Ray Goder Dinner at Caliterra

Caliterra
Tasted Thursday, June 1, 2006 by winefool with 1,304 views

Introduction

It took a day of recovery (and work…) for me to get these posted, but a group of us dined and drank to a bit of excess on Thursday evening in the wine room at Caliterra in Chicago. A special thanks to Ray Goder for providing all the fantastic old Bordeaux! Also in attendance was our organizer ‘Burgundy Al’ Factor, Ken Kailin, Dan Gordon, Mark Flaharty, Teresa Krafcisin, Tony Parillo, and Rick Gresh.

Flight 1 (2 Notes)

Flight 2 (2 Notes)

  • 1978 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne 94 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

    Somewhat controversial wine with some considering it too petrol, but I loved it. Great golden yellow color. Forward rich aroma of petrol, caramel, and a hint of lavender. Lovely rich caramel with yellow tropical fruits on the palate. Delicious. Some argued that it tasted like a 10 year old high end California chardonnay.

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  • 1982 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

    Several people like this better than the BdM, but not me. Electric yellow gold. Medium aroma of clean yellow fruit. Big bold oaky sweet yellow fruit with good minerality. Long finish.

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Flight 3 (2 Notes)

  • 1997 Sine Qua Non Twisted and Bent 94 Points

    USA, California

    Golden color. Huge rich aroma of ripe yellow fruit and spice, with notes of popcorn balls. Lovely sweet rich spicy yellow fruit on the palate with honey and caramel notes. Very nice.

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  • 2000 Sine Qua Non The Boot 93 Points

    USA, California

    I liked this wine better a year ago, so I wonder if it has peaked… Full yellow color. Bright clean nose of grapefruit and yellow fruits. Nice balanced spicy yellow fruit with cinnamon notes on the finish. 93pts.

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Flight 4 (1 Note)

  • 2001 Château Suduiraut 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Light yellow color. Medium aroma of botrytis yellow fruit. Rich huge unctuous thick texture but with perfect balance. Sweet yellow fruit with more noble rot notes. A great young sauternes. 94 pts.

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Flight 5 (3 Notes)

There was much anticipation and discussion regarding these two flights of old Bordeaux. I was personally excited because I don’t have a lot of experience with wines 40-50+ years old and I have been watching the debate here on eBob with interest. In my experience, usually at pre-auction tastings, etc, these older wines are more often than not either DOA or not all that interesting. I was hoping we might find one or two really good ones in this group. A few bottles had really good fills, but several of them were more questionable – mid shoulder – which may or may not be fine given the age of the wines. Overall the colors on these wines were great. As you can see, I was really pleasantly shocked at the quality and grace of these wines – there was not a clunker in the bunch! Thanks again to Ray for his unbelievable generosity…

  • 1928 Château Mouton Rothschild 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    This was one of the bottles with mid shoulder fill, but the provenance was exceptional as it has been in Ray’s family for generations. If I saw this bottle in an auction catalog, I would certainly have passed… Full red crimson with little or no garnet. Rich forward aromas of red fruit, briar, charcoal hints, leather, and just a hint of green pepper. Great flavors of black cherry and secondary tea notes. Great fruit and acidity with even some tannic hints remaining. Plenty of life left here. 93-94 pts.

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  • 1953 Château Haut-Brion 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    For me this was the wine of the evening, and it was uniformly considered the wine of the Bordeaux by the group. Great full red purple color – Could have easily been mistaken for a 1985. Big rich black fruit and charcoal hints and dusty notes – lovely and nuanced. Delicious round sweet black fruit on the palate with all kinds of interesting secondary notes that just keep going. Killer. 95+ pts.

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  • 1937 Château Latour Grand Vin 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Medium red color with clear garnet notes. Slightly odd aroma of feint fruit and a bit of matchstick on the nose. Really nice round red fruit with some sweetness still there. A little thin compared to the others, but still very nice. Developed some nutty sherry notes with time in the glass. 90 pts.

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Flight 6 (3 Notes)

  • 1961 Château Pape Clément 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Pale pink/red color. Medium aroma of bright red fruit and pizza notes. Nice round red fruit with great freshness and balance. 93+ pts.

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  • 1961 Château Léoville Las Cases 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Bright ruby red color with no brickiness. Lovely rich briar red fruit aromas. Beautiful ripe round red fruit with nice sweetness. 92-93 pts.

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  • 1961 Château Calon-Ségur 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

    Clear group choice for WOTF of the 61s. Full red color. Clean bright pale aroma of red fruits. Lovely rich round sweet black cherry on the palate. Very nice. 94 pts.

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Flight 7 (2 Notes)

  • 1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 94 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Always one of my favorite CdPs, but the 90 actually showed better this time. Bright red color. Wow – intoxicating spicy aroma of red fruit with acidity. Lovely rich red fruit with great telltale spiciness. Perhaps fell off just a bit on the mid-palate. 94 pts.

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  • 1990 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 94 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Full purple red color. Absolutely great nose of spicy black fruit with coffee notes. Huge rich sweet briar red/black fruit on the palate. Lovely. 94-95 pts.

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Flight 8 (3 Notes)

  • 1976 Penfolds Grange 94 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Opaque black purple. Huge big spicy black fruit aromas with good acidity. Huge rich chocolate balck cassis fruit. Like many of the great Granges, this feels almost immortal – it still shows tight after 30 years in bottle! 94+ pts.

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  • 1986 Penfolds Grange 95 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Pure deep black/purple color. Really bright acidic nose of huge black fruit with just the slightest green pepper notes. Huge concentrated black cassis liqueur. Rounded out with chocolate notes. Still just a baby but great. 95+ pts.

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  • 1998 Penfolds Grange 94 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Deep black/purple opaque color. Huge blackberry cassis nose with asphalt notes. Big bold black fruit, still showing tight a somewhat tannic. This was decanted for about 10 hours and still showed tighter than the last couple I’ve had. The 98 might finally be on the front end of shutting down to sleep for about 20 years?? Bummer! 94 pts.

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Flight 9 (2 Notes)

  • 1971 Château Cadet-Piola 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Never had or heard of this wine before Thursday, so interesting to taste. Full red/ruby with lots of lightening at the edges. Medium bright aroma of strawberry and cherry. Full round red fruit. Nice enough, but a bit lost in the company. 90 pts.

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  • 1980 Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Campolongo di Torbe 82 Points

    Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

    A throw in from the restaurant I believe… Full crimson/garnet. Sour aroma of black fruits. Madierized red fruit – not particularly good. 82 pts.

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Flight 10 (2 Notes)

  • 1929 Château d'Yquem 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    There was a good amount of discussion around the color on this – chocolate brown/cola color. To me it seemed a bit brown, even for a 1929, while others said it was not unusual. Again, if I saw this in an auction catalog it would be a pass. In this case maybe not a bad bet. Clean nutty aroma. Big bold nutty sherry sweet flavors. Not what I think of in sauternes, but nice enough. Doubt very much this is representative of a ‘great’ old d’Yquem. Oh well, you never bat a thousand! 88 pts.

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  • 1990 Château d'Yquem 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Clear golden color. Medium forward aroma of honey and botrytis. Bright huge concentrated sweet fruit with more botrytis notes on the finish. Very nice. 94+ pts.

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