Tonight, Jean and I did something we hadn't done in over a year: we went
out to eat in a restaurant. We were joined by our son Andy as we
celebrated our 32nd anniversary with a dinner out. To celebrate, we
brought along the wine that's been in our possession the longest
(coincidentally, 32 years).

We started with a bottle of NV Pierre Callot Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs
with our shrimp cocktail. The bubbly was quite savory, saline with a
fine mousse and a crisp, dry finish and little autolytic yeastiness.
With our main courses, we opened the Gruaud Larose. The cork was moist
and a bit crumbly but came out of the bottle without too much fuss. The
wine was still dark with very little bricking at the edges. Overall,
the wine was still quite youthful, though I would characterize it as
being on the early end of maturity. The tannins were quite smooth and
the acidity quite high. The wine showed a lot of Cabernet character,
with brambly black fruits, pencil lead, leather and tobacco. As it sat
opened for the hour we spent at dinner, it continued to improve in the
glass, rounding out even more.

Overall, this was a great way to return to a somewhat normal dining
experience.

Mark Lipton