Mark put on a charity wine tasting featuring Bandol yesterday, and since my non-profit was beneficiary I felt justified taking a half day in the city. 14 generous oenophiles gathered at Morini on the Upper East Side. I started with some fantastic eggplant/chicken meatballs with buffalo mozzarella, tomato and basil, I also tried Marks excellent tagliatelle with a bolognese. My roast chicken was good if not as exciting, and I enjoyed the cheese plate.

Mark started us with a taste of the 2012 Calluna Estate. Some found it simple, but I quite liked (though young)- firm, mid-full bodied, blackcurrant and black cherry, some coffee notes. B+

On to the Bandols
Flight one
1993 Chateau la Rouviere Bandol- Sweaty,brimstone, cherry, short. C+

1993 Mas Redonne Bandol- weird weird nose at first- bugspray meets VA meets green, mostly blows off and palate is much more approachable, but finish a bit short. B-/C+

1993 Tour du Bon Bandol
Meaty, darker fruit, nice finish. B+

Second flight
1995 Bastide Blanche Bandol
Sweet and easy, redder fruit than I expect from Bandol, drinking well. B/B+

1991 Le Galantin Bandol
Sweet fruit, pleasant funk, bacon. B+

1990 Le Galantin Bandol
Advanced, caramel on nose, sweet fruit on palate but clipped. C+

(somewhere in here Mark had me sample a bottle of 78 Vannieres before pouring, oxidized and dead)

Third flight
1990 Bastide Blanche Bandol
Fresh, powerful, structured, young. B+/A-

1988 Ch. Vannieres Bandol
A little VA, ripe fruits, pleasant. B

1986 La Roque Bandol
Meaty, black fruited, good finish. B+

1985 Tempier Bandol (additional donation from Todd )
Perfumed, meaty, smoky. Elegant (not first word I think of with Bandol, but thought so here). A-

Fourth Flight
1983 Ch. Vannieres Bandol
Sweet raspberry and strawberry fruit, earth, meat, espresso. Lovely. A-

1979 Ch. Vannieres Bandol
Good fruit, earthy, very good just overshadowed by flightmates. B/B+

1973 Vannieres €œla Patience€� Bandol
This apparently was bottled with a little RS, but time has eaten any real sweetness. Just good ripe fruit, with leather, smoke and cocoa. Mark says its Chave-like (and several agree) - to me its Rhonish but more like a great old CdP. Of course, he drinks more old Chave than me. Anyway, a tremendous bottle, that got most peoples WOTD award I think (close for me). A-/B+

Mark then served a blind wine. I had trouble getting past the massive VA at first, but sweet fruit with a touch of decay on the palate, quite drinkable once past the volatility. I think first guess was Banyuls, I was about to guess over the hill but interesting Amarone when David guessed old Late Harvest Zinfandel . Close! 1976 Sutter Home Zinfandel B-/C+ (but a B+/A- for fun blind to taste)

Fun day, longest lunch Ive taken in 25 years, but charity did well.. Many many thanks to Mark for organizing and contributing the wines.

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.