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Mark Lipton[_1_] Mark Lipton[_1_] is offline
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Default [TN] '04 Briords, '03 Lytton, '96 St-Em

Over the weekend, we opened a few different wines with dinner. On
Saturday, we had our friends Chris and Alan over for paella. Our
starter was a spinach, feta and olive pizza with which we had:

2004 Dom. de la Pepiere Muscadet Sevre et Maine 'Clos des Briords'
nose: minerals, quietly fruity
palate: round but firmly acidic, crystalline minerality

Jean and I both got a hint of cork taint, but thankfully not enough to
spoil the wine. Softer than it was in its youth, it's not yet made the
transition to a fully mature form, but is still very appealing. One has
to wonder whether it would be even better had it not been tainted, so
I'm glad that we have more in the cellar.

Our friend Chris brought over:

2003 Ridge Lytton Springs
nose: intially, somewhat oaky, turning more cedary, dark berry fruit
palate: full body, round, growing leaner as it sat open, deep fruit,
moderate acid

Still too youthful for me, but beginning to round into form. Its oak is
still evident but not intrusive and there is every sign that it will
fully integrate and become more classically Lytton Springs with time.

On Sunday, I roasted a goose with bread stuffing (late Christmas
dinner?) and separately roasted some Brussels Sprouts. With the goose,
I opened:

1996 Clos de l'Oratoire St.-Emilion
nose: initially, roasted coffee, becming more herbal and cedary
palate: medium body, good acidity, herbal, tobacco, plummy fruit, a bit
hollow midpalate

One of our few remaining '96s. Jean had requested Bordeaux with her
goose, so I decided to go for something a bit more aged than our current
drinking '05s. Pretty classic Bordeaux profile and not at all OTT to my
tastes. The roasted, coffee-like character I often get in St. Emilion
was evident only early on, after which the wine had more generic
Bordeaux character.

Mark Lipton
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