Kind of a hectic Saturday, back and forth to office, fighting a cold, and preparing for a tasting/dinner. But thankfully a helpful and understanding group, so we had a pleasant evening on the patio with a lot of Cantemerle and La Lagune.

We started with lobster salad, cheeses (thanks Ramon), duck rillettes, and Champagne:

NV Pierre Peters Cuvee de Reserve Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Crisp though with noticeable sweetness, citrus, pear, and bread dough, fairly full yet with a lightness on palate. I preferred this to the Vilmart, others differed, B+/A-

2009 Vilmart Cellier d'Or Champagne
Nice complex nose with almonds, toast, and spice, but I thought this a bit plodding and heavy compared to Peters. B/B-

Added some smoked duck breast and sweet soppressata as we moved to the reds.. The theme of the evening was Cantemerle and la Lagune, our favorite "just outside of Marguax" estates, and we had a nice lineup.

2010 Cantemerle
Full, big, tannic, some found hot I didn't, quite ripe, I enjoyed but won't be really searching. B

2009 Cantemerle
A burst of fruit when opened in afternoon, then shut down hard. Long decant got rid of some but not all the shyness. Not touching for a while, but I think this will be a rather classic ripe vintage Cantemerle (B- last night, B+ for potential)

2004 La Lagune
I seemed to like less than others, nice cassis fruit, herbs, and good structure but I found this a little short on finish. B/B-

2000 Cantemerle
Open, giving, some thought alarmingly mature, but I don't think this will have trouble holding for a while. B/B+

Salil had brought some delicious yogurt-marinated chicken, easy to grill and we served with some grilled squash

1996 Cantemerle
Man, I love good 96 Medoc. Classy, elegant, but with some power, black fruit and tobacco. A-

1989 Cantemerle
It's flightmate was just as lovely- herbal, cigarbox, mature but not at all tired. A-

1986 La Lagune
Resolved tannin, firm, nice. B

1986 Cantemerle
More open, good acids, good fruit. B/B+

1985 La Lagune
I thought this was very good, though it didn't seem to figure in people's favorites. Elegant, light but with lots of charm B+

1983 La Lagune
Roasted, this has seen some heat. NR

1983 Cantemerle
Another very nice showing of this, elegant, feminine, fine. A-/B+

As a palate cleanser,
2007 Keller Riesling Kabinett
Fun, precise, just enough sweetness, vivid acids (yes, for a 2007) B+/A-


Back to main event

1982 La Lagune
Big and burly without lacking grace, very sweet dark full fruit. A-/B+

1982 Cantemerle
Much smaller framed than the la Lagune, but a lovely mature claret. B+

1979 La Lagune
Another good showing here, vibrant acids, redder fruits, tobacco. B+/A-

1978 Cantemerle
Good, ripe, complex. B+/A-

1978 La Lagune
Ready, fresh, and long. B+

1975 La Lagune
I believe this had seen some warmth

1970 La Lagune
Ripe, floral, fun. A-/B+

1970 Cantemerle
I liked this but didn't write anything besides B+

1966 Cantemerle
Lovely, long, complex. A-

1961 Cantemerle
We knew in advance this was iffy, midshoulder fill, smelled ok out of bottle, but after decanting and pouring it cracked up.

2012 Kruger-Rumpf Munsterer Pittersberg Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel
No notes, I thought nice but not especially complex

2001 Lafaurie-Peyraugey
nice

Fun night with an excellent crowd. Other than the wines with storage issues everything showed at least ok, and most showed very well. 2 fine estates- if I had a takeaway from event, it was I felt that the La Lagune was consistently the more masculine styled wine. Of course, other vintage pairings might have shown differently. Thanks all.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. 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.