This event was a follow-up to a tasting dinner last year in which we
investigated the 1995 Bordeaux anticipated to be more forward and
drinkable. This time we wanted to look at more backward representatives
to assess readiness and likely future potential. As you will no doubt
gather from the menu, the event took place at an Italian restaurant.

We started off with a smoked salmon/mascarpone blinis topped with
steelhead caviar, with:

1995 Veuve Cliquot Reserve - citrus nose and the theme followed
through with lots of acidity on palate giving a clean, refreshing
presentation that nicely complemented the food.

With smoked trout on endive and radicchio, with tarragon/white wine
vinaigrette, with braised fennel and pink grapefruit (a sort of trutti
frutti?)

Ch. Carbonnieux blanc - showing a fair bit of colour, and hold the
phone - someone marinated a log in this one! The nose was mucho oako
with only a hint of fruit peeking out from under and while it had a
soft entry and smooth feel, it ended with caramel and far too little
acidity. Makes one wonder if they weren't hosting a winemaker from
California or Australia that year. Not my idea of a white Bordeaux,
I'm afraid.

With papardelle in rabbit ragu:

Duhart Milon - this Rothschild wine is high in cabernet and proved to
be the best drinking wine of this flight. Good dark fruit nose, juicy
fruit on palate and well balanced, medium length and elegant. Damn -
should have bought some of this.

Pontet Canet - the nose on this simpler fruit, but alarms go off as
one tasted it - an instant spritz along the sides of the tongue,
green tannin and a medicinal note at the end. Much of this blew off
with time, but disquieting nonetheless. Other bottles showed better.

Lafon Rochet - we switch to St. Estephe for the next wine. A good
classic nose, on palate, fairly tannic still but well built. My concern
was whether the fruit was sufficient to see the tannins out - only
time will tell.

Pape Clement - a very interesting wood smoke and tomato nose, good
fruit in the middle and classy, if still tannic presentation made this
wine the clear winner of the flight for me.

With seared duck breast with blueberry-barbera reduction and asiago
potato gratin:

l'Arrosee - this St Emilion was almost unknown among wine writers
and reviewers when it first began to show up in BC, but over time,
starting with the 1961 vintage, local aficionados grew attached to it,
and the wine began to pick up attention internationally although still
hardly a household word. Pleasant nose - almost Burgundian. The wine
is clean, crisp, elegant and drinks well now and no doubt for a few
years yet.

Grand Mayne - my ears pricked up at this as I own a few bottles. A
closed dusty nose with some decent fruit showing and only medium levels
of tannin make this a decent drinker now. Medium length and the nose
opened up nicely with time in the glass.

La Fleur Petrus - oh my! Nice sweet raspberry fruit with a smoked
meat element - lots of interest in this nose. Softer than the
previous wine with a slight bitter hint near the end. The amazing thing
about this wine was how it just kept changing and building in the
glass. By the time I finished it, the nose had transformed into a real
classic, the slight bitterness had become a definite virtue and the
wine had smoothed and lengthened into something special. No rush on
this wine, which many of us declared the wine fo the flight, which may
surprise you in light of the final wine in this flight.

Petrus - a (very) early look at this monumental wine. I felt that the
nose was a bit closed, but nonetheless it showed as a ripe extracted
wine with a hint of cinnamon. Very concentrated in palate, and quite
sweet in the mouth with an exceptionally long finish, yet the wine was
clearly brooding now and had so much more to show in the future that
for drinking today the La Fleur was the better bet.. If you tasted both
blind, not able to be impressed by name or standing, and were asked
which one you'd rather drink with your dinner today, a sensible
claret drinker would most likely opt for the La Fleur and stick the
other wine away for a decade or two.

With rare grilled beef tenderloin with radicchio/balsamic mash:

Branaire Ducru - slightly green cabernet nose, then on entry a
sweetness in this relatively simple medium bodied, medium length wine,
only a little hard at the end. I was a little disappointed, but it
might show better one another occasion. Plus is did have a pretty
challenging act to follow.

Ducru Beaucaillou - this one was a pure pleasure and earlier drinking
than many vintages of Ducru . It showed a nice sweet custardy nose, was
concentrated on palate and had very good length. Not too hard now, it
offers excellent drinking, and was my tie for wine of flight.

Leoville Poyferre - this was not very expressive in the nose at this
point, but it did have good concentration of flavour in the mouth, was
still firm and had decent length.. I dare say it could show better a
different time and a different bottle.

Leoville Barton - my other choice for wine of flight -this one to
be laid back down and the Ducru to be drunk while waiting for the
Barton to mature. This had a really great nose of cedar and vanilla
with dark fruit, and was almost elegant in the mouth with excellent
length. Give it another few years in cellar and it should really sing.

with some sort of cheese and chocolate concoction (you may gather that
I am not a big fan of sweet desserts :in wine dinners when a lump of
cheese would be so much better):

1980 Offley Boa Vista Port - I had some of this off-vintage port from
a sort of second house and very sensibly drank it up some time ago.
Sweet hot and spicy nose, but the heat followed into the mouth and
between that and the slight harshness in the finish we agreed that this
port just wasn't offley nice.

we agreed that this
> port just wasn't offley nice

[groan ;-) ]

Nice notes Bill, confirms mixed bag vintage maturity wise.

l'arrossee, a new one to me, but available at 4 merchants in the UK at about
£28 a bottle.

While in wine searcher I had a look at two of your other wines.

La Fleur at £ 65, and Petrus at £700, has the world gone mad.!

BTW, loss of cellar hurt me to the quick, so bought an apartment in an old
Georgian pile, with a cellar........hohum....expensive cellar or what?

John

John Taverner wrote:
> BTW, loss of cellar hurt me to the quick, so bought an apartment in an old
> Georgian pile, with a cellar........hohum....expensive cellar or what?


You could always just start drinking screw cap, John........:-)