John organized a 1985 Bordeaux tasting, and Victor graciously hosted in his lovely Upper East Side apartment. He had a great buffet set up= chacuterie, cheeses, salads, and an amazing tortilla. Really nice group, for me a mix of old friends and new.

Most of the wines were double-decanted in the afternoon. John had printed a tasting list with flights, but after the first 2 flights people started rotating turns of going to grab a flight (not in order) and blinding group. I made not have this in exact order we were served, I was making notes on back of sheet and then transcribing to tasting list, order is from memory.

1985 Ch. Carbonnieux
Lovely showing from the get-go. Smoky, plummy nose, on the palate pretty red and black fruit, good length, a real overachiever. B+

1985 Ch. Gloria
Some disagreement here. I thought it a nice, round-styled wine with softer acids, that was pleasant but a little tired. B-

1985 Ch. d'Issan
Sweet, earthy, leathery, with graphite and cigarbox over fine fruit.A-

1985 Ch. Chasse-Spleen
Wow, could use this bottle in a classroom as a primer in TCA

1985 Ch. Poujeaux
Midbodied, elegant, green tobacco leaf (some thought green pepper, not me). B+

1985 Ch. Sociando Mallet
This was declared corked before it got to me

After this, the single blind wines. I didn't keep track of guesses, but Victor quickly identfied the Lynch/Cos flight.

1985 Ch. Lynch Bages
Divisive, I liked. Fruity and forward, but with some tannic structure, long, but with a slight bitterness on finish than detracted. B

1985 Cos d'Estournel
A bit foursquare and clunky, with a plodding woody finish. B-

1985 Ch. Leoville-Barton
I was surprised when this was revealed, as it was more elegant than I think of LeoBart being.
Slightly lifted, complex nose. Dark fruits, licorice, well-balanced. A-
1985 Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou
Hurray, a bottle of this without evident TCA. Tight, some apparent acids, redder fruits, cinnamon. B+/B

Victor brought out a mystery wine (because we were clearly short on wine), black currant, leather, good if a bit muted. Someone called corked but I didn't detect (I'm not real sensitive).1978 Grand Puy Lacoste B/B+

1985 Ch. Latour à Pomerol
Dan quickly called this one. A strange wine, and some thought off. A hint of something chemical - chlorine like but not TCA- but an intriguingly funky nose overall, with animal and mushroom notes. B

1985 Ch. Haut Bailly
Mature, silky, elegant. B+/A-

Another bonus bottle appeared, the 1996 Bollinger Grand Annee. I'm not generally a Bolly fan, but this bottle at this moment really hit the spot. Crisp apples, brioche, with just a hint of hazelnut to hint at the Bolly style. A-

1985 Pavillon Rouge
Somewhat dull, tired, woody, with a bit of brett. C

1985 Ch. Margaux
Wood, dark plums, spice. I liked more than some, but I'm not looking for this! B

1985 Ch. Latour Haut-Brion
Pleasant and easy, not very complex but quite tasty. B+

1985 Ch. La Mission Haut-Brion
Grumpy and tight, with only some mint/menthol showing. Gets better with air, but too many wines to revisit. At its best that I tasted , B/B+

1985 Ch. Figeac
Slightly corked, too bad!

1985 Ch. l'Arrosée
I was thinking this might be the Certan de May. Fleshy, cocoa and truffles, quite tasty. I'm surprised when revealed, best Arrosee I remember tasting. B+/A-

Victor suddenly appeared with another mystery bonus bottle, a structured and full bodied wine, a bit grouchy. There's a minty note, and Mark for LMHB, and Dan immediately got vintage. Even as it remained furled seemed beautiful. 1981 La Mission Haut Brion A-

1985 Ch. Pichon Baron
Sweet cassis and wood, but a bit closed, slightly clipped,some others liked more. B-

1985 Ch. Pichon Lalande
Corked! Damn

1985 Ch. l'Evangile
Unusual nose of cement and underbrush, tangy, great redder fruits, long. A-

1985 Ch. Certan de May
(I was spitting, but not enough, having trouble with reading notes here).Earthy, mocha, lighter than the L'Evangile. B+

Last 2 weren't blind, by process of elimination
1985 Ch. Haut Brion
Full, elegant, balanced. A-

1985 Ch. Pape-Clement
Black fruits, balanced acids, tobacco and pencil shavings. Lovely. A-/B+

Really fun night, great group, great lineup that would have been even better without TCA!

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. 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.

DaleW > wrote in
:

> John organized a 1985 Bordeaux tasting, and Victor graciously hosted
> in his lovely Upper East Side apartment. He had a great buffet set up=
> chacuterie, cheeses, salads, and an amazing tortilla. Really nice
> group, for me a mix of old friends and new.

Ah, tortilla. Best dish in the world when it is done properly. That's if
you mean "spanish tortilla" like one done with potatoes, onion, eggs, salt
and olive oil?

On Friday, October 24, 2014 6:03:03 PM UTC-4, santiago wrote:
> DaleW > wrote in
> :
>
> > John organized a 1985 Bordeaux tasting, and Victor graciously hosted
> > in his lovely Upper East Side apartment. He had a great buffet set up=
> > chacuterie, cheeses, salads, and an amazing tortilla. Really nice
> > group, for me a mix of old friends and new.
>
> Ah, tortilla. Best dish in the world when it is done properly. That's if
> you mean "spanish tortilla" like one done with potatoes, onion, eggs, salt
> and olive oil?

Yes, I told Betsy while I'm not one to photograph meals, this I wish I had taken- gorgeous. Top layer (bottom while cooking I guess) had thin slices of tomato which added to the beauty. Then layers with mandolined potatoes and a layer of caramelized onions. I was a little worried how the eggs would do with claret, but it was fine.
I think the cold buffet is really the way to go when you have 2 dz plus wines to go through for 9 people, no time for host to be fussing in kitchen

DaleW > wrote in
:
>
> Yes, I told Betsy while I'm not one to photograph meals, this I wish I
> had taken- gorgeous. Top layer (bottom while cooking I guess) had thin
> slices of tomato which added to the beauty.

Oh, my.


Then layers with
> mandolined potatoes and a layer of caramelized onions. I was a little
> worried how the eggs would do with claret, but it was fine.

Other than the tomato slices, caramelized onions and mandolined potatoes
are ok. This is one of the best looking tortillas I have ever made:

https://flic.kr/p/ied2C

You can have tomato salad as a side dish, though I think the best side dish
to tortilla is a lettuce salad seasoned with EVOO, cider vinegar and a bit
of salt.


I think
> the cold buffet is really the way to go when you have 2 dz plus wines
> to go through for 9 people, no time for host to be fussing in kitchen
>

I agree and, actually, when serving reds, even "important" reds, you can
serve a cold roast beef and it works beautifully.

On Fri, 24 Oct 2014 09:47:45 -0700, DaleW wrote:

> 1985 Ch. Gloria Some disagreement here. I thought it a nice,
> round-styled wine with softer acids, that was pleasant but a little
> tired. B-

Fantastic evening! Thanks for the notes, I enjoyed.

I have some of this Gloria left and agree it needs to be drunk up.

-E

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