Every year my friend Alex and brother-in-law Cal put together a
fundraiser for their church's social action programs (which includes
contributions towards my group). Cal arranges a musical program around
a theme, Alex makes a meal to complement (so when they did Viennese
music, there was schweinelendche and sachertorte). This year musical
theme was fin de siecle France, an easy theme for Alex as he used to
own a restaurant in Paris.

I don't go to the church, but am close to many there, so had
volunteered to contribute a case plus of wine (not counting what I was
bringing for my table). The Bordeaux I decanted in advance. These were
mostly sniffs and tiny pours, so not full notes:

2005 Ch. de Beaumont (1er Cotes du Blaye) (6)- one corked, four with
dark fruit and medium tannins, not especially friendly, but by serving
time a few people said there really loved. When opened the sixth bttle
was seemingly a different wine, red plums with a vegetal note.
Strange.

2005 Ch. Canon (Canon-Fronsac) (2)- stern, tannic at first, opened
nicely with a little decanter time

2005 Puy Guilhem (Fronsac) (3) - big for appellation, tannic, very
good dark berry and plum fruit, nice length.

2006 L'Esprit de Chevalier (Graves)- medium bodied, ripe tannins,
pretty nice for price.

There were also bottles of 2006 Guion "Cuvee Prestige" Bourgueil and
2007 Delas "St Esprit" Cotes du Rhone, but I didn't open those in
advance.

I delivered those in advance, went home and changed, and then back to
church bearing wine. I was at a table with my in-laws and some members
of my local wine group, several of us had brought our own wines:

NV Piper-Heidsieck Brut
Very nice, apples and citrus, a little bread yeast, medium bodied,
good length. A nice surprise. B+

2007 Pascal Cotat "Les Monts Damnes" Sancerre
Firing on all cylinder. Citrus, very full bodied, excellent length.
Bright and brash, delicious. A-

2007 Clos du Tue-Bouef "Le Brin de Chevre" Touraine
Light to medium bodied, herby, good acidity, nice wine. B

First course was a duck terrine with Armagnac, followed by boeuf
Bourguignon with potatoes and fennel. We went through some reds:

1973 Bouchard Pommard
This was a bit of a throwaway, low expectations (but low price). Lots
of gunk, cork starts to slip in when I try ah-so. Use a cork, but it
breaks, we get a bit of crumble in wine. No decanters, so a power pour
gets most out. Dark color, a touch weedy, slightly tired dark berry
fruit. With some time it really surprises, fruit seems to perk up,
there's some smoke and tar. I'd actually never peg this as Burgundy
blind. But a pretty decent mature wine, meaty. B

1995 Jean Chauvenet " Les Vaucrains" Nuits St Georges 1er (from
magnum)
I was counting on this one, and it came through. A little tight at
first, but opened nicely. Light tannins, good acidity, solid black
cherry fruit accented with earth and forest floor. Medium bodied, good
length, showing well. B+

2006 Jaboulet "Parallele 45" Cotes du Rhone
This was the house wine, for tables that didn't BYO. Not bad, lighter
styled, red fruits and a little spice, nothing like the '95 P45 but ok
drink. B-

After dinner everyone moved to sanctuary for concert, Betsy and Cal
did a great job on a movement of a Ravel duo, the Aureole Trio did
Debussy and Ibert, there were some Faure songs, a Massenet piece,and
an ensemble finished with more Debussy. Extraordinary concert, and
then everyone went back to tables for chocolate mousse and more wine.
At this point I bounced between my table, and the room where the
musicians were having dinner:

2005 Baumard "Paon" Coteaux du Layon
Ripe apples, apricot, some citrus zest. Ripe, sweet enough to qualify
as dessert wine, good length. Just a hint of botrytis. Could use a bit
more acidic zip. B

2005 Coturri Chauvet Zinfandel
Well, it wasn't a bacterial minefield! Very ripe approaching pruney,
some residual sweetness apparent, just a hint of funk. I think others
liked this more than I did. C+

1999 Paul Garaudet Volnay
A touch of brett, but not overwhelming. Red fruits, light tannins,
earthy. A bit clunkier than I would have hoped, no real Volnay
elegance. Still, decent Burgundy, and the musicians appreciated my
offering. B/B-

2008 Clos Roche Blanche "Pif" Touraine
Young, fresh, with red and black raspberries, some easy tannins, nice
length. Might could use a little time, but as others have noted with
fake cork I'll err on drinking young. B+/B

Really fun night- great people, great food, great music.

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.**