| | This was a bit of a stone soup theme, because I suggested we do 1982 bordeaux but all I had was a Sociando Mallet. At least I brought a cristal to make up for it. My wine of the night was 1982 La Mission Haut Brion which was a hair above the 1982 Lafite. Epic. - 2005 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut - France, Champagne
Very fine beads. The wine is very lively, bright, effervescent with light brioche, lemon and apple. (95 pts.)
- 2013 Marcassin Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
This wine is so aromatic. The nose is lively with ripe peach, melon and tropical fruit (pineapple stands out) in the foreground. This really was fantastic in a full-bodied california chardonnay well. Unctuous mouthfeel, spicy complexity and enough lime/acid to keep it balanced. (97 pts.)
- 1982 Château Sociando-Mallet - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc
Pop and pour, drank a good-sized glass over 2 hours. Cedar and cherry are evident. Lots of earth. Surprisingly good texture for this age,. Really well-integrated while still being quite lively. This hasn't fallen off the cliff yet but I wouldn't wait too long. My last bottle. (92 pts.)
- 1982 Château Calon-Ségur - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Likely heat damaged. Maderized. It actually smoothed out and was drinkable with a delicious wild mushroom soup, but clearly flawed. (FLAWED)
- 1982 Château Lynch-Bages - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Decanted about 45 minutes, drank a good-sized glass over 3 hours. Lovely red to black fruit, graphite and tobacco. Cedar, some plum, the finish ends slightly sour. (94 pts.)
- 1982 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
Pop and drank, drank a good-sized glass over 2 hours. Scorched earth, slight iodine, bordeaux funk. This was a fantastic fully mature bordeaux (95 pts.)
- 1982 Château La Mission Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Decanted about an hour. OMG! Very brambly with some funky vegetation. There is some tar, fruit is accessible, quite gravelly in minerality on the nose and palate. (97 pts.)
- 1982 Château Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Decanted about an hour. Blue fruit is evident, which I always seem to get from Haut Brion. A touch of rubber, meat, mocha, black currant and tobacco. Quite outstanding. (96 pts.)
- 1982 Château Lafite Rothschild - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Decanted about an hour. This was a bonus bottle, served blind. The label was unrecognizable to me from mold and being bin-soiled. This took a good hour in glass to get going and was a bit challenging initially. Which was an odd situation since I didn't know what it was. It really smoothed out with time and was in the running for wine of the night in my opinion. Elegant, soft bordeaux palate with leather and funk. My score went from 92 to 97 while evaluating it. (97 pts.)
- 1998 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain Sélection de Grains Nobles - France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
I've never thought much of this producer, but I must have never had this wine! Holy crap, this is Sauternes on steroids. It is sweet without even a touch of being heavy. Light as a feather with gobs of tropical fruit, spice and butterscotch. And they pulled this wine off with pinot gris? How is that possible? This was the perfect ending to a very fine tasting. (98 pts.)
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