By: AJ McClellan
Last night was great with a handful of members dropping in to share their wines around the table. The Bordeaux’s stole the show with their superb earthiness and complexities.
2004 Cristal – I think Cristal really picked it up for their 2004 vintage. The nose has a slight yeast appeal with lemon rind and great limestone minerality. The palate was crisp with a moderate effervescence and great fruit.
1992 Silver Oak Alexander – This bottle is a standard Silver Oak. The fruit was fading and the only thing holding the wine together was oak.
1998 Lamarche La Grande Rue – This bottle might have suffered from some bottle variation. Other Lamarche wines I have had were wonderful but this bottle was not showing well last night. The wine showed big earthy notes with fading fruit.
1978 Las Cases – When we first opened the wine it was a little green but the bottle quickly opened up and turned into a stunning Bordeaux. The nose was full of red fruits with dark earthy aromas and a long finish of spice and forest floor.
1993 Leflaive Puligny Montrachet Les Combettes – This bottle was extremely oxidized with huge caramel and honey notes followed by big lemons and limestone.
1979 Pichon Lalande – It was hard to pick a favorite between this and the Las Cases. Very similar in style but the Pichon was slightly softer on the palate while the Las Cases was more expressive on the nose.
2007 Guigal Corzes Hermitage – A great bottle for the price. Smoke, meat, leather and tar with great black fruits on the palate.