| | A few board members got together last night at the Afghan Kebab House in NYC for a tasting of Pessac-Leognan, organized by Arv. It was a very fun evening, and attendants not only got to hang out with Arv's fiancee Jennifer, but we got to meet his sister too!
It was a smaller group than I'm used to, so I was pleasantly surprised when bottles still had wine left in them for re-tasting later in the evening. I had a wonderful time talking to everyone and the food was very good. Cheap too! Plus, I finally realized that Jacques probably never saw any grade lower than an A+ when he was in school, thus his confusion over my grading system.
As for the wines, I wasn't in love with anything we had but there were some interesting bottles nonetheless. Pre Dinner Whites - 1996 Château Pape Clément Blanc - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Sharp acidity, some beautiful light sweet cream butter under. Bright but not light (weight). Added weight and depth (and a higher score) as the evening went on. I'm not usually a fan of dry white Bordeaux, but I liked this wine.
B/B+
- 2001 Karthäuserhof Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Kabinett - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Bright with high toned acidity. Very long finish. Some spritz, some honeysuckle and green apple to round it out. Clean & razor sharp. Acid dominates the fruit, throwing the wine a little out of balance for my palate and there is a slight empty hole in the middle, but I liked this wine anyway.
B
Flight 1 - 1975 Château Latour-Martillac - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Warm nose. Hard, stiff tannins. Fruit's a bit fading. Not my favorite vintage, plus overly aged for me.
C+
- 1982 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Warm with sweet cherry fruit. A bit light for a 1982. Not over the hill, but not showing me too much either.
B-
- 1983 Château La Tour Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Iodine. Nice round mature fruit. A bit rough. Old School. Acidic finish.
B-
Flight 2 - 1986 Château La Mission Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Sweet, round, full fruit. Good complexity with tobacco, menthol. Fine tannins. Dark note. This wine showed a fullness and polish that I felt the previous flight lacked.
B+
- 1988 Château Pape Clément - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Dark, full, solid. Lots of tar & tobacco. Some menthol & mint. Again, this wine had the fullness and polish missing in the first flight. I like this one. Just short of outstanding.
B++
- 1990 Château La Louvière - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Nice big fruit with high tones and low notes as well. A little light in core. I would not have guessed this was a 1990.
B
Flight 3 - 1998 Château Bahans Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Lots of iron. A bit thin & hard. Not bad, but a bit under-fruited.
C++
- 1999 Château Pape Clément - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Sweet core. Some hard fine tannins. NIce sweet herbs (typical of a 1999).
B/B-
- 1999 Château La Mission Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
Hard tannins. Some sweet fruit, some herb.
B-
Stickies - 1997 Château Rieussec - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
It struck me as having grown out of it's youthful exuberance without having hit it's maturity yet (some might say the same thing about me). I liked it, but the carmel notes weren't burnt carmel yet and it's sweetness was a bit gobby.
- 2005 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
I found this overly sweet without acid or much else to balance it. A bit simple.
Wine Of The Night votes:
LMHB 1986 (22)
Pape Clement 1998 (16)
LMHB 1999 (9)
LTHB 1983 (3)
La Louviere 1990 (2)
Thanks to everyone for coming and to Arv for organizing! |
