Ian organized a night of 70s Bordeaux last night, primarily with
participants from Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts (but they invited me
anyway). . Nice mix of NYers and out of towners, some familiar faces,
some new to me. Notably since when we did 80s the decade was defined
as 1981 to 1990, this decade was 1970-1979.

Dinner was at Fabio*Piccolo Fiore on the east side. I lugged in a case
of wine, 9 for Ramon from joint purchases and then 3 for the dinner. I
had asked re double decanting, but was told we'd open there (but at
least half were actually d-d'ed). Restaurant did a nice job-
bruschetta, pesto/tapenade, crab, calamari, burrata on tomato with
roasted pepper, etc. We had a small portion of pappardelle with a
mushroom/truffle sauce. I ordered a veal special - butterflied chop
with a mushroom/wine sauce, good but the sauce overwhelmed the veal,
the regular grilled chop looked better. Assorted desserts, but I don't
do those.

There was a starter of the 2007 Anglader-Deleger "Blanchots Dessus"
Chassagne Montrachet. A lot (most?) people loved this but I found it a
bit clumsy and unfocused- a little wood, quite soft for a 2007, though
there was some nice fruit. B-

On to the reds
Flight one
1970 Ch. La Lagune- I thought this showed well, happy as I have a
bottle. Red and black cherries, light barnyard,nice balance, good
finish. B+

1978 Ch. La Lagune- lovely, perfumed, my WOTF. B+/A-

1970 Ch. Giscours- Solid dark fruit, perfumed Margaux nose. B+

1975 Ch. Giscours- tannic, fruit fading, not charming. B-/C+

70 Giscours got table vote for WOTF.

Flight two
1971 Ch. Canon- we missed this at our Canon vertical this summer, but
I've always thought this a VERY solid wine (my favorite Parker 67).
Fully mature, maybe starting downslope, but solid fruit with mocha and
earth notes. B+

1975 Ch. Figeac- corked

1978 Ch. Trotanoy- My WOTF, and a lovely bottle (a bit better than one
I opened last year) . Fleshy yet defined, classic Pomerol lushness,
still young. A-

1979 Ch. Pavie- light, a little lean, great perfumed nose but needs a
bit more weight on palate. B

Trotanoy got table vote for WOTF.

Flight three
1957 Pichon Lalande - yes, this was a 70s tasting. Mark accidently
grabbed wrong bottle when searching for the '70 (we've all done it). A
pleasant mistake, I think this might be the first '57 Bdx I've ever
had, and this drank much better than vintage reputation. Sweet red
fruit, feminine, cigarbox, much fresher than I'd have guessed. B+

1978 Pichon Lalande -rounder, riper than the 1979, full, tobacco,
earth. B+

1979 Pichon Lalande- the vintage's bright acids, midbodied herby,
complex, elegant. My WOTF A-/B+

1957 got table vote for WOTF.

Flight four

1970 Ch. Palmer- stinky at first, that blows off, leaving a nice
slightly tired claret- resolved tannins, black fruit, mushrooms. I
think this bottle maybe not seen constant good storage. Jacques said
it kept improving, but I didn't keep any- I should have. From what I
had, B.

1975 Ch. Palmer- those tannins really clamp down, cocoa, some dark
fruit. B

1978 Ch. Palmer- My WOTN. Lovely, complex, complete and balanced. A/A-

1979 Ch. Palmer- Bright, lively, lovely, though the '78 eclipses. B+/
A-

1978 got table vote for WOTF.

Flight five
1975 Ch. Mouton Rothschild - stinky, funky, a combo of lots of VA and
a little brett. C-

1975 Ch. Latour - structured, tannic, but with a nice nose of leather,
earth, and cassis. B

1979 Ch. Latour- quite funky, moderate tannins, evident acids. Someone
had described an earlier wine (I forget which) as having curry on the
nose, I found my curry here. C+/B-

1975 got table vote for WOTF.

Flight six

1978 Ch. Haut Brion-solid,minerally, red and black fruit, tobacco. B+/
A-

1978 Domaine de Chevalier- I always like this wine, and this is a good
showing. Earth, tobacco, balanced acids, mature tannins, just classic
Graves. My WOTF. A-/B+

1979 La Tour Haut Brion
Nothing wrong with this, but tough competition. A little rounder than
the other 79s, a bit less fresh. B

Haut Brion got table vote for WOTF.

Flight seven

1970 Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste - I think this is cracking up, lots of VA,
some decent fruit underneath, a couple others liked more than I did. C
+/B-

1970 Ch. Montrose- upper shoulder fill, not best bottle I've had of
this. Lots of barnyard, mushrooms, dark fruit. B/B-

1978 Ch. Montrose. Nice balance, just a hint of horsiness,
blackcurrants, earth. Good, but not as good as a bottle we had at a
vertical last year. B

1978 Montrose got table vote for WOTF.

At this point we did WOTN voting. Personally I've always found the "3
fingers for your first, 2 for second, 1 for third" pretty simple, but
some seemed challenged. I think a few people voted for 4 wines as
their 3 favorites, but I think the rankings were fairly clear. 1978
Palmer was WOTN, with '57 Pichon Lalande and 78 Haut Brion in close
fight for second, followed by '78 Trot and 70 Giscours. Both La
Lagunes, the Canon, Pavie, 78 Pichon Lalande, all Palmers, DDC, LTHB,
and 78 Montrose got at least one vote.

Flight eight
1970 Ch. d'Yquem- tropical fruits, apricot, honey, butterscotch. Maybe
not a great vintage, but very good B+

1970 Filhot- not as complex as the Yquem, orange zest, caramel, needs
a little more zip, but fun. B

1978 Gilette Creme de Tete- there a little odd metallic streak here,
detracting from an otherwise solid Sauternes. Still, nice to drink a
wine we don't see much of. B-

Fun night. Thanks to Ian for arranging, Ramon for original restaurant
hookup, everyone for their good company and good wines.

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.*

On Oct 17, 10:35*am, DaleW > wrote:
> Ian organized a night of 70s Bordeaux last night, primarily with
> participants from Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts (but they invited me
> anyway). . Nice mix of NYers and out of towners, some familiar faces,
> some new to me. Notably since when we did 80s the decade was defined
> as 1981 to 1990, this decade was 1970-1979.
>
> Dinner was at Fabio*Piccolo Fiore on the east side. I lugged in a case
> of wine, 9 for Ramon from joint purchases and then 3 for the dinner. I
> had asked re double decanting, but was told we'd open there (but at
> least half were actually d-d'ed). Restaurant did a nice job-
> bruschetta, pesto/tapenade, crab, calamari, burrata on tomato with
> roasted pepper, etc. We had a small portion of pappardelle with a
> mushroom/truffle sauce. I ordered a veal special - butterflied chop
> with a mushroom/wine sauce, good but the sauce overwhelmed the veal,
> the regular grilled chop looked better. Assorted desserts, but I don't
> do those.
>
> There was a starter of the 2007 Anglader-Deleger "Blanchots Dessus"
> Chassagne Montrachet. A lot (most?) people loved this but I found it a
> bit clumsy and unfocused- a little wood, quite soft for a 2007, though
> there was some nice fruit. *B-
>
> On to the reds
> Flight one
> 1970 Ch. La Lagune- I thought this showed well, happy as I have a
> bottle. Red and black cherries, light barnyard,nice balance, *good
> finish. B+
>
> 1978 Ch. La Lagune- lovely, perfumed, my WOTF. B+/A-
>
> 1970 Ch. Giscours- Solid dark fruit, perfumed Margaux nose. B+
>
> 1975 Ch. Giscours- tannic, fruit fading, not charming. B-/C+
>
> 70 Giscours got table vote for WOTF.
>
> Flight two
> 1971 Ch. *Canon- we missed this at our Canon vertical this summer, but
> I've always thought this a VERY solid wine (my favorite Parker 67).
> Fully mature, maybe starting downslope, but solid fruit with mocha and
> earth notes. B+
>
> 1975 *Ch. Figeac- corked
>
> 1978 Ch. Trotanoy- My WOTF, and a lovely bottle (a bit better than one
> I opened last year) . Fleshy yet defined, classic Pomerol lushness,
> still young. *A-
>
> 1979 Ch. Pavie- light, a little lean, great perfumed nose but needs a
> bit more weight on palate. B
>
> Trotanoy got table vote for WOTF.
>
> Flight three
> 1957 Pichon Lalande - yes, this was a 70s tasting. Mark accidently
> grabbed wrong bottle when searching for the '70 (we've all done it). A
> pleasant mistake, I think this might be the first '57 Bdx I've ever
> had, and this drank much better than vintage reputation. Sweet red
> fruit, feminine, cigarbox, much fresher than I'd have guessed. B+
>
> 1978 Pichon Lalande -rounder, riper than the 1979, full, *tobacco,
> earth. B+
>
> 1979 Pichon Lalande- the vintage's bright acids, midbodied herby,
> complex, elegant. My WOTF A-/B+
>
> 1957 got table vote for WOTF.
>
> Flight four
>
> 1970 Ch. Palmer- stinky at first, that blows off, leaving a nice
> slightly tired claret- resolved tannins, black fruit, mushrooms. I
> think this bottle maybe not seen constant good storage. Jacques said
> it kept improving, but I didn't keep any- I should have. From what I
> had, B.
>
> 1975 Ch. Palmer- those tannins really clamp down, cocoa, some dark
> fruit. B
>
> 1978 Ch. Palmer- My WOTN. Lovely, complex, complete and balanced. A/A-
>
> 1979 Ch. Palmer- Bright, lively, lovely, though the '78 eclipses. B+/
> A-
>
> 1978 got table vote for WOTF.
>
> Flight five
> 1975 Ch. Mouton Rothschild - stinky, funky, a combo of lots of VA and
> a little brett. C-
>
> 1975 Ch. Latour - structured, tannic, but with a nice nose of leather,
> earth, and cassis. B
>
> 1979 Ch. Latour- quite funky, moderate tannins, evident acids. Someone
> had described an earlier wine (I forget which) as having curry on the
> nose, I found my curry here. C+/B-
>
> 1975 got table vote for WOTF.
>
> Flight six
>
> 1978 Ch. Haut Brion-solid,minerally, red and black fruit, tobacco. B+/
> A-
>
> 1978 Domaine de Chevalier- I always like this wine, and this is a good
> showing. Earth, tobacco, balanced acids, mature tannins, just classic
> Graves. My WOTF. A-/B+
>
> 1979 La Tour Haut Brion
> Nothing wrong with this, but tough competition. A little rounder than
> the other 79s, a bit less fresh. B
>
> Haut Brion got table vote for WOTF.
>
> Flight seven
>
> 1970 Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste - I think this is cracking up, lots of VA,
> some decent fruit underneath, a couple others liked more than I did. C
> +/B-
>
> 1970 Ch. Montrose- upper shoulder fill, not best bottle I've had of
> this. Lots of barnyard, mushrooms, dark fruit. B/B-
>
> 1978 Ch. Montrose. Nice balance, just a hint of horsiness,
> blackcurrants, earth. Good, but not as good as a bottle we had at a
> vertical last year. B
>
> 1978 Montrose got table vote for WOTF.
>
> At this point we did WOTN voting. Personally I've always found the "3
> fingers for your first, 2 for second, 1 for third" pretty simple, but
> some seemed challenged. I think a few people voted for 4 wines as
> their 3 favorites, but I think the rankings were fairly clear. 1978
> Palmer was WOTN, with '57 Pichon Lalande and 78 Haut Brion in close
> fight for second, followed by '78 Trot and 70 Giscours. Both La
> Lagunes, the Canon, Pavie, 78 Pichon Lalande, all Palmers, DDC, LTHB,
> and 78 Montrose got at least one vote.
>
> Flight eight
> 1970 Ch. d'Yquem- tropical fruits, apricot, honey, butterscotch. Maybe
> not a great vintage, but very good B+
>
> 1970 Filhot- not as complex as the Yquem, orange zest, caramel, needs
> a little more zip, but fun. B
>
> 1978 Gilette Creme de Tete- there a little odd metallic streak here,
> detracting from an otherwise solid Sauternes. Still, nice to drink a
> wine we don't see much of. B-
>
> Fun night. Thanks to Ian for arranging, Ramon for original restaurant
> hookup, everyone for their good company and good wines.
>
> 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.*

Wow-that's a lot of wine!! Thanks for the notes.