On a hot and sultry thunderstormy day, our Bordeaux group (and one out of town guest) met at our €œhome base€�, the Bobby Vans on 54th St. Thunderstorms put kibosh on our plan to eat outside, but were all vaccinated, and I enjoyed the AC.

2013 Suenen "Les Robarts" Extra Brut Champagne
Crisp and delicious, green apple with lemon zest, Parker rolls, and apple blossoms. Fine mousse, good finish. B+/A-

Theme was 1996 Left Bank (Medoc and Graves). I enjoyed my wedge salad, fries, sauteed spinach, and made a heroic but futile effort to eat most of my delicious tomahawk.

1996 Leoville Poyferre (St Julien)
Fresh, open, giving. Sweet cassis and graphite, a little fennelseed edge made it a bit exotic, happy with this. B+

1996 Leoville Barton (St Julien)
Solid black fruit framed by cigarash and toast, ok but a bit plodding and less fresh than others. B-

1996 Ducru Beaucaillou (St Julien)
Cassis and black plum, fruit seems to get a bit more red character with time, cigarbox, pencil shavings, lovely and long. A-

1996 Leoville Las Cases (St Julien)
Alas, corked

1996 Montrose (St Estèphe)
Fresh and young, surprisingly friendly for young Montrose, black fruits with herbs, silky texture, drinks more like a good Margaux than St Estephe. Long. A-/B+

1996 Pichon Lalande (Pauillac)
This was so elegant next to the more overtly powerful Lynch Bages. Black plum and currant, minty herbs, leather and tobacco. Beautiful A-

1996 Lynch Bages (Pauilac)
Muscular, tannic, dark fruit with gravel and graphite. Long. A-/B+

1996 La Mission Haut Brion (Pessac-Léognan)
I was a little surprised how round and open this was, sweet black fruits, charred earth, coffee. Good but not real developed. B+

2002 Alois Kracher Grande Cuvée TBA #7 Nouvelle Vague
Sweet, a touch treacly, the Kracher wines never really move me. B-

Fun time.
Group voting
Montrose 15 pts
Ducru 9 pts
LMHB 9 pts
Lynch 6 pts
Pichon Lalande 5 pts
Poyferre 3 pts

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.