Wednesday Afternoon Pre-Turkey Day Bordeaux Blends Offline

Four of us gathered to transfer some wines, and oddly enough, that served as an excuse to also drink some good juice. My wife joined us later on.

• NV Ayala Champagne Brut Majeur 90 Points

  France, Champagne

  Pale gold color. Drank 2 glasses over 45 minutes. Blend of 45%PN, 30%C, and 25%PM. This was very mineral driven on both the nose and palate. There is mild yeast, light lemon, citrus, and pear on the nose and palate and subtle smoky notes.

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• 1993 Château L'Evangile 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  Dark red color with a 5-7mm transitionally bricked margin. Splash decanted, drank 2 glasses over 3 hours. The nose shows dried berry fruit, wood, leather, caramel, pencil lead. The palate is quite austere with firm tannins, red fruit, cherry, dried berries, and lots of wood. A lessor bottle than previous examples.

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• 2002 Château Lascombes 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Very dark red purple color. Decanted for 2 hours, drank 2 glasses over 3 hours side by side with the '04. Very good nose with lighter funk than the '04, graphite, cassis, violet, cedar, and subtle truffle. This became a little perfumed with savory notes after a couple hours. The palate is lovely with a medium full body, cassis, deep, silky tannins, black raspberry, more acid than the '04, and a medium plus minerally finish. Compared to the '04 it was a tad lighter and more perfumed. Qualitatively it was hard to give the edge to either. 92+ to 93pts.

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• 2004 Château Lascombes 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  Very dark red purple color. Decanted for about 1.5hrs, drank 2 glasses over 3 hours next to the '02. The nose was a little shy initially for me, but it evolved relatively quickly showing a wonderful damp earthy character with some really nice funk, much more than the '02 did. Nose is funky, earthy, black and blue fruit, cassis, blueberry, bright, chocolate, leather, spice and cedar. The palate is a bit bigger than the '02 with cassis, blackberry, dryer tannins, graphite, deep and intense, tobacco leaf, coffee bean, wood, and spice. The finish is medium plus to long. Close call with the '02 with no clear cut winner. Both are drinking really well with short decants. 92+ to 93pts.

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• 2006 Turnbull Cabernet Sauvignon Black Label 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  Dark Purple color with a garnet hue. Decanted for about an hour. Drank 2 glasses over 2 hours. The nose is aromatic, black fruits, ripe, oak, briary. The palate is dense, spiced, black fruit, blackberry liqueur, black plum, significant oak, tart fruit, glycerin, pepper, firm tannins go along with a bit of heat and oak on the finish. 90+pts.

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• 2001 Château Rabaud-Promis 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Addendum. This was the same bottle accessed by Coravin and noted on 10/5/14 and 10/24/14. Opened and finish the remaining 30% of the bottle between the 5 of us. Probably the best showing to date. Fresher on the palate and cleaner on the finish. The acids seemed more aligned today with the sweet honey, apricot, citrus, and spicy flavors.

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It was really tough to decide on the WOTN for me. Both the '02 and '04 Lascombes were outstanding, and my vote was split between the two. The official group vote had the '02 by a slim margin 13pts to 11 pts.