By: Ryan Tedder
Thank goodness we are finally getting some of our valued and beloved members back from summer break. We had a jolly good time with some of our favorite people and drank some absolutely fabulous juice. Some highlights included:
2000 Dom Perignon – a house favorite producer was fantastic as always! Although very young the wine was full of power, mineral, toasted buttered brioche, citrus peel, bosc pear, white cherry, and a myriad of white and yellow flowers.
1996 Olivier LeFlaive Montrachet - liquid gold; creamy, full and buttery with rich baked golden apple and loads of sappy minerality. Toast, vanilla, yogurt, salted caramel, brown sugar, and a minute long finish. Rich, round, opulent and heady-just entering its ideal drinking window-the citrus oil, citrus zest, honey, caraway and baked apple were amazing. This will go for many years to come.
2007 Guigal Ex Voto Hermitage - we killed a beautiful baby here. Saturated and black in the glass. Molten chocolate, black pepper, bacon, blackberry, black cherry, dried provencal herbs, stems, creme de cassis, pipe tobacco, and a distinct animal quality. This is one of the finest Hermitage being made-find it, stash it and share it with us when you pop it!! 
1996 Fisher Wedding Vineyard Cabernet - this wine was showing beautiful and was still loaded with life. It actually drank better than two recent 1997s of the same winery. Just goes to show that you can’t believe everything you hear about vintages without drinking the wines. It still had sweet new world fruit but the secondary flavors or tobacco, mint, cigar wrapper, dried rose petals and meat all added to the cassis, red currant and black cherry. A great bottle of vino!
1997 Leoville Las Cases – once again for an “off” vintage this wine was full of brooding power. Bell pepper, pencil lead, graphite, tobacco leaf, tomato leaf, black currant, creme de cassis, cranberry, cedar, and gravel filled the glass and spilled into the room. I did not get to drink any of the wine after about 45 minutes but I can only speculate that the wine just continued to improve. It really showed its pedigree.
2000 Grand Puy Lacoste – this was showing more forward than most other 2000 Bordeaux that I have tried. The saturated black cherry, black raspberry, cassis and was ripe, lush, creamy and plump. The black licorice, fresh violets, cigar, and gobby round tannins were succulent and downright delicious. A baby but the future is so bright-it should probably wear shades.
1990 Produttori Pora Riserva Barbaresco – this was my surprise wine of the night-I think it was just because I have been in an Italian mood. I am always impressed with the consistent quality that the cooperative of Produttori puts out. It is undoubtedly one of the best producers in the area. The 1990 vintage is stellar and this was the riserva bottling of the Pora. This nebbiolo is hanging right in there and not showing its age at all. The heady, intoxicating Piedmont aromas of dried and lush red fruit, truffles, road tar, red licorice and dried rose petals were stunning and I wanted to drink this wine over the next day. A really great bottle of wine!