Pull out the stops 50th bday party at Troquet

My anonymous friend decided to pull out all the stops for his 50th birthday party at Troquet in Boston (if you love wine, you have to go to Troquet). Salon, Leflaive, Giacosa, Rayas, Pavie, Masseto, Sine Qua Non and Yquem. Something had to give, and by the end of the night I was still standing but my pallet was completely shot. Unfortunately I remember almost nothing about the two SQNs but the rest of the wines are laser sharp memories two days later. A couple of unusual pairings worked out, the wines were largely spectacular and one was beyond that. Here are my recollections.

Served while we were taking out seats. Those lucky enough to nurse this through the evening saw that it mairaculously went with every dish served.

• 1996 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 96 Points

  France, Champagne

  Served without food as we arrived. Bracing acidity and broad full flavors of flowers, fruits and nuts. Delicious wine that is beautiful now but will grow in richness and complexity with time. Will likely deserve more points then. Have been lucky to have this twice now and want more. For my taste, this is better than the 96 Dom at this moment and may well remain so.

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Foie gras. Say no more.

• 1996 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Cooked. Had off, chemical tastes that never resolved and the color was too dark. Not maderized, but something was defintely wrong. A shame

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This pairing worked! Won't take me away from my mushroomss though.

• 1990 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba Flawed

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Corked, this bottle was scheduled at our dinner but was pulled by the restaurant when they opened it and found it corked. Two of 12 bottles were spoiled this evening.

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• 1989 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba 96 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  This may deserve extra points for the nose alone. Full blown barolo nose that you could smell all night,; flowers and earth and funghi and more. Layers and layers of aroma. Served with bluefin tuna sashimi! Who knew that barolo goes with raw tuna; certainly not me but they were deliciousl together. Of course, I kept some of the wine for the next course of rabbit with mushrooms (sorry Bugs) and it was even better with that dish. Give me mushtrooms with my barolo any day. Unclear to me if the wine is going to improve or just hold as the palate wasn't as rich as some of the best older barolo that I've had. But oh boy what a nose.

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Rare to have two wines be so great in the same flight. No one left this evening complaining about the wines. Rayas rules!!!

• 1990 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve 98 Points

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

  One of my all-time favorite wines. A heavyweight that is light on its feet. (Floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.) Full, full body somehow accompanied by finesses and ba.ance. I couldn't stop drinking it. Under the beautiful fruit there was a little salty/briny quality that is very uncommon but just added to the complexity. The only other wine similar to this in my experience is the Bonneau Celestins from the same year. Very good company for each of them. This was a real treat and I nursed it all evening.

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• 1988 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 97 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Deep and long but somehow not big. Very flavorful with elements of the smoke, bacon and pepper that mark these wines but noting at all over the top. A very contemplative wine. Went nicely with the rabbit with mushrooms but didn't marry with it quite as well as the 89 giacosa barolo falleto riserva. I would like to pour this one all alone and live with it for several hours while it spoke to me.

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• 2000 Château Pavie 96 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  Nothing to say about this wine that hasn't been said before. Flat out great stuff. I notice that 96 is the cellar tracker tasting note average for this wine and exactly where I think it belongs. When it first was reviewed 'they' said that it might be too big, untypicial and unbalanced. Just taste it now. Harmony is its middle name. This is delicious wine and a revelation to those at the table that never had great merlot before. The host hisself, doesn't like left bank bordeaux wines and had convinced himself that he was never going to like anything from Bordeaux. This wine convinced him otherwise.

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• 2004 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Masseto Toscana IGT 97 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Another revelation. I had drunk the 04 Messorio before and found it to be too big and raw. Expected the same of this and it was nothing of the sort. Something like drinking velvet, maybe with a little melted chocolate on the side, and a hint of coffee. Starting to sound like a starbucks mocha, but almost richer and definitely smoother. This is brilliant wine. Can drink it today with impunity. When I started drinking merlot-based pomerols, I expected them to taste like this, but they are nearly never this rich and fine. Find a way to try this.

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I remember nothing about these wines. (05 SQN 17th nail Syrah and I hear they were great.

Yquem and chocolate cake at the end a 7 course meal.

• 1983 Château d'Yquem 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Never had a bad Yquem. Never had this vintage before and I agree with those who call this "classic" Yquem. It's big but not too big, sweet but not too sweet, acidic but not too acidic, balanced but slightly raw. It's got everything you expect in Yquem, but, tragically we know there are even better vintages out there. What made this was that it was served with rich chocolate cake and never took a back seat. Lovely wine.

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Having been to a few dinners like this - and it is always a privilege to go to something like this - i think i prefer just one wine per course. By the time the 12th or 14th wine rolls around. I just can't taste anything. That said, I am grateful to have tasted these fabulous wines, paired with such great food and especially for the opportunity to taste the '90 Rayas which stands out as one of my all-time favorite wines. Thanks to the birthday boy for a job well done