Tuesday Night with a Special Guest

Accompaniment: Potato chips

• 2004 Louise Brison Champagne Cuvée Tendresse 92 Points

  France, Champagne

  Popped and poured, light straw gold colour in the glass. On the nose, fresh cut red apple, citrus zest, crushed rocks, yeast, toast and grated ginger. On the palate, very clean, medium acid, with some fresh fruit; citrus, apple, mineral, ginger and spice round out the moderate length finish. Lovely.

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Accompaniment: Seared foie gras atop toasted brioche, finished with prune and port reduction

• 2003 Château de Fargues 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Popped and poured, golden colour in the glass. On the nose, honey, beeswax, florals, caramelized sugar, apricots, pineapple and a touch of clove. On the palate, very rich and viscous, but feeling a touch flat with slightly deficient acidity. The finish is long and tinged with notes of dried apricots, honey, mineral, pineapple, and a light herbal note. With a little more acid, this would easily be in the classic range. Very slight reduction noted on opening.

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Accompaniment: Seared scallop, lobster ceviche

• 2009 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Murgers des Dents de Chien Blanc 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru

  Popped and poured, light straw colour in the glass. Compared to the Ceritas, this is very closed. The nose isn't particularly giving, but with coaxing, some notes of mineral and steel, lemon rind and a touch of oak emerge. On the palate, surprisingly showing a bit dialed back in acidity compared to the Ceritas, but still quite brisk and refreshing. Finishes long, with citrus and mineral notes. Some potential here for sure, but tough to evaluate at this stage. Was much more open a year ago.

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• 2010 Ceritas Chardonnay Porter-Bass Vineyard 93 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Popped and poured, light straw colour in the glass. Showing more integrated than the showing 4 months ago. Explosive nose of lemon/lime zest, crushed rocks, spice, pear, and leaning a touch more tropical with air, with some light pineapple and melon notes. Still a touch of unintegrated oak on the nose, but should smooth out with a little more bottle age. On the palate, this is quite concentrated without feeling heavy or overdone. Acidity is quite tart and racy. Finishes very long with citrus, mineral and pear notes. This was served blind to the other tasters, who guessed this as the Burgundy. Impressive showing, and will still get better over the next few years.

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Accompaniment: Braised beef cheeks with celeriac puree

• 2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County

  Popped and poured, light garnet colour in the glass. After reading so many reports, I have been hoping for a super brettanomyces tainted bottle. Well, we finally got it. On the nose, this was incredibly dirty, with notes of horse stable, leather, earth, crushed rocks, cranberry, pomegranate, orange rind, herbs, baking spice, and the lovely incense notes that stem inclusion adds. On the palate, such a svelte texture, medium acidity, with some mild drying tannin. Finish is long, accented by pomegranate, cranberry, mineral, orange rind, and spice. Best showing to date, and sadly these are all gone. If anyone wants to sell me their brett tainted bottles, I'm all over it!

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• 2009 Albert Morot Beaune 1er Cru Cent-Vignes 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru

  Popped and poured, deep ruby in the glass. Showing much cleaner than the Rhys served alongside it. On the nose, waxy cherry, licorice, earth, baking spice and crushed rocks. On the palate, tart acids, and moderate finish slightly clipped by some coarse tannin. Totally outclassed by the Rhys.

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Accompaniment: Assorted cheeses

• 1989 Château Meyney 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  Popped and poured, deep garnet in the glass, with a light brick. On the nose, plums, blackcurrant, leather, dried tobacco, light herbal notes, undergrowth and earth. On the palate, rounding out quite nicely. Mostly resolved tannin, medium acidity, and the finish is moderate, characterizes by notes of blackberry, earth, spice and a touch of leather. Nice showing.

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• 1998 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau 89 Points

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

  First bottle was corked. Replacement bottle popped. Garnet, with a light brick. On the nose, a touch raisined, with some prune notes, lavendar, earth, mushroom, undergrowth, smoke and spice. On the palate, medium acidity, with moderate tannins that dry the moderate length, bitter finish. Raisined notes carry through on the palate, seemingly a touch stewed in this hot vintage.

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