Last night was a lovely NY evening, and we had friends over for dinner
on the patio. Nancy is the one who brought our spare keys to the
airport after our European bag snatch, so theme was "thank you." We
started with some smoked salmon from a local smokehouse, and then a
Ming Tsai recipe for corn soup with crab salad (yum!). Wine for these
courses was the 2002 Patrick Javillier "Cuvée des Forgets "
Bourgogne Blanc. A bit riper and fatter than I remembered, though not
flabby. Oak is integrating nicely, giving a little hazelnut accent to
the ripe pear fruit. Good length for the level, nice if not
compelling. B

Main course was lamb chops with a 5-spice, soy, and rice wine
marinade. Served with rice , bok choy,and a couple wines:

2004 Norton Reserva Malbec
Blueberries and a little blackberry jam, big whopping dose of oak.
Sweet and a tad heavy on the palate. Others liked, me not so much. B-/C
+

1996 Penfolds Bin 389
I chose this as the lamb recipe was from an article on "modern
Australian" food. I knew as soon as I decanted this (half hour before
guests arrived) it was a winner. This and the 1991 have been my
favorite 389s. Ripe cassis with a little hint of framboise, delicate
integrated oak notes of cedar and chocolate. Great fruit ripeness
supported by columns of tannin and acids. Everything nicely
integrated, this is really coming into its own. If more Australian
wine (that makes to states) was like this, the category would be more
than 0.35% of my cellar. A-

With the cheeses (Sprout Lake's Eden and Toussaint, a Delice de
Bourgogne, a Reblechon):
1995 Champy Beaune 1er Cru
At first this seems really thin, but that's partially just because
it's following 2 beefy wines. A little air helps a lot, with
strawberry and black cherry fruit beginning to show. Fairly high
acids, but not shrill. Some citrus zest and a little cedary oak. Could
use a bit stronger finish. B

Fun night.

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