BYOB with wines 30+ years

What a fun tasting! All wines were served blind. I guessed my two wines correctly, but mostly because of the company. Other than that it was pretty tough. Lots of fun though.

• 1983 Moët & Chandon Champagne Brut Imperial Rosé 89 Points

  France, Champagne

  Orange-pinkish hue. Not bad, very short finish, but lovely notes of nougat and old apples. Aged champagne but not oxidized.

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• 1985 Palmer & Co Champagne Collection Blanc de Blancs 88 Points

  France, Champagne

  A little off on the nose at first. Grilled lemon, vanilla, harsh acidity on the palate, full bodied. Thin middle but not over the top.

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• 1988 Peter Lauer Saar Riesling Brut Reserve 81 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Veggies, fine on the palate though. Some pear flavored popsicle, all the extra stuff popping on the palate hade me going to a Langlois sparkler.

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• 1989 Veuve Clicquot Champagne Vintage Cave Privée 93 Points

  France, Champagne

  Light yellow color, pure nose, great energy, good mousse, citrusy. Classic. Guessed correctly that this was my wine.

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• 1983 Winzer Krems Riesling Spätlese Kremser Pfaffenberg 83 Points

  Austria, Niederösterreich, Kremstal

  Floral (jasmine), moth balls, spicy, with quite some heft to it. Was better after some more air.

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• 1998 Nicolas Joly Clos de la Coulée de Serrant 79 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières-Coulée de Serrant

  Sweet floral notes, honey, but over the top, followed by very thin cucumber water and with a finish that is spicy and with some alcohol.

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• 1989 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 90 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Old Riesling, lots of sweetness, good acids, some diesel and some canned pineapple. Guessed Mosel correctly but was off on the sweetness, as I thought this was a Kabinett.

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• 1989 Hessische Staatsweingüter Kloster Eberbach Steinberger Riesling Spätlese 90 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  lovely, pure, simple Riesling, some pear flavored popsicle. Not as sweet as the previous Riesling, cool fruit, fine nose. Guessed Rheingau correctly, but was off in terms of sweetness as I guessed this to be a Kabinett.

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• 1979 Michel Rémon (Négociant) Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Grilled chicken, olive oil soap, pumpkin, lemon curd, some oak, some bitterness on the finish, not a lot of acidity left. I guessed this to be an old Meursault of finer pedigree.
  
  note, we tried this wine twice, blind. The second wine was grey and oxidized beyond recognition, so a great lesson in how bottle variation and storage can play out over the years.

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• 1983 Jean Lefort Pommard 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard

  Kirsch, sweet berries, paint box, good freshness, a little old, but nice. I guessed a Barolo from the seventies.

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• 1972 Château Giscours 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  peppery, pencil shavings, lots of mature notes, elegant, cool fruit, so nice to drink (guessed Bordeaux, older than the 1980s)

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• 1974 Château La Tour de By 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc

  Cabernet (guessed Loire), minty, slim body, pure fruit, a little simple but very fresh and good.

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• 1959 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Reserva 89 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Volatile acids, blue berries, saddle leather, a little stable whiff, some heat on the finish. I guessed a Musar 1988 or Tahbilk ESP from same decade. Good stuff. Faded quickly. Amazing how it has held up though!

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• 2006 Chateau Musar 86 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  Old wooden coffer, green stems, lots of sweet berries, oak. Guessed a luxurious new world blend.

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• 1982 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5° 89 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Very charming and nice, chocolate, sweet black cherries, some band aid, some bitter oak, a little paint. Very modern. I guessed an early version of a super Tuscan.

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• 1976 Couly-Dutheil Chinon La Baronnie Madeleine 85 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon

  Sweet fruit with some band aid. Not very fun on the nose. I guessed Bandol or Landguedoc.

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• 1988 Chateau Musar

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  I rated this 82 (at first even lower) but changed my mind after trying some more. Blackberries, hoisin sauce, cassis, sweet and sour, some bitter at the finish. I had this pegged as a much younger American cabernet Sauvignon.

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• 1985 Château L'Evangile 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Called this rightly as Bordeaux, right bank. Very good stuff. Some pencil shavings, some soft fruit, licorice root. A little heat on the finish but all in one place.

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• 1973 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru 92 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru

  Wet wool underpants, something not entirely clean on the fruit. Mute nose, but great acidity and balance. Odd but really nice I'd say. My wine.

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• 1988 Château Guiraud 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Based on the really short finish and how quickly the lovely perfumes faded I thought this might have been even older (easy to peg as Sauternes, but I was in the fifties...) but it still had a real nice acidity to it.

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• 1980 Château Suduiraut 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  at first, I thought this was really outstanding - the smell of saffron and spices, and of fragrant muscat grapes was intoxicating. (we all guessed Sauternes mostly) I had a second glass after the tasting and then I felt this was clumsy and too spicy. This score is the average between the score I gave after first glass and noted down after the second.

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My WOTF (Wine of the Flight) was (with the collective choice in brackets):

Veuve Clicquot (Veuve Clicquot by a small margin over the 85 Palmer)

JJ Prüm and Kloster Eberbach tied (Kloster Eberbach by a small margin over JJ Prüm)

Ch Giscours (2006 Musar)

Ch L'Evangile (1988 Musar)

Dom des Baumard (Guiraud)

A couple of interesting things I learned: firstly, that good Bordeaux even from not so stellar vintages can age quite well, and that I, apparently, prefer these slim and elegant cocktails over more powerful wines. Also, I think it's interesting how the Ch Musar really does well in blind tastings - and how well it ages. It is a wine I follow and buy, but also I think it has this volatile soul, it keeps on changing in the glass all the time.

The two wines I felt I got completely wrong were the 1980 Suduiraut and the 1988 Musar. The Suduiraut fell apart and was more harsh on the palate than the nose gave away, and the 1988 Musar which at first felt young and not together, filled in and felt more seamless at the end.