Thursday night a nice group gathered at La Sirene/ Taureau on the theme Older and Blind (40 years being minmum). A rainy day, but better than original forecast. Before heading to city I decided to double-decant my 2 bottles for sediment, good thing I did as the ‘66 Beychevelle was a testament to the longevity of TCA. I grabbed a last minute replacement, and headed to city.

We were in Taureau side of restaurant, but ordered from La Sirene menu. I thought the sauteed baby octopus was tasty, but with wines I wouldn’t have ordered if menu had mentioned hot pepper (not to mention enough thyme for 20 dishes). The cassoulet seemed soupy and a bit disappointing compared to pass (though I didn’t get any Italian sausage as others did). But service was cheerful.

Ben had brought bags, and we labelled so that owner could answer questions.

Flight 1
RC1- Paul was quick with Bordeaux and 1970, I guessed St Julien, but then missed with Beychevelle (this seemed elegant, so I was surprised when unveiled). Tangy acids, resolved tannin, lots of cigarbox. 1970 Gruaud Larose B+

DW1- double decanted before I left home. Floral, slightly roasted fruit notes, plenty of oomph. Ramon got Italian, but then thought Southern Italy, and I replied “the appellation on bottle is northern Italian.” Ben asked if Nebbiolo, and I replied “cellartracker says it’s Nebbiolo”- from my evasive answers Chris nailed it, though it took a while to get vintage.1958 Vallana "Campi Raudii Catulli Ara" Spanna B+

Flight 2
BG1 - fresh, young, tarry, good length. One of my favorite wines of the night. Josh got Piedmont right off bat, and eventually Vietti. 1971 Vietti “Localita Briacca” Barolo. A-

BG2- Full, rich, classic Bordeaux, black fruits and cigarbox 1966 Ducru-Beaucaillou B+/A-

Flight 3
Paul felt PJ1 & PJ2 not interesting enough, so labelled **** and swill. Which led to many strange comments I think for neighboring tables (“are you talking **** or swill”, “**** is #1”, “let me just focus on swill”).

****- Tired, roasted, smoky, seen better days, someone got “old Piedmont” early. 1971 Ceretto “Zonchetta” Barolo B-

Swill - This was lovely, young, and fruit-filled. Midbodied, elegant, one of my WOTNs. 1970 Canon A-

Flight 4
JL1 Muddy, pruney, my least favorite of wines I tasted.1870 Marques de Riscal Rioja Reserva C+

JL2 Whoa, tasty. Ripe full and young, I think Chris got vintage quickly. Classic fullbodied mature Nebbiolo. Another contender for WOTN for me. 1964 Barale Barolo A-

BK - good blackcurrant fruit, leather, a bit stolid, but nice example of of 60 year old Bordeaux! 1953 Talbot B+/A-

(somewhere in here there was a ‘66 CVNE Imperial opened, but I took others’ word it was cooked)

Flight 5 (by this point I neglected to note who guessed correctly)
RC2 This was a real surprise- best LB ‘64 I’ve had. Red fruits, tobacco, slim and elegant. 1964 Leoville-Poyferre B+

CK Herbs and cedar, good fruit, long. Tied for my WOTN. 1970 Cheval Blanc A-

DW2 - this was replacement for the corked Beychevelle, just grabbed off rack and carried on train, so a bit disturbed. Brawny, dark fruit, still some tannin, maybe just a hint of brown sugar but I didn’t find maderized like Brad 1966 Calon-Segur B+

Non-blind dessert wine- 1971 Baumard Quarts de Chaumes. Modest sweetness, bright tropical (pineapple) and citrus fruits, burnt sugar, honeysuckle. A-

Really sucessful night overall, I quite liked all but 3 wines. We voted for fave - I split my votes evenly (Cheval, Canon, and Vietti), but liked the Barale about as much. For group red wine of the night voting was a tie for first
Vietti 10 pts
Cheval Blanc 10
Barale 10
Ducru 7
Canon 3
Poyferre 2
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.

oops, typo, Riscal is 1970!

On Friday, June 14, 2013 1:27:42 PM UTC-6, DaleW wrote:
> oops, typo, Riscal is 1970!

I would have liked it to have been 1870. A 140+ year old wine. Now that would be interesting.