Matt Richman organized a pretty comprehensive look at (mostly) Left
Bank Bordeaux last night. We had a private room at Frank's Steakhouse.
Flights ranged from 2 to 4. Good night. Overall I thought some nice
wines, but nothing compelled me to go to winesearcher this AM (ok, I
might check out that Cos). For my tastes I think I like the other
vintage currently on the market, the 2001, a bit better. I noted where
I remember the 2001; only the '02 Cos exceeded it's '01 mate.

Flight One- Graves and Right Bank:

Pape Clement
Dense and powerful, some oak but integrated. Lots of earth and a little
tobacco. I prefer 2001 of this. A-/B+ (voted Wine Of The Flight)

Haut Brion
More violets than the berry fruit, somewhat tannic and reticent. Hard
to judge. Probably a B but as it's my favorite house a B+

Troplong Mondot
Crushed berries and kirsch on the nose. A bit tough and somewhat flat
on finish. I prefer 2001 of this. B-

Smith Haut Lafitte
Oaky, thick tasting. A rather strange minty aftertaste. C+


Flight Two -Margaux Big Boys

Ch. Margaux
Very perfumed nose at first, but it closes down after a while. Rich
cassis fruit. Lots of ripe tannins. A- (group voted wine of the flight,
I voted for 2nd fave of night)

Palmer
Fresh acidity, red berry fruit and flowers on nose. B

Flight Three: St. Julien, the Leovilles:

Leoville Barton
Dense blackcurrant fruit, good but with slightly clipped finish. I
prefer 2001 of this. B

Leoville Las Cases
Exotic spicy nose, but straightforward (and rather boring ) on palate.
B-

Leoville Poyferre
Fruit (cassis) forward, good dose of toasty oak. Good, but I prefer
2001 of this. B/B+

(my tripe was served with this course, actually went best with a
heldover glass of Margaux, certainly a combination I've never tried
before!)

Flight Four - St. Julien #2:

Lagrange
Big dark fruit, plenty of structure, a bit tight,needs time. Equal
quality to the 2001 for my tastes. B+

Branaire Ducru
Forward, black plum fruit, medium-bodied. B

Flight Five - Pauillac #1 :

Pontet Canet
Pretty valiant effort in big company. Medium-bodied, sweet fruit. B

Mouton-Rothschild
A spicy exotic nose, all sandalwood and perfumed fruits. Nice on
palate, but not quite as spicy. A-/B+

Latour
A little reticent at first, but opens into a rich dark full wine.
Powerful but balanced, my WOTN. Group WOTN & WOTF. A-

Lafite-Rothschild
Tight and not showing much, though I sense a dense brooding wine back
there. After an hour in glass nose totally shuts down. Impossible to
grade.

We had this flight with our food. Decent meat, though my strip steak
was underseasoned.

Flight Six- Pauillac #2

Pichon Baron
Lots of dark fruit, but a bit short. I prefer 2001 of this. B/B-

Grand Puy Lacoste
Nose starts off pleasantly herbal with a hint of green pepper, but the
bellpepper grows and morphs into a bellpepper/asparagus stew. I prefer
2001 of this. C+

Pichon Lalande
Dark red fruit, some slightly grating tannins. My WOTF, but no QPR
here! B

Lynch Bages
Also a little green on the nose, but instead of morphing into asparagus
just fades away. Not a lot of there there. B-/C+


Flight Seven- St. Estephe and environs

Sociando Mallet
Dark berry and cassis fruit, some herbal notes. Nice. B

Montrose
Tannic and not very friendly. Some dark fruit behind the tannins. I
prefer 2001 of this.B-/C+

Cos D'Estournel
Sweet, ripe, and out there. Deep base of blackcurrant and blackberry
fruit with enticing notes of leadpencil and coffee. I like this better
than the 2001. A-

Flight Eight- lesser Margaux

Giscours
Good acidity, clean fruit, a little short. B-

Lascombes
Medium-bodied, some leather over dark berry fruit. Group and my WOTF B

Malescot St. Exupery
Not getting a lot there, but it might just be my palate at this point.
B-

There was a very nice rich 2002 Climens, but I didn' take notes.

Nice night. Thanks to Matt Richman for organizing. Frank's was nice
room, though I found the food acceptable rather than enticing. At one
point early in evening I heard some joking that I couldn't understand
at other end of table. When I went to men's room, I got it.There was a
talking advertisement- a plastic bas relief of a busty woman saying
"hey big boy,are you happy to see me?", "is it cold in here?".
Strangely, an ad for the Sci-Fi channel. Seemed more college bar than
steakhouse to me, but I guess you get your revenue where you can( place
seems to function as much as a bar as a steakhouse).

Matt did some vote tabulation:
Wine of the night (1st got 3 points, 2nd 2, 3rd 1):
Latour (31)
Margaux (9)
Palmer (8)
Pape Clement (6)
Cos D'Estournel (5)
Leoville Barton (5)
Haut Brion (4)
Mouton (4)
Lafite (3)
Smith Haut Lafitte (1)

Non First Growth WOTN (one vote per person):
Palmer (5)
Cos D'Estournel (4)
Leoville Barton (1)
Pape Clement (1)

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.