Dinner at Cascadia

Seattle, WA
Tasted Monday, September 12, 2005 by Eric with 476 views

Introduction

Tonight I sat down for a leisurely business dinner with the folks who have been working on my PR for the last six months. We talked shop for a bit and then settled into a nice meal highlighted by a beautifully contrasting pair of Bordeaux from my cellar.

Flight 1 (1 Note)

I started out with a frisee salad that was dotted with fatty slices of smoked and chilled lamb, not quite as nice a match as I hoped. Still, for what it lacked in power the Haut Brion was an enthralling wine to swirl and sniff, pleasing in such a secondary and tertiary way.

  • 1981 Château Haut-Brion 89 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    This was a bottle acquired from Garagiste in January. The cork was nearly perfect, and upon opening this quickly opened up to reveal a beautiful yet slightly reticent nose of steeping tea, coffee, Asian spice, and that beautiful Graves dust. With time a hint of mintiness pervaded the wine as well. The palate was delicate and silky, not a wine of fruit but rather of texture and finesse. Perhaps this deserved 90 points, and frankly it was a joy to drink, not about fruit but rather about textbook aromatics, elegant and lithe.

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Flight 2 (1 Note)

My main course was a simply grilled slice of tuna served atop sauteed spinach and with some terrific french fries. With this, the big, bouncy and black Las Cases was a fantastic accompaniment. Actually, you could drink that wine with just about everything and be happy, yummy!!!

  • 1985 Château Léoville Las Cases 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    When this was first opened I was worried, as the cork was wet just shy of the top, and I smelled a faint hint of orange peel on the first pour, maybe madeirization? However, the moment I took a sip my fears were allayed, as this was firm and clearly sound. The sommelier gave me a full pour, and this was ready to rock, loaded with graphite and hints of cedar, absolutely perfect cigar box, yum!!! The palate had loads of life to it, grippy and still tannic on the backend, very deep color, wonderful black fruit and mineral, never heavy, such a wonderful and loving example of Las Cases and a bargain at ~$100 in the marketplace. This reminded me why I am cellaring so much Las Cases!

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