Last night, after a topsy-turvy day of canceled dinner invitations and
re-invitations, Andrew ended up going over to a friend's house for a
sleepover and Jean and I had dinner at home to celebrate our 23rd
anniversary the following day (i.e., today). For dinner, I cooked a
roast leg of lamb and sauteed locally grown asparagus with late-season
(this year) morels from Minnesota. With this, I opened a wine from the
year of our marriage, the 1989 Ch. Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Our second (and last) bottle of this, when opened it revealed some
maderization on the nose, indicative of some heat damage somewhere in
the transport chain (not unheard of in this era for Ch. Beaucastel).
That did abate with time and what remained was a remarkably fresh wine,
tasting of cherries and only a slight hint of meat/game with very fresh
acidity. It had thrown a bucketload of sediment, but a decant did
wonders for this wine. Quite tasty with dinner, but not nearly as
awe-inspiring as the earlier bottle, alas.

Mark Lipton

On Apr 29, 5:07*pm, Mark Lipton wrote:
Last night, after a topsy-turvy day of canceled dinner invitations and
re-invitations, Andrew ended up going over to a friend's house for a
sleepover and Jean and I had dinner at home to celebrate our 23rd
anniversary the following day (i.e., today). *For dinner, I cooked a
roast leg of lamb and sauteed locally grown asparagus with late-season
(this year) morels from Minnesota. *With this, I opened a wine from the
year of our marriage, the 1989 Ch. Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Our second (and last) bottle of this, when opened it revealed some
maderization on the nose, indicative of some heat damage somewhere in
the transport chain (not unheard of in this era for Ch. Beaucastel).
That did abate with time and what remained was a remarkably fresh wine,
tasting of cherries and only a slight hint of meat/game with very fresh
acidity. *It had thrown a bucketload of sediment, but a decant did
wonders for this wine. *Quite tasty with dinner, but not nearly as
awe-inspiring as the earlier bottle, alas.

Mark Lipton

Too bad, that was a really nice wine in the past. Late season morels
in April?

On Sunday, April 29, 2012 7:07:23 PM UTC-4, Mark Lipton wrote:
Last night, after a topsy-turvy day of canceled dinner invitations and
re-invitations, Andrew ended up going over to a friend's house for a
sleepover and Jean and I had dinner at home to celebrate our 23rd
anniversary the following day (i.e., today). For dinner, I cooked a
roast leg of lamb and sauteed locally grown asparagus with late-season
(this year) morels from Minnesota. With this, I opened a wine from the
year of our marriage, the 1989 Ch. Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Our second (and last) bottle of this, when opened it revealed some
maderization on the nose, indicative of some heat damage somewhere in
the transport chain (not unheard of in this era for Ch. Beaucastel).
That did abate with time and what remained was a remarkably fresh wine,
tasting of cherries and only a slight hint of meat/game with very fresh
acidity. It had thrown a bucketload of sediment, but a decant did
wonders for this wine. Quite tasty with dinner, but not nearly as
awe-inspiring as the earlier bottle, alas.

Mark Lipton

HAppy Anniversary!
89 Bo is quite variable (there is a story, that I've heard a dozen times though no personal knowledge, that a significant portion of US allotment got caught in a dock strike in summer).

lleichtman wrote:

Too bad, that was a really nice wine in the past. Late season morels
in April?

This was the year that Winter didn't happen in the Midwest and a Spring
that began with weather in the 80s. Of course, we were in New Zealand
for all those warm temperatures, so now we're getting rain and
temperatures in the 50s.

Mark Lipton

"Mark Lipton" wrote ..........

This was the year that Winter didn't happen in the Midwest and a Spring
that began with weather in the 80s. Of course, we were in
New Zealand for all those warm temperatures, so now we're getting
rain and temperatures in the 50s.

Mark, we were in Central Otago for a few days on the weekend.

Primarily went so that Almarie could experience the wonderful autumn
colours - did not disappoint.

Beautiful fine weather - clear skies - temps in early/mid 20sC - some snow
in the high country on the day we left.

The only winery we visited was Amisfield (on your recommendation) - brought
home a couple of the '08 PN.

--

st.helier

Happy Anniversary :-)

89? What a great year :-)

DaleW wrote:

HAppy Anniversary! 89 Bo is quite variable (there is a story, that
I've heard a dozen times though no personal knowledge, that a
significant portion of US allotment got caught in a dock strike in
summer).


Yeah, that's the story I recall as well. Repetition of a falsehood
doesn't make it true, but anecdotally at least there seems to be reason
to believe it. Add to that that we purchased this bottle in Florida for
a fairly attractive price and it does make one wonder (our other bottle
was purchased at Sam's in Chicago).

Mark Lipton

st.helier wrote:
"Mark Lipton" wrote ..........

This was the year that Winter didn't happen in the Midwest and a
Spring that began with weather in the 80s. Of course, we were in
New Zealand for all those warm temperatures, so now we're getting
rain and temperatures in the 50s.

Mark, we were in Central Otago for a few days on the weekend.

Primarily went so that Almarie could experience the wonderful autumn
colours - did not disappoint.

Beautiful fine weather - clear skies - temps in early/mid 20sC - some
snow in the high country on the day we left.

The only winery we visited was Amisfield (on your recommendation) -
brought home a couple of the '08 PN.

Good on ya, St. H. We loved that '08 PN when we had it at Mt. Cook
(nah, the setting couldn't possibly have made that wine seem any better
than it was) but the barrel samples of the '11s that we tried there were
really exceptional. Steph seems to be on her game, as it were.

Cheers!
Mark Lipton

On Apr 30, 8:05*am, Mark Lipton wrote:
DaleW wrote:
HAppy Anniversary! 89 Bo is quite variable (there is a story, that
I've heard a dozen times though no personal knowledge, that a
significant portion of US allotment got caught in a dock strike in
summer).

Yeah, that's the story I recall as well. *Repetition of a falsehood
doesn't make it true, but anecdotally at least there seems to be reason
to believe it. *Add to that that we purchased this bottle in Florida for
a fairly attractive price and it does make one wonder (our other bottle
was purchased at Sam's in Chicago).

Mark Lipton

I've seen a lot of "heat" type issues with "89 Beaucastel. I was just
discussing that very issue with a friend this weekend. FYI, our
morels were plentiful in late March through the first week or so of
April but are long gone. Lot's of lettle yellows this year.

On Apr 30, 8:09*am, "Bi!!" wrote:
On Apr 30, 8:05*am, Mark Lipton wrote:

DaleW wrote:
HAppy Anniversary! 89 Bo is quite variable (there is a story, that
I've heard a dozen times though no personal knowledge, that a
significant portion of US allotment got caught in a dock strike in
summer).

Yeah, that's the story I recall as well. *Repetition of a falsehood
doesn't make it true, but anecdotally at least there seems to be reason
to believe it. *Add to that that we purchased this bottle in Florida for
a fairly attractive price and it does make one wonder (our other bottle
was purchased at Sam's in Chicago).

Mark Lipton

I've seen a lot of "heat" type issues with "89 Beaucastel. *I was just
discussing that very issue with a friend this weekend. *FYI, our
morels were plentiful in late March through the first week or so of
April but are long gone. *Lot's of lettle yellows this year.

Ours are just coming in now along with the Chanterelles.