San Diego WineSpectator.com Offline, 6/29/2012

Many thanks to JulieD for getting us in the door at the U Club. Their seafood buffet is not to be missed. Great friends, great wines, great food, and a great view of the bay and ocean from the 34th floor, with fireworks too! As usual, rankings are by group vote; point scores are my own.

• NV Michel Arnould & Fils Champagne Grand Cru Brut Réserve 92 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Clear light yellow, medium fine bead. Notes of fresh bread dough, green apple, toast, and lemon. Outstanding. My #3 and group's THIRD PLACE tonight.

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• 2006 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Romanée 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  "Vielles Vignes." Clear light yellow. Flinty, steely minerals, pear, lemon oil, smoke, oak. Outstanding. Voted SECOND PLACE tonight.

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• 2000 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut 95 Points

  France, Champagne

  Clear straw - light yellow color. Vigorous mousse upon pouring, settling quickly to an ultrafine bead. Alluring bouquet of quince, ginger, marzipan, lemon, brioche. Similar on the palate, subtle, complex, and worthy of a tsar. My #1 tonight.

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• 1998 Duval-Leroy Champagne Blanc de Chardonnay Brut 90 Points

  France, Champagne

  Clear light yellow with fine bead. Notes of alfalfa, lemongrass, pear, mulling spices. Showing some age. Excellent.

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• 2006 Sine Qua Non The Hoodoo Man 85 Points

  USA, California

  15.8% alcohol. 39% roussanne, 31% viognier, 30% chardonnay. Clear light straw yellow. Grassy, cauliflower puree, acacia flower, butterscotch, baked white peach tart. Really not as enjoyable as some of those descriptors may imply. I struggled to make sense of this, and do not see Parker's 95 points at all. Maybe it's just my general antipathy toward white Rhones, but I found this to be rather graceless. It placed second-lowest among eight wines tonight.

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• 2007 Pahlmeyer Pinot Noir Jayson 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  14.9% alcohol. Clear deep ruby-garnet. Outstanding notes of red cherries, charcoal, black tea, minerals, and licorice. So assertive and full-bodied that I could mistake it for a cabernet. Racer117 put it best: "A classic red Burgundy, straight out of Sonoma, but more concentrated."

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• 1997 Château d'Yquem 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  375 ml. Clear light amber-copper hue. An explosion of apricot, pumpkin pie spice, candied tangerine peel. But what an elegant and sophisticated explosion. Sweetness and acidity in amazing balance, providing a sense of precision and vitality. My #2 and group's FIRST PLACE tonight.

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• 2006 Château Rieussec 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  375 ml. Clear light honey-gold color. Typical notes of apricot, honey, cotton candy. Also the familiar perfume of a local flower, which my friends, using their smart phones, identified for me as Brugmansia or Angel's trumpet, without necessarily agreeing with that comparison. Oily mouthfeel, with lower acidity than the 1997 d'Yquem tasted just prior. Of course that's a tough act to follow. Against the Yquem, there's no contest, but on its own merit, this is an outstanding wine that will improve and gain complexity for years or possibly decades.

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Cheers to JulieD, the hostess with the mostest!