By: AJ McClellan
Yesterday was a good day for wine. We put together a great spread for the members that we had in and everyone pulled out a bottle to plonk down on the table. Great food, great wine, life does not get much better…
1998 Groffier Bonnes Mares – An outstanding bottle of wine. The nose shows bright cherry pie with notes of subtle spice and a great backing of clean earth and forest floor. The palate was bright with a crisp acidity and great minerality.
1999 Ponsot Griotte Chambertin – This bottle was a real treat to drink. The wine took a while to get going but once it got on a roll the wine was stunning. A nose of dusty cherry and autumn leaves with light aromas of tobacco smoke and broken twigs. The palate was wonderful, a medium bodied wine with great depth and complexity that grew exponentially with more time spent in the glass.
1995 Joseph Drouhin Puligny Montrachet Pucelles – The best of the Drouhin’s I have had recently. The nose still showed some oxidative notes with honey and big caramel. The palate was flabby with pleasant fruit notes of white peach, quince, and apricot.
2000 Vega Sicilla Unico – This wine just makes me laugh; it is like chewing on an old wooden sandal… So much wood! The nose was powerful with big sandalwood, cedar, plum, blackberry, and dill. The palate was massive and tannic with huge wood notes and powerful fruit. Give this bottle a good couple of decades to mellow out…
1992 Meo Camuzet Clos de Vougeot – I was impressed with this bottle of wine it was drinking great out of the gate with bright red and black fruits and hints of spice. The palate showed ripe cherries with curls of dark chocolate and a finish of earth.
1979 Pichon Lalande – This bottle was drinking a little older than some of the other 79’s we have had but it was delicious none the less. Big earth with compost, forest floor, and barnyard all rolled up into one wonderfully dirty nose. The palate was much of the same with a faint note of blackberries and prunes.
1978 Las Cases – For not the best vintage the Las Cases was drinking like a champ. The nose showed bright fruit with a powerful earthy backing. The palate was soft and drinking well with silky tannins and a long finish.
2002 Boillot Batard Montrachet – An impressive Batard Montrachet with a wonderful nose of white flowers, lemon, peach, and slate. The palate was lean and crisp with a great mineral finish.
1988 Gilette – This is a fun bottle of wine; it spends 20 years in concrete before being bottled to maintain its youthfulness. In the glass you get great color and a very bright nose but on the palate there is a complexity that can only come with age.