The 2023 BWE DC Convention is under way!

[JoelD]

Very successful first night. Great to see the four out town BWEers. MP, Nalan, SF Ed and HarryC all made it in yesterday and we kicked off the activities with a very eclectic night of wines. Mixing in some new blood from the DC crowd along with some of the DC BWEers like WinonaChief, Marcs and barsacpinsi.

I did a terrible job of taking pics last night but did well at tasting and got to taste almost everything. Even a few blind wines mixed in. One of which was probably my WOTN in the 1982 Tempier Bandol Tourtine. So many great magnums too.

Other highlights/favorites of the night for me were:
2005 Vilmart Ceour de Cuvee
2012 Bollinger GA out of magnum
2001 Donnhoff OB auslese (this was the fastest I ever saw a magnum get finished)
2015 JM Boillot Puligny Champs Canet
1991 Dominus
1991 Montelena
1986 Ridge Monte Bello
1997 Ridge Monte Bello
1998 Jaboulet La Chapelle
1995 Fontadi Flaccianello
2003 Giacosa Falletto White Label
2005 Prum WS spatlese

More to come..

[JoelD]

[marcs]

From left to right —

2003 Latour - maybe the best left bank wine I’ve ever very had. I brought the bottle so didn’t cheat on this pour!

2003 Leoville Barton - a fair distance behind the Latour, but very very good and a small fraction of the price

1989 Lynch Bages - the BWE legend! Started out super green and still has that quality but is sweetening and mellowing out

2000 Lynch Bages - sweet and substantial and still a bit rough on the finish

[marcs]

WE MISS YOU JIM AND EVERYONE NOT HERE! Not the same without you!

[marcs]

Another legend! Thank you Bruce! In the 80s wine pantheon this might beat out the 89 Lynch tonite!

[barsacpinci]

Fun time! Enjoyed so many wines. Of course I liked the ones I brought! But, others include the 2012 Bollinger, 1986 Montelena, 1991 Dominus, 2005 Prum Auslese, 1998 Angelus, 1985 La Mission, several Lalandes and Barons. '82 Gruaud, '86 Talbot, and even a '83 Cantemerle! Some pics

[marcs]

That last photo by Brian shows our 2003 lineup last night (edited to add - that’s me in the striped sweater opening the 03 Cos!)

Lineup was Pavie, Leoville Barton, Leoville Poyferre, Pichon Baron, Sociando Mallet, Latour, Cos d’Estournel, Pichon Lalande

Not too bad!

I didn’t get to the Cos but tried all the others. As mentioned above, I thought the Latour was absolutely spectacular and fairly ready to drink. It had an elegant touch and subtlety to it along with of course the underlying structure. The fruit was divine - just this gorgeous elegant sweetness. Not heavy handed at all. It absolutely destroyed the 2002 Latour we had last year - no comparison

I thought the Pavie was TBH kind of awful, raisined up front and harsh in the finish

The Pichon Baron was flawed

The Leoville Barton was excellent, not up to the Latour of course but had really good substance and sweetness. My second favorite of the lineup. One of my favorite vintages of LB

The Poyferre had this bland and smoothed out quality to the palate I didn’t like, although the nose was fine.

The Sociando was an excellent Sociando still going strong

I had the Lalande kind of late in the evening and didn’t find it too memorable

Altogether, I don’t think 2003 acquitted itself too badly. Hardly a “chamber of horrors” as some here have previously called it. When all is said and done I think that on the left bank at least it’s probably a slightly above average vintage with unusually high variability

[DavidG]

Great to see the gang again.
Saturday WOTN for me was 1985 La Mission Haut Brion.
Other standouts were 1982 Gruaud, 1986 Talbot, and 2002 Krug.
Plus another 20+ excellent wines I had a chance to taste, and too many others to get to.

[hautbrionlover]

How was the 1986 Montelena?

[marcs]

Can’t believe I missed a 1982 Gruaud! That’s what I get for not circling all the tables like a vulture and just sitting nursing a couple of brilliant wines like I did.

I liked the 1985 La Mission but had it at a time in the evening when my palate was no longer registering new WOTN candidates

My WOTN was the 03 Latour and it wasn’t really close

[robert goulet]

Well done..some nice pops

[SF Ed]

It was great to hang out with the DC folks and drink some great wines with great people.

I'll cover more later but while I had a great time talking to Marcus at length about foreign and tech policy, we do not share a palate.

I thought the 2003 Latour wasn't particularly outstanding. I enjoyed the 2003 Leoville Barton more straight up. The Latour didn't have the fruit or the structure I would expect from a Latour. I tend not to like young Latour, but I've had a decent amount of it, and this didn't feel to me like it had the stuffing or structure to become great, nor was it open and giving.

SF Ed

[DavidG]

Can’t believe I missed a 1982 Gruaud! That’s what I get for not circling all the tables like a vulture and just sitting nursing a couple of brilliant wines like I did.

I liked the 1985 La Mission but had it at a time in the evening when my palate was no longer registering new WOTN candidates

My WOTN was the 03 Latour and it wasn’t really close

How could i forget the 2003 Latour? Probably because it was one of the first wines I tasted. It was solid but not showing complexity like the 85 La Miss, 82 Gruaud, and 86 Talbot, all of which were à point for current drinking.

[marcs]

It was great to hang out with the DC folks and drink some great wines with great people.

I'll cover more later but while I had a great time talking to Marcus at length about foreign and tech policy, we do not share a palate.

I thought the 2003 Latour wasn't particularly outstanding. I enjoyed the 2003 Leoville Barton more straight up. The Latour didn't have the fruit or the structure I would expect from a Latour. I tend not to like young Latour, but I've had a decent amount of it, and this didn't feel to me like it had the stuffing or structure to become great, nor was it open and giving.

SF Ed

It would be awkward to share a palate! Pretty sure you’d have to be Siamese twins or something .

I think your reaction to the 2003 Latour depends on the expectations you come to it with. If you came in with a focus on aging you might not have been as into it. It definitely didn’t feel like a big burly 50-100 year wine so if you were looking for signs of aging potential that might not have been obvious. And obviously it didn’t have all the tertiary complexities of a 1980s wine.

But right here right now I thought it was fantastic, and very open and giving in its own way. It was in what I’ve heard called the “youthful peak” - that initial peak where the fruit is still bright and intense but smoothed out and integrated. In general I love that early peak. The fruit was really beautiful and elegant, warm and soft but still vivid and bright - it had a kind of ‘blue fruit’ quality where it had a lighter touch and was less plum-y and chocolatey than lot of Pauilliacs. I thought the nose was also absolutely spectacular, there was a lot of layering and complexity there although it was all interplay of fruit and mineral qualities, not the funky complexities you get with an aged wine. One of those wines I just could have sat and inhaled all night, a Pauillac perfume.

I would note that I’m not the only person who loves this wine. It has the highest Cellartracker average rating of any vintage of Latour between 1982 and 2009, narrowly edging out the 2000 and 2005, on 147 reviews. CT is far from perfect of course but if dozens and dozens of wine buffs think it’s the best Latour in 25 years there might be something there!

I share your view on the LB by the way, excellent wine even if not up to the Latour for me.

[Winona Chief]

I thought the 2003 Latour was very, very good and an easy winner in the 2003 horizontal. The 2003 Cos was by far the worst wine in the 2003 - surprised me since I had really liked it the couple times I’ve had it in the past.

Of the more mature wines my favorites were 1985 La Mission Haut Brion, 1982 Gruaud Larose, 1989 Lynch Bages, 1986 Talbot, 1986 Rausan Segla, and several of the 1983s.

For the Champagnes, the 2002 Krug stood far above the others (although several of them were very good). Shocked at how uninteresting was my 2014 Gimonnet Cramant Special Club.

Chris Bublitz

[Winona Chief]

How was the 1986 Montelena?

I think it was the was 1986 Montebello and 1991 Montelena - they were both very good as was the 1991 Dominus.

Chris Bublitz

[barsacpinci]

How was the 1986 Montelena?

I think it was the was 1986 Montebello and 1991 Montelena - they were both very good as was the 1991 Dominus.

Chris Bublitz

Yes, I thought I mixed them up! But both were excellent, drinking very well right now. I preferred the Montelena. I thought it had a more silky nature to it with resolved tannins against delicious berry fruit. The Montebello was more forward, dark plum, more acidic, and better with food.

[Nicklasss]

That looks like a great convention, with great people and nice wines!

Wine selection was impressive indeed. I would have like to try the 1983 Cantemerle... how was it?

The 1986 Rausan Ségla is missing to my culture as in the last years, my respect and love for the wines of that Château is increasing.

1985 Mission/1982 Gruau/1989 Lynch/1986 Talbot... all great!

I would have surely liked trying the few 2003, even if not my cup of tea, but surely would have be curious for Latour, to be part (or not) of the controversy!

[SF Ed]

Some late thoughts on the weekend...

Friday night was a free for all as usual. I thought the most impressive wines were the Cal Cabs, with 1991 Dominus as my favorite with the 1991 Montelena and 1997 Montebello not far behind.

Far more Germans than usual, with the highlight for me being the 2001 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Auslese.

I enjoyed the Champagnes, with the 2014 Bollinger being open and ready to go and the 2012 Bollinger still needing some time to unwind.

Saturday was an amazing display of BWE generosity as usual with great Bordeaux across the board.

My WOTN was clearly the 1985 La Mission Haut Brion. Long, complex and in a great place.

I also loved the 1982 Gruaud Larose, the 1986 Talbot was a very young tasting bottle that was a textbook example of the wine, 1986 and 1983 Rauzan Segla were very tasty, 1989 Pichon Baron was in great form, and the 1983 and 1985 Pichon Lalande were very enjoyable. The 1983 Climens was a great way to finish the evening.

On the 2003s, I didn't think much of the Latour (which seems to mean I don't understand it given how much many other people loved it). I enjoyed the Leoville Barton and the Leoville Poyferre more. Pontet Canet was excellent and the Sociando Mallet tasted like ripe Sociando Mallet (which is a good thing). The Cos and the Pavie were not beverages I would choose to drink, let alone pay for.

As always, the greatest thing about BWE are the people, and it was great seeing lots of BWE stalwarts as well as many new folks.

Joel did a fantastic job of bringing the event together and I think a good time was had by all.

SF Ed

[NoahR]

Very sad to miss the festivities. Was Courtney’s birthday and we had family and friends in town and couldn’t make it work. Hopefully next year!

[Michael-P]

As a lover of old wines I thought the 59 Rauzan Gassies was very nice, delicate but lots of fresh red fruits and some complexity and a reasonable finish length. (94).

For the 03s, I agree the Latour was the hands down winner (98). Disappointed by the Cos (90) and I thought the Pavie was flawed (light cloudy color and pruney disjointed flavors).

Thought the 89 Lynch was noticeably soft/weak compared with the last few I've had. (92)

All good: 85 LMHB (98), 82 Gruaud Larose (96), 89 Baron (96), 86 Talbot (97), 1986 Rauzan Segla (95) (but not as good as the last few I've had), surprised I thought the 00 Lynch (96) was good as every time I've had it in the past it seemed to need much more time.

All 3 Sauternes were good and enjoyable but none stood out to me.

Since we brought the 85 LMHB, I guess I might be biased but it was also my WOTN. The Latour was still too raw.

More soon please!

Michael-P