2014 French Wine Dinner Party

The wife cooked, Ned from WWS MC'd and did a great job of introducing & explaining the wines, & I supplied to juice.

• 2004 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 92 Points

  France, Champagne

  Drank to open our dinner party, with caviar and foie gras. Went thru 3 bottles as the crowd definitely liked this wine. My first tasting of this vintage. Obviously a bit tight, but plenty of flavors here--some biscuit, citrus, green apples & lemons. A bit creamy, not particularly toasty. Decent complexity for such a young wine, and good concentration of fruit, and great length, with great bubbles. I will now put this wine away for some time to let it develop. This will be a great wine 5-7 years from now as it becomes more complex, though it's no slouch currently

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• 2005 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Demi-Sec 90 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Drank at our dinner party alongside a 1998 Alsatian riesling & sweetish salad. Pale yellow color. Fairly feint nose of peach & some apples. Lighter bodied than I expected, slight sweetness, but well-matched by a good acidity level. Decent length, and an easy wine to enjoy. Could use a bit more bottle age, and not quite as complex as I would have preferred.

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• 1998 Marcel Deiss Engelgarten 89 Points

  France, Alsace

  Drank at our dinner party alongside a 2005 Vouvray. We brought this home from the winery when we visited Alsace in 2000. Unfortunately, we waited a tad too long to open it. Nose overwhelmingly of petrol, but also some peach or apricots there. Medium bodied, lots of wet stone, some nectarines & cold slate. Acidity level dropped off precipitously after opening, and the fruit has faded somewhat. Seemed a bit on the flat/tired side, a result of this wine being on the back end of its existence. Still, an enjoyable, interesting wine though

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• 2002 Lucien Le Moine Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Drank at our dinner party alongside a portobello mushroom tart. Totally consistent with my last tasting of this wine. Bright ruby color in the glass, very exuberant nose of strawberries and spice. Medium bodied, appropriate levels of acidity interwoven nicely with lush red fruits. Good amount of spice as well. This very sexy wine continues to taste young despite its age (if blind, I would have guessed 2009). I've learned thru experience that this producer trends toward the modern style--more lush fruit, less mineral, and this wine is a perfect example (though some would disagree slightly). Lots of very ripe, lush fruit here--black cherries & raspberries. As it sat in the glass, I got a very slight sense of earth, some forest floor & some fig, leading me to believe that with some more bottle age, the fruit & acidity will mellow and some tertiary notes will come to the fore. We shall see...Still a very enjoyable bottle that apparently went over well, and pleased the crowd.

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• 1995 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Drank at Pollack dinner party, matched vs 1996 L'Evangile. Both from magnum. This wine had a wonderfully generous nose, lots of barnyard, funk, black fruit and leather. Medium bodied, fairly resolved tannins, prevalent dark fruits but also many tertiary notes (leather, tar, cedar, green pepper, forest floor) very well-structured and concentrated wine. An excellent example of a nicely aged Pauillac that's in a great place right now. Great structure, wonderful complexity, finely delineated lines and great finish. However, perhaps the wine's best feature was it's fabulous exemplary Bordeaux nose. Great wine, and plenty of life ahead. Wish I had more...

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• 1996 Château L'Evangile 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Drank at Pollack dinner party vs 1996 Puy Lacoste, both from magnum with Coq au vin. Nose of sweet black fruit, some cassis, and earth. Color shows some bricking at edges accurately demonstrating wine's age. Medium bodied, tannins resolved, lots of sweet black fruit (plums), coffee, tobacco and mocha. A wonderful wine that was the favorite of most at this dinner party as it was quite easy to appreciate. Not as complex as the Lacoste but a great wine nonetheless. Wish I had more of each

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• 1990 Château d'Yquem 98 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Drank at our dinner party &, for many, the clear WOTN among many stellar selections. Decanted for 2 hours before drinking, and had with the precisely matched salty cheese course (Stilton, roquefort & 2 blues). I've had this vintage recently and my notes are very consistent, though this tasting was superior to the last (which was from 1/2 bottle). Still not quite as dark in color as expected, extremely fragrant nose of apricots, honey, & orange blossoms. Wonderful fruit--apricots, peaches, marmelade--and excellent acidity level combining to form a superbly balanced, complex beauty. Powerful, yet refined and elegant. The balance of sweetness with just the absolutely perfect level of acidity is just mind blowing, making for a wonderful wine. I find it so fascinating about this wine: it always appears sweet when it first hits your tongue, but yet it goes down as dry as you could ever hope for. Pure nectar that I cannot imagine getting much better than this. Yet it's still got plenty of good times ahead. In a great place right now with no end anywhere near in sight. It also was matched perfectly with the cheeses selected. Just a fabulous, great wine!

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