Dinner with the Bikel's at Lampreia

A dear friend from college was in town along with his wife, and I thought it would be fun to open a few nice bottles. We went from oldest to youngest, although the Pichon was the WOTN in my book. Totally sublime and yet with stunning power.

First, on the way home, I stopped off quickly at McCarthy & Schiering for some fun. I tried to blind folks with a bottle of Kistler, and in return I tasted some freshly bottled 2001's from Bob Betz.

• 2000 Kistler Chardonnay Dutton Ranch 91 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  I brought a bottle of this to McCarthy & Schiering to try and stump folks, but Dan managed to peg the producer, varietal and vintage (with a few answers to yes/no questions). Very impressive... Wow, this was the best Kistler Chard I have ever tasted! The nose is very spicy with copius toasted filbert and spice. The palate is wildly tropical with pineapple and loads of tangy fruit which more than easily stands up to the copious French oak. This has a silky texture with good weight but is fairly lithe on the palate with acidity. Powerful finish. Really nice!

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• 2001 Betz Family Clos de Betz

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Tasted at McCarthy & Schiering. This was just bottled a week earlier. On the nose this was brooding with lots of toasty oak and some bottle stink. On the palate this is very tight with not much sweetness. Flavors include brambly notes with some licorice. The barrel flavors are very prominent. There is lots of raw stuff here, but it is very disjointed with a bit of a green streak. This one needs some time to settle down.

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• 2001 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 92 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Tasted at McCarthy & Schiering. This was bottled just a week earlier. On the nose there is loads of black licorice and some typical cabernet smells. This enters the mouth with simply explosive fruit and gorgeous sweetness. It is surprisingly lithe and approachable for such a big, young wine. This has big, dusty tannins on the finish that hang with you literally minutes later. This has a ton of raw material, and it seems in much better balance than the Clos de Betz right now. Very nice!

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Then we headed out to dinner at Lampreia with my friends Rob & Judy for a glorious meal.

• 1982 Château L'Arrosée 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  The cork was rock solid with a nice, high fill. Cedar, smoke and subtle tobacco on the nose at first. On the palate this is silky and totally resolved. Medium finish. But where is the fruit??? However, over the course of 3 hours this gained in intensity and really rebounded in a shocking way. By the end of the meal this was starting to show a fat plumminess on the nose along with a surprisingly full palate. Not quite outstanding but very classy and enjoyable.

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• 1989 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 96 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Decanted about 2 hours before drinking. This bottle was pristine and for a minute I thought it was a 1999 and not a 1989. A lovely nose of cedar and tobacco is beckoning... By the time we opened this up for the meal three hours later this had a simply stunning nose of tobacco, black currant, and a somewhat animal element. On the palate this has amazing power yet is stunningly silky and resolved at the same time, velvety, deep and powerful with a simply endless finish. Layers of complexity to which my feeble words can do no justice!

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• 1994 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 94 Points

  USA, Washington

  Opened to decant a three hours early. Right out of the bottle this had a stunning nose of fennel, violet and brooding depth. I can't wait to get to this in a few hours. By the time we got to this 4-5 hours later it was bursting with high-pitched, stunningly floral, almost chambord notes. This wine was so stunningly primary it was hard to believe it was 9 years old, yet at the same time it was so silky. It had amazing intensity and huge structure with a surreal finish. This is still so primary though, it will take years for it to really open up.

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