I can't remember if I posted this to the group yet - ignore this if I have.

It's been quite a week for wine (and it isn't over yet). I had planned to relax
after my Sassicaia vertical event last week, but it didn't turn out that way.

The week started with a lovely dinner at a friend's house on Sunday. He (and
his wife) are excellent cooks - I'm talking restaurant quality, and GOOD
restaurant at that. I dabble in the art myself and have, with some trepidation,
treated them to my sorry best, but I wouldn't set myself in the same class with
their innovative techniques.

Coupled with a knowledge of wine and a love for combining wine and food, any
occasion shared with them becomes a special experience. This time around, we
tasted the wines blind and tried to place them.

1990 Heidsieck Brut Champagne - this showed a fair bit of colour, tons of
complexity in the nose and on the palate and great balance and elegance.

Served with parsley walnut pinwheels, tiger prawns with sundried tomato
chutney, croques monsieurs, and squash soup in demitasse.

1998 Zind Humbrecht Pinoy Gris Clos Windsbuhl - also showing quite a bit of
colour for the age, I thought. A really nice nose with cherry and lanolin,
fairly high residual sugar, but it was well balanced.

Served with confit of dungeness crab on celeriac mousse and basil oil

1990 Matanzas Creek Merlot (magnum) - at this point the wiles of our
diabolically clever host became apparent - he pulled the wines straight from
the cellar to make it more difficult to identify. This had two results - it
offered the chance to observe the wine as it warmed up over a half hour or so,
and it made me, at least, a bit reticent in offering snap opinions until at
least part of the warming process was completed. This wine was obviously young
in colour, and the nose had good fruit, coming in a bit late, with cinnamon and
some green notes. Nice long finish, a tad raw in general impression.

Served with seared foie gras on ragout of vegetables.

We then tasted 3 wines before the main course:

1981 Gruaud Larose - good colour, the nose a bit funky at first but that blew
off. Still a little rustic though. Medium body, tannins a bit tart, and the
wine was on the lean side, but for all that quite enjoyable. Faded in the glass
after 20 minutes or so.

1983 Gruaud Larose - good colour, toasty, jammy, plummy nose. Similar
structure, but more sweetness at the end, and a pleasant mint note. The best
nose of the three, and no rush on this one.

1985 Gruaud Larose - Less up-front fruit, and leaner on entry, and it tailed a
little but then opened up again in the mouth. It seemed very harmonious and
younger than the other two.

Served with venison with wild rice risotto.

The with cheese:

1982 Gruaud Larose - a very classy Bordeaux with good extract and smooth but
still firm in the mouth. Weighty yet very well balanced. My favourite for
drinking now.


1986 Gruaud Larose - this wine was still quite tannic but you can now see the
almost lavish fruit and it finished very long. If you have this wine, have
patience as it will be very good, but needs considerable time.

1963 Crofts Port - an old purchase, he paid $6.35 for this wine! I love the
63s, as they are now fully mature and many are losing colour, but not flavour
interest. This is pale, a bit hot, not too sweet and very nice in over-all
impression. Delightful finish to a lovely dinner.

Bill Spohn wrote:

> I can't remember if I posted this to the group yet - ignore this if I have.

No, Bill. This is its first appearance here AFAIK. And, as an owner of both
the '82 and '86 (purchased as single bottles back in my penurious days as a grad
student) I greatly appreciate the notes. I had almost come to the conclusion that
the '82 was going to be a throwback to the '75, if you know what I mean, so it's
good to hear that at least one bottle seems to have come around by now. And,
silly me, I even contemplated opening the '86 at Thanksgiving, but thought better
of it -- and now I'm glad I did.

Mark Lipton

You had 9 bottles of wine (one magnum) in one evening?!!!? Please can I come
to your next dinner!!!
(please tell me it was more than just 4 of you there)

Bill Spohn > wrote:

: It's been quite a week for wine (and it isn't over yet). I had planned to relax
: after my Sassicaia vertical event last week, but it didn't turn out that way.

Well Bill, if you can't have extravagance This time of year, when can you
have it?


: 1983 Gruaud Larose - good colour, toasty, jammy, plummy nose. Similar
: structure, but more sweetness at the end, and a pleasant mint note. The best
: nose of the three, and no rush on this one.

Had this about 4 years ago and it was lovely. I remember a beautifully
balanced wine with good concentration and sweetness, like you mentioned. I
remember it feeling almost Californian in profile.

Thanks for the notes!

Mark S

>You had 9 bottles of wine (one magnum) in one evening?!!!? Please can I come
>to your next dinner!!!
>(please tell me it was more than just 4 of you there)

Yup - there were 10 of us.

We usually plan on a bottle per person, taken over a 4 hour span as a maximum
sensible intake....usually split unevenly between serious taster (read - me)
and designated driver (read she-who-must-be-obeyed).

Only problem is that we get to the end of a dinner and if we have had enough,
we put the final wine, often a vintage Port, back in the cellar. We've done
this 2 or 3 times this year so far, but we don't seem to be able to cut the
wine with the main course by one bottle, because there are always so many
interesting comparisons to be made.

I am way behind on my notes - I've been doing something every day this week
except Thurs., and they have been great events - vertical Dominus, 1934
Riesling, 1955 Port........I hope to get time to do more notes on the weekend
(I have an event tonight and tomorrow night, so hesitate to promise).

'Tis the season, I guess....

Notes on a bunch of 83 Bordeaux will get posted tonight for sure, though!

>No, Bill. This is its first appearance here AFAIK. And, as an owner of
>both the '82 and '86 (purchased as single bottles back in my penurious days as
a
>grad student) I greatly appreciate the notes. I had almost come to the
conclusion that the '82 was going to be a throwback to the '75, if you know
what I mean, so it's good to hear that at least one bottle seems to have come
around by now.
>And, silly me, I even contemplated opening the '86 at Thanksgiving, but
thought better of it -- and now I'm glad I did.
>
>Mark Lipton
>
(Text refers to 82 and 86 Gruaud Larose)

Mark

My 82 Gruaud Larose is drinking nicely now, as is my 86 Montrose. All my wines
of that era seem to have ullage to the neck, as my wines have moved a number of
times, with less than perfect storage. I suspect my 86 Montrose may have had
some rough handling before I bought it (one case in 1988) because it seems
quite advanced for the vintage, whereas some of my other wines, noteably the
85 Lynch Bages, seems to have much life left. This wine actually seemed
backward when tasted last month.

I may try a bottle of the 86 Gruaud L., and will let you know if I do.

I don't know how you can compare the 82 to the 75, the 82 Gruaud having the
sweet fruit evidenced when I first tried a bottle upon release. All the 82s
I've tasted seem to have those sweet fruits and ripe tannins.

Tom Schellberg

Yes, Gruaud Larose often is one of the better Bordeaux reds, and once
was a good value before the price of most of the better Bordeaux reds
went into orbit. I still have 3 bottles of the 61, it is still drinking
very well, and it is one of the better 61s. The 70 is still decent,
especially with food, but by no means in the same class with the 61.

My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase
from my email address. Then add . I do not
check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response.

Xyzsch wrote:

>
> My 82 Gruaud Larose is drinking nicely now, as is my 86 Montrose. All my wines
> of that era seem to have ullage to the neck, as my wines have moved a number of
> times, with less than perfect storage. I suspect my 86 Montrose may have had
> some rough handling before I bought it (one case in 1988) because it seems
> quite advanced for the vintage, whereas some of my other wines, noteably the
> 85 Lynch Bages, seems to have much life left. This wine actually seemed
> backward when tasted last month.

Tom,
A few months ago we opened a bottle of '86 Meyney, Montrose's less illustrious
nextdoor neighbor. It was likewise drinking very well right now, though I'd
expect the Montrose to have many more years ahead of it than the Meyney did.

>
>
> I may try a bottle of the 86 Gruaud L., and will let you know if I do.

Thanks!

>
>
> I don't know how you can compare the 82 to the 75, the 82 Gruaud having the
> sweet fruit evidenced when I first tried a bottle upon release. All the 82s
> I've tasted seem to have those sweet fruits and ripe tannins.

I meant that comment only in the sense of needing almost infinite time to
soften. I agree completely that '75 and '82 are two *very* different vintages,
and in all honesty I do not expect to see another year like '75 in my lifetime,
what with the shift in B'dx toward more forward, less austere wines.

Mark Lipton