On May 20, 9:23*am, "Bill S." > wrote:
> Notes from a lunch with Albert Givton in Vancouver – fascinating and
> informative as always!
> The wines were served blind.
>
> 2003 Flora Springs Chardonnay Select Cuvee (Napa) – showing some
> colour, a full, sweet fruity nose, full bodied, smooth and fairly soft
> but with enough acidity to finish cleanly. *It showed more oak in the
> nose with time in the glass. Attractive.
>
> 2003 Comte de Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre – lighter in colour and
> with an interesting almost grapefruit nose, lacking the oak of the
> previous wine. Soft, with low acid, it was pleasant but had less
> definition than I’d have liked. *Had oak, which again made its
> presence known only after a bit of time, but of course much more
> restrained. *Had it been better balanced I’d have liked it much more.
>
> 1975 Malartic Lagraviere – I have always been a good fan of this hard
> difficult vintage, which produced two kinds of wines, those with
> enough fruit to outlast the tannins and those without. * Mature claret
> nose with slight warmth, surprisingly juicy entry, finishing with very
> little tannin left. *Decent wine, and an amazing showing from this
> producer.
>
> 1975 Pape Clement – unfortunately this bottle was musty and probably
> corky, given that the fruit was so low. Lean and acidic. *I’ve had
> this before and it was much better.
>
> 1975 Dom. de Chevalier – this wine was showing absolutely nothing in
> the nose, at least to me, but on palate was well balanced and mellow.
> That makes one hit, one miss and one in the middle for the vintage on
> that day.
>
> 1975 Chappelet Carbernet (Napa) – I love old style mature California
> cabernets so I was really enjoying this part of the tasting. An
> interesting sweetish nose but with a pronounced earthy component, the
> wine mature and well balanced, showing obvious age with a bit of soft
> tannin remaining and a persistent finish.
>
> 1980 Chappelet Cabernet Signature (Napa) – again, a sweet warm earth
> sort of nose, and an elegant wine with good flavour definition and
> excellent length.
>
> 1976 Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet – made from 100% cabernet in a drought
> year, I’m sure this one was a challenge to the wine maker. *It was
> finished at 12.7% (so much for the modern theory that it needs to be
> nearly 15% to be ‘right’) *An excellent strongly fruity nose, then
> lots of up front acidity, good concentration and good length. *I have
> seen reviews that panned this wine. *All I can say is that they didn’t
> taste this bottle!
>
> 1982 Gruaud Larose – anything less from Bordeaux might have gotten
> lost against the Monte Bello, but this stood its ground and made no
> excuses. *Big dark wine with a ripe warm nose or plum and a bit of
> blood, and later quite a bit of cocoa, what I’d call a bright entry,
> welcoming you into the wine, and admirable concentration in the
> middle, still with lots of tannin. *This is a real classic and it
> probably still needs time to peak (though this was from a notably cool
> cellar) and has many more years ahead.
>
> 1970 Jaboulet La Chappelle Chateauneuf du Pape – I love these wines,
> so was a little disappointed in the initial showing when you could see
> browning edges, a quite ripe nose, the wine still having some heat and
> tannin, but the fruit having dropped away. *I held it in the glass for
> quiet awhile and kept going back to it. *It finally started to open up
> and the bouquet became fascinating and wonderful, making you forget
> that it was short on fruit. *This is nearing the end of its drinking
> life, but it isn’t gone yet! Tar and old fruit started coming out, and
> about three other things I couldn’t put a name to.
>
> 1970 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet – bottle #5213 (hand numbered),
> put in bottle in August of 1974 while they were getting ready to pick
> another monumental vintage. * An interesting raised sort of nose with
> a slightly minty element, the only hint of what it might be, with
> alcohol, some fruit and showing very dry at the end. *A peak at
> history in the glass.
>
> 1997 Ryslink Vlassky Sladke – a late harvest Riesling from
> Czechoslovakia, thus adding another country to my list as I don’t
> recall tasting another Czech wine. Medium straw colour, very sweet
> nose, and very sweet in the mouth, without much complexity, but decent
> acidity, well, lots of it actually, redeemed what could otherwise have
> been a cloying wine. *Pretty interesting for a modestly priced wine.
>
> Great tasting as usual and I spent most of it listening to the host
> and scribbling notes while others chatted. *A real learning
> experience.

Hi Bill, these look amazing...do you have these in your cellar or do
you aquire them long after release. Just curious. I started my
collection about 1982...so mine are not nearly as old...and I rarely
have the patience to allow to mature fully. That said, since I am
drinking less now but still aquiring good vintages I will allow many
to continue to age. I think my oldest are some 1982 and 1983 Chat
Margaux