Bel Air Bacchanal

• 2011 Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre 90 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre

  Aromas of flowers and white fruits precede a mineral-driven palate of soft fruits, ample acidity, and a slight bitter note. Refreshing and clean.

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• 2010 Domaine d'E Croce (Yves Leccia) Cuvée YL Blanc 83 Points

  France, Corsica, Île de Beauté

  Cheesy nose, low acidity, and bitter - rather off-putting.

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• 1988 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 94 Points

  France, Champagne

  A beautiful bouquet of butter, honey, yeast, cheese and chalk. Deep and mature, this weightless, balanced 1988 features nuttiness, brioche, chalky minerality and yellow fruits. Well integrated acidity frames the very slightly off-dry palate with a great sense of poise.

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• 1966 Château Haut-Brion 97 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  After nearly a half century of evolution, the tertiary, secondary, and primary features are in perfect harmony. Cigar smoke, leather, tobacco, mushroom, and the fermentation of decaying leaves explode from the glass, each waft revealing a novel nuance. With the fine tannins nearly resolved, the flawlessly smooth and finessed palate is pure elegance: black cherries, medium-plus acidity, and earthiness. Lightness of touch is the perfect foil for such great breadth and quiet power, all reinforced by quaint tannins on the immeasurable finish. Just divine.

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• 1992 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Les Perrières 91 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Bourgueil

  Herbal and vegetal. Light in body and very high in acidity. The palate is a little creamy and the tannins are sweet.

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• 1973 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Bosconia 94 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  Forty years old and still needs time; it's maybe a decade from full maturity. A great, complex stew of plums and vegetables and dark fruits of all kinds. Moderate tannins and acidity.

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• 2010 Melville Syrah Estate Verna's 81 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  Well this sure was a departure from the staunch traditionalist Lopez de Heredia that preceded it. Candied, medicinal, and spoofulated. An alcoholic, liquefied jelly wine impostor. Noticeable heat on the palate and finish.

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• 2008 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Feminine, elegant, and weightless. Herbal and menthol notes complement Monvigliero's olive tapenade signature. Light to medium bodied with balanced tannic and acidic structure. Cool mountain spring water of great, stony mineral content percolates through red fruits and eucalyptus before dancing over your palate. By the way, that's 92 points with quite a lot of room for improvement (revisit in 2023+).

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• 1987 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

  Red cherries and mint augment the classic triad of roses, menthol, and tar. A quarter century after this weak vintage, this blue-chip is ready to drink, yet remains more primary-secondary as compared to the tertiary glory that stronger vintages afford with an extra decade or two.

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• 2010 Jean Foillard Morgon Cuvée Corcelette 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon

  Young nose of sweet fruits and florals; round, ripe fruits, earth, mineral, tannin, acidity, the whole lot in balance.

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After tasting all the wines, the extent to which our faculties were already compromised was slightly concerning. The fact that the bottles were all still two-thirds full was enough to squash our inhibitions though. As we worked our way through the remaining wine (surely you can guess which bottles were finished first), we played with the ideal party toy for this sort of occasion, a breathalyzer. Once the audience was sufficiently impaired, the hosts treated the guests to a live music performance, a meandering opus that didn't really go anywhere and, in short order, fizzled out altogether.