Saturday Betsy was working both performances, left to fend for myself I
grabbed D'Artagnan venison/pork sausage and some beans. There were a
load of creminis that needed to be used, so I sauteed them along with
some reconstituted porcini and whatever species those big dried Chinese
mushrooms are. Needed some wine for the 'shroom recipe, used some
leftover Macon and a bit of the 2002 Tablas Creek Espirit de Beaucastel
Blanc (Paso Robles) from a 375ml. I've said several times I'm not the
biggest fan of Southern Rhone whites, and one would think that might
extent to those grape varieties grown elsewhere. But I actually really
like this. Nose of flowers and spice, rich palate of pears and apricots
with a long finish. Good acidity, some flintly notes. Nice wine! A-/B+

When I realized the sausage had cherry in it, my Rhone thoughts turned
to Burgundy (especially with the mushrooms). So I opened a 375 of the
1998 Faiveley "Clos des Myglands" Mercurey 1er. I had liked this
before, but this bottle disappointed. Cherry fruit somewhat reticent,
acidity a tad unintegrated, and some spiky hard tannins remaining. It
smoothed out a bit over time but this never really grabbed me. B-/C+

Sunday night some strip steaks, grilled striped Italian eggplant,
salad, and more of the mushrooms (I made a lot). Wine was the 2001
Rocher Bellevue Figeac (St Emilion). Nice rich sweet red fruit with
some chocolately notes. Not especially Bordeaux, nor very complex. But
for a $13 bottle of Merlot a decent showing. B

Over both nights, some sips out of a 375ml of the 1998 Selbach-Oster
Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese. A little sulphury on first
opening,with bright acidity and sweet pear and apple fruit, mineral
finish. Sweet without quite being dessert level. On the second night
(while watching the very good "Rabbit Proof Fence") it had really
smoothed out, with the matchstick aromas gone and the slate background
much more evident. Nice now, I would guess better in a while. Leave
alone. B+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

oops, believe that's Esprit

In article .com,
"DaleW" wrote:

Saturday Betsy was working both performances, left to fend for myself I
grabbed D'Artagnan venison/pork sausage and some beans. There were a
load of creminis that needed to be used, so I sauteed them along with
some reconstituted porcini and whatever species those big dried Chinese
mushrooms are. Needed some wine for the 'shroom recipe, used some
leftover Macon and a bit of the 2002 Tablas Creek Espirit de Beaucastel
Blanc (Paso Robles) from a 375ml. I've said several times I'm not the
biggest fan of Southern Rhone whites, and one would think that might
extent to those grape varieties grown elsewhere. But I actually really
like this. Nose of flowers and spice, rich palate of pears and apricots
with a long finish. Good acidity, some flintly notes. Nice wine! A-/B+

When I realized the sausage had cherry in it, my Rhone thoughts turned
to Burgundy (especially with the mushrooms). So I opened a 375 of the
1998 Faiveley "Clos des Myglands" Mercurey 1er. I had liked this
before, but this bottle disappointed. Cherry fruit somewhat reticent,
acidity a tad unintegrated, and some spiky hard tannins remaining. It
smoothed out a bit over time but this never really grabbed me. B-/C+

Sunday night some strip steaks, grilled striped Italian eggplant,
salad, and more of the mushrooms (I made a lot). Wine was the 2001
Rocher Bellevue Figeac (St Emilion). Nice rich sweet red fruit with
some chocolately notes. Not especially Bordeaux, nor very complex. But
for a $13 bottle of Merlot a decent showing. B

Over both nights, some sips out of a 375ml of the 1998 Selbach-Oster
Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese. A little sulphury on first
opening,with bright acidity and sweet pear and apple fruit, mineral
finish. Sweet without quite being dessert level. On the second night
(while watching the very good "Rabbit Proof Fence") it had really
smoothed out, with the matchstick aromas gone and the slate background
much more evident. Nice now, I would guess better in a while. Leave
alone. B+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

I have the 2003 of the Tablas Creek and haven't opened it. You have
inspired me to pop the cork. Maybe wild mushroom ravioli will be a good
accompaniment. How were the tannins on the 2002? We are planning a
vertical of Leoville Las Cases next weekend and are still struggling to
come up with a menu. Any good suggestions as I have never hosted a
vertical. My contribution will be the 1982. We have 10 vintages
represented so far from 1982 to a 2003 ( yes someone is sacrificing a
baby but they have a whole case and want to see how it is developing.)

Lawrence Leichtman wrote:
I have the 2003 of the Tablas Creek and haven't opened it. You have
inspired me to pop the cork. Maybe wild mushroom ravioli will be a good
accompaniment. How were the tannins on the 2002?

Larry, this was the Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc, and so not much in the
way of tannins. If you have the Esprit Rouge, my guess is it's gonna be
very young (the Cotes de Tablas might be more accessible).

We are planning a
vertical of Leoville Las Cases next weekend and are still struggling to
come up with a menu. Any good suggestions as I have never hosted a
vertical. My contribution will be the 1982. We have 10 vintages
represented so far from 1982 to a 2003 ( yes someone is sacrificing a
baby but they have a whole case and want to see how it is developing.)

You're probably better off serving a few smaller courses (game, beef,
lamb) if that's possible rather than one main course, where only one
flight will have accompaniment. You also need to think about order and
prep.

Some people think pop and pour is best way to analyze. But if you have
the '86 LLC fior instance if you open at dinner it'll probably be at
its peak around 4 AM. I'd consider a staggered plan- decant ones likely
to be very tight well before dinner, wines more in prime as dinner
starts, any likely to closer to fragile ('84, '87, '91,'92, '93, '97)
just before their flight. Some like younger to older, I prefer older to
younger. But another possibility (if you don't want to do little
plates) is to serve the better older ones (like your '82) with a first
course, an appetizer yet something substantial, like a terrine, or
quail, or mushroom tarte, or a little duck breast. Then have a flight
of the less anticipated wines, either alone or with a light intermezzo.
Then serve the better younger LLCs with a meat course. That way you
ensure the more anticipated wines (young and older) have food
alongside.

Look forward to your notes. There might be some surprises there (for
instance, if you have the '92, it's a candidate for wine of the
vintage, actually pretty good).

In article . com,
"DaleW" wrote:

Lawrence Leichtman wrote:
I have the 2003 of the Tablas Creek and haven't opened it. You have
inspired me to pop the cork. Maybe wild mushroom ravioli will be a good
accompaniment. How were the tannins on the 2002?

Larry, this was the Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc, and so not much in the
way of tannins. If you have the Esprit Rouge, my guess is it's gonna be
very young (the Cotes de Tablas might be more accessible).

We are planning a
vertical of Leoville Las Cases next weekend and are still struggling to
come up with a menu. Any good suggestions as I have never hosted a
vertical. My contribution will be the 1982. We have 10 vintages
represented so far from 1982 to a 2003 ( yes someone is sacrificing a
baby but they have a whole case and want to see how it is developing.)

You're probably better off serving a few smaller courses (game, beef,
lamb) if that's possible rather than one main course, where only one
flight will have accompaniment. You also need to think about order and
prep.

Some people think pop and pour is best way to analyze. But if you have
the '86 LLC fior instance if you open at dinner it'll probably be at
its peak around 4 AM. I'd consider a staggered plan- decant ones likely
to be very tight well before dinner, wines more in prime as dinner
starts, any likely to closer to fragile ('84, '87, '91,'92, '93, '97)
just before their flight. Some like younger to older, I prefer older to
younger. But another possibility (if you don't want to do little
plates) is to serve the better older ones (like your '82) with a first
course, an appetizer yet something substantial, like a terrine, or
quail, or mushroom tarte, or a little duck breast. Then have a flight
of the less anticipated wines, either alone or with a light intermezzo.
Then serve the better younger LLCs with a meat course. That way you
ensure the more anticipated wines (young and older) have food
alongside.

Look forward to your notes. There might be some surprises there (for
instance, if you have the '92, it's a candidate for wine of the
vintage, actually pretty good).

Thanks a lot. In fact the 92 is on the list as are the 82, 84, 87, 89,
91, 93, 97, 2001, 2003. No one has offered up the 86 so far but I will
keep that in mind. I was thinking of small plates all the way through
but was concerned about what to serve with the more fragile ones. I'm
also told one of our members is considering bringing an old gem. I know
one of our members still has a 66 and 70. His conditions are impeccable
so I salivate at the thought. LLC is no doubt my favorite St. Julien and
I have been anticipating this evening for the last year when it was
decided as a fall opener.

Don't think I;ve had the '70, but the '66 is lovely. Keep your fingers
crossed that he brings one of them!

If it were me, I'd probably do it this way:
Lower expectations, but LLC does well in lesser vintages: 84, 87,91
Then wines where LLC is a known overachieverr :92, 93, 97
Stars of the show with main course:82 89,
Young wines with hard cheese: 2001, 2003.

If someone showed up with the 1966 or 1970 I'd replace '89 with it. '82
will show much younger, but the stars deserve to go head to head.

In article .com,
"DaleW" wrote:

Don't think I;ve had the '70, but the '66 is lovely. Keep your fingers
crossed that he brings one of them!

If it were me, I'd probably do it this way:
Lower expectations, but LLC does well in lesser vintages: 84, 87,91
Then wines where LLC is a known overachieverr :92, 93, 97
Stars of the show with main course:82 89,
Young wines with hard cheese: 2001, 2003.

If someone showed up with the 1966 or 1970 I'd replace '89 with it. '82
will show much younger, but the stars deserve to go head to head.

A relief, it seems to be a '75 with near top shoulder and a solid cork.
Provenance is good and the label doesn't even look that aged. Also
getting a "90 to round out though that will make the flights uneven now.
I'm not putting the '75 in any flight.

DaleW wrote:
Saturday Betsy was working both performances, left to fend for myself I
grabbed D'Artagnan venison/pork sausage and some beans. There were a
load of creminis that needed to be used, so I sauteed them along with
some reconstituted porcini and whatever species those big dried Chinese
mushrooms are. Needed some wine for the 'shroom recipe, used some
leftover Macon and a bit of the 2002 Tablas Creek Espirit de Beaucastel
Blanc (Paso Robles) from a 375ml. I've said several times I'm not the
biggest fan of Southern Rhone whites, and one would think that might
extent to those grape varieties grown elsewhere. But I actually really
like this. Nose of flowers and spice, rich palate of pears and apricots
with a long finish. Good acidity, some flintly notes. Nice wine! A-/B+

Nice notes, Dale. Here's what I wrote about it after tasting it at the
winery in Dec. '04:

2002 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc:
A nose of melon and peach; on the palate, flavors of honey and melon and
a sense of richness. Distinctly richer and (to me) better than the '01
version.

So now we know that melon becomes pear with time. And someone got to
the honey, too! ;-)

Mark Lipton