A Few Favorite Wines

Lovely wine dinner out with friends. Theme was favorite wines and certainly there were a number of beauties there. Unfortunately no detailed notes. Just nice conversation and a good way to wind down a rainy Friday evening.

• 1981 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut

  France, Champagne

  We all agreed this was basically a caramel apple crumble with a touch of cinnamon in the glass. Obviously a dry style, but there was a bit of sweetness to it. Started and ended the dinner with it. Out of a magnum. There was some concern that it was 'over the hill', but I like that aged champagne flavor. Interesting finish where the primary part ends a bit quickly, but there's this background flavor that just keeps going and going. Very much enjoyed. And who doesn't like birth year bubbles?

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• 1958 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Interesting wine for sure. This was very light - almost the color I would expect of a burgundy. I have a feeling that this could have used a splash decant to get it off the sediment, but instead we went with the pnp approach. Of all of the wines, it prob changed the most over time. The age is definitely there, but there's also a vibrancy to the wine. We have 3 more bottles and I won't be in a rush to drink them. Think there's lots of life left. For some this was WOTN. It was definitely very interesting. Looking forward to our next bottle.

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• 1955 Château Ausone

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Bottle was not in the best shape, but that didn't seem to bother the wine at all. Poured a really dark red. This was quite young and vibrant as well. No detailed notes unfortunately, but a wine that I enjoyed revisiting throughout the dinner. It was just a hint musty on the first sip, but that blew off quickly and the fruit was definitely still there along with some more secondary notes. Still going strong and a real treat to try.

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• 1991 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Martha's Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  My first time with this wine but definitely not the last. This is the Napa style I like. More influenced by old world. Well balanced. A nice fruit component, but also more of the eucalyptus (apparently those trees surround the vineyard). It's still on the young side with many years to go, but clearly a well made wine.

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• 1983 Château Cheval Blanc

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  One of my favorites of the night and nice to see it performing better than the last time I had it. This was very well balanced. Can see the elegance from the age, but fruit still there. Not going anywhere anytime soon, but also not clear it's going to continue to get better from here. There's a depth to this wine that I find very compelling. Like you can peel the layers off. Very enjoyable.

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• 1976 Stags' Leap Winery Petite Sirah

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Served blind side by side with the Amarone. I get lots of really tight red berry fruit in this. People thought it was from anywhere from Aus to Italy to Spain. No Napa guesses. Not what you think of when you think of that wine. The person who brought it called it a 'winter wine' and it was more of that contemplative sipper. Real weight to it. Still going very strong. No rush to drink up.

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• 1978 Bertani Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Amarone is what I think of when I think winter wine and so I was looking for that characteristic in the two blinds that were served. Didn't quite see it. This was very full bodied, but missing some of the raisin-y character that I associate. More just a very deep, very lovely, lots of dark fruit. But there was still some acidity and structure to it. Enjoyable.

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• 1976 Château Ausone

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Two Ausones in one night! Embarrassment of riches. This was really quite lovely. In a nice spot. A bit of the old library flavors here which I always like. Again some real depth to the wine. A wine I'd love to sip and ponder over for an evening. Last wine of the night, but we took our time with this. Worked actually quite well with a chocolate mousse.

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Hard for me to pick a WOTN. There were so many beautiful ones there and each was fun and interesting in it's own way. I think it's fair to say that nothing sucked and leave it at that.