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DaleW DaleW is offline
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Default TN: SOBER @ Dan's, with Bdx, Burg, Loire, Nahe, Rhone, Champagne,Brunello

On Sep 3, 10:33*am, Lawrence Leichtman > wrote:
> In article
> >,
>
>
>
>
>
> *DaleW > wrote:
> > Dan hosted SOBER last night, and did a fabulous job. He greeted us
> > with a nice cheese plate and the 1990 Pommery "Cuvee Louise" Brut from
> > magnum. Too bad, because I had a mag I was planning on opening when it
> > was my turn to host! This showed a tad fresher than a mag I opened
> > couple months ago, with grapefruit and pear, some yeastiness, good
> > length, mature but not fading. A-

>
> > To table for the blind wines where Dan kept us on our toes with
> > fanciful numbering/naming of the decanters.

>
> > First flight ("Nothing is something, but 3 is an 11")
> > The interesting thing was how dry the Chenin seemed paired with the
> > Spatlese. Pretty quickly got Chenin, but I thought it was Sec for
> > sure.

>
> > 2005 Huet Clos du Bourg Vouvray Demi-Sec
> > Grapefruit, chalky, stony with a cheesey note some dislike. I liked
> > it *a lot more when I drank water and concentrated on this alone.
> > Somewhat tight. B for now

>
> > 2002 Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Spatlese
> > Floral, *giving, a real "wow" RIesling. Mango and red fruits, lots of
> > minerality, rich. Craig goes Donnhoff early. Pretty close to my
> > Riesling ideal. A/A-

>
> > 2005 Huet Clos du Bourg Vouvray Sec
> > Turns out Dan had also accidently opened a Huet sec thinking it was
> > the DS, so we got to try that also. Spiced peaches, lemon, *and
> > grapefruit, big, stony, young. B+/A-

>
> > Second flight (with angel hair pasta with shrimp and a light touch of
> > fresh tomato sauce)

>
> > One of the original wines was definitely PremOxed, all caramel and
> > cheese rind, I neglected to get the vintage of the Latour-Giraud
> > Genevrieres. But the other wine and the replacement for the Latour-
> > Giraud were quite interesting. I was actually shocked when it turned
> > out they were the same wine from different vintages

>
> > 1996 Coche Dury Meursault
> > Clearly white Burg, exuberant and exotic. Mark says "Coche" pretty
> > quickly, and Craig and I both show him we wrote it already (but he
> > said it first!). Lovely, great concentration, white fruits,some
> > vanilla, *and excellent length. I thought it had to be a 1er. Mark
> > saves some and gives me a sniff later- coconut city! A-/A

>
> > 1995 Coche Dury Meursault
> > Comparatively austere, leaner, someone guesses Chablis which seems
> > reasonable to me. Very surprised when revealed. With time it gets some
> > hazelnut and fruit fleshes out a bit, but I never like near as much as
> > the '96. B/B+

>
> > Third Flight (with a mushroom soup with porcini ravioli)

>
> > 1990 Poggio Antico Brunello
> > First bottle was corked, but Dan had a backup. Sweet red fruit, some
> > cassis, leather. Some Bordeaux guesses, but I went for Unico from the
> > lifted nose. B/B+ (some sensitive to VA really disliked)

>
> > 1987 Mouton-Rothschild
> > Cassis, herb, tobacco, good length. B+/A-

>
> > Fourth Flight (" the King, the Queen, and the Pawn" - the beef, fries,
> > and green beans were served with this flight)

>
> > 1990 Beychevelle
> > corked. We deterred Dan from finding *a replacement, we had plenty of
> > wine.

>
> > 1990 MommessinClos de Tart
> > clearly Burgundy, elegant, balanced, red raspberry fruit with earth,
> > mushroom, a little spice. A-/B+

>
> > 1990 Guigal Hermitage
> > Sweet red fruit, a little tar, midweight but with persistence. Once
> > Dan said it wasn't Burgundy, due to the tar I said Northern Rhone or
> > Piedmont, but should have declared decisively. This is a straight up
> > Hermitage, which apparently doesn't sell for very much, quite nice. B+

>
> > Flight Five (Elvis, Fat Man, and Little Boy)

>
> > 1961 Beychevelle
> > Lovely and elegant, shows much younger. Cassis, black plums, truffles,
> > earth. A-

>
> > 1971 Lafite-Rothschild (from mag)
> > "A wonderful Burg" * *Red fruit, cedar, a bit of mushroom. Not very
> > big, but really lithe and classy. A-

>
> > 1982 Latour a Pomerol
> > Fleshier, denser, herby. Probably would have paid more attention to
> > this if I wasn't so enthralled with its flightmates. A-/B+

>
> > A great night, where the fact I was driving was the only downnote!

>
> > 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.*

>
> What a great sounding tasting. Too bad about the Beycheville. The '89 is
> showing nicely now but haven't had the '90.


Yes, too bad, but glad we were able to stop Dan from replacing. I was
spitting most of my pours, it was heartbreaking as it was.

By the way, WA on the 1971 Lafite:
"of no value except to those who care only for labels" with "a stewed,
slightly dirty, rusty, nondescript bouquet suggesting a poor
elevage"?
60 points

But we couldn't see the label!