Guiraud
9. 2006 Taittinger Comtes
10. 2001 Pichon Baron
11. 2000 Pape Clement
12. 2000 Calon Segur
13. Perseval Farge
14. 1986 Pichon Lalande
15. 1988 La Tour Blanche
16. 2014 Bouchard Genevrieres