Bordeaux Legends with Leve at Sona

Well how do you top a perfect evening drinking 28 La La's? Well, you fall back on a killer lineup of Bordeaux and settle back for the fun! Day two of the Leve LA extravaganza had a dozen folks meeting at Sona for another delicious meal and evening of great wines.

We started with a course of big eye tuna, green papaya, mango and hearts of palm. Along with this we served a pair of Meursault.

• 1996 Verget Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  The nose shows toasted filberts (hazelnuts) and butter brickle with a lightly toasted element on the somewhat rich palate. This has very nice flavors but falls off a bit on the finish.

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• 1996 Domaine Latour-Giraud Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  Mmm, thsi was more interesting with a soaring nose, spicy and powdery with mineral aromatics. On the palate this is clean and lemony, a little soft in the middle yet altogether quite complete and precise. Very nice.

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Next we settled into a course of Kabocha squash soup, lobster, orange compote, and brown butter. Along with this we had a pair of Haut Brion Blanc wines, a first for me. I dare say that I probably didn't fully appreciate these for what they were. Maybe it is an acquired taste?

• 1992 Château Haut-Brion Blanc 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Perhaps I should be in more reverence of this wine. It was my first time having a Haut Brion Blanc, and while impressive it didn't knock my socks off. Darker color than the 1993. The nose shows petrol at first, moving to more plastic notes, saddle soap and eventually this smells like a honey-pot. I kid you not! On the palate was clean and very dry, not oily like a white Burgundy. Interesting...

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• 1993 Château Haut-Brion Blanc 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  This was almost mute at first with a faint toasted quality and eventually hints of passion fruit on the nose. The palate is clean and has more oily texture and persistence than the 1992. It finishes out with clean minerality. While perhaps a more balanced wine than the 1002, it lacks some of the more intriguing and unusual scents and is ultimately less interesting.

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Next up we had foie gras, blood orange and coconut foam. With this we served the classic Sauternes match.

• 1976 Château Rieussec 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Deep color. The nose is fairly mute with light notes of oxidation. The palate shows loads of caramel with orange peel. The body is fantastic; you can feel this squishing through your teeth. The finish is a little too short and too burned to merit an outstanding score.

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Now at last we were into the reds with a course of mushroom risotto, fennel emulsion, sweetbreads and salsify.

• 1950 Château La Mission Haut-Brion 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  OK, this is my first 1950, I wonder why?!? Wow, what a nose this has, absolutely fantastic with a rich array of tertiary elements: roasted earth, meat, iron, blood, and red currant. The palate is soft and resolved, silky, yet ultimately tired. This is not a wine to let sit in your glass, but while it lasts on a fresh pour it is exciting. My score is perhaps generous yet reflects a stunning 95pt nose and an 88pt, somewhat tired palate.

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• 1983 Château Ausone 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  This was the most disappointing wine of the night and perhaps was a bottle issue. The nose shows red fruit and hints of seaweed. The palate is tight, tannic and closed with cherry and lots of minerality, not giving much. Interestingly, no one ever suggested this might be corked, but now that I read my descriptors this is certainly a textbook description of a very lightly corked wine. Anyway, my assumption at the time was that this was just very closed.

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• 1983 Château Cheval Blanc 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  Out of the gates this seemed stronger with a knockout nose, spicy, exotic, minty with roasted plums and coffee. On the palate this was equally sexy, very ripe and exotic. Initially I thought this would be 96 points, but surprisingly the wine seemed to fade too quickly in the glass and lost some of its mid-palate which dropped me back a couple of points.

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Next up was Jidori chicken, cumin spiced carrots, spaetzle and a red wine reduction along with a flight of 1983's from Margaux.

• 1983 Château Margaux 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  I have had better examples of this, although this was a very nice wine. Spicy and cedary on the nose, the palate was very tight with an unusually hard core of graphite and mineral. With an extra 45 minutes in the glass this came around, but it never delivered the open, lush, sexy goods that I would expect from a 95+ wine.

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• 1983 Château Palmer 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  This was clearly the strongest of the 83's on this night, the darkest in color and with the deepest texture and persistence. Initially it was also the most tannic, but it unfurled to reveal a pure, powerful wine, an absolute hammer actually. Cranberry, truffles, minerals all come out to play on this outstanding wine.

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• 1983 Château Rausan-Ségla 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  At first this shows a light edge of pickle on the nose, slightly green, yet it improves with air and starts to yield a more horsey element. This is reasonably nice, well-rounded, not showing a ton of depth, just a mature and nicely rounded claret.

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With Sonoma Valley squab, boniato and collard greens we busted into a serious pair of 1982's, awesome!

• 1982 Château Léoville Las Cases 98 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

  This was my fourth time tasting this wine, and tonight it lived up to expectations. On pouring this is dusky and dark with immediate notes of lead pencil, black fruit and a certain powdery element that I wish I could describe better. The palate immediately shows amazing depth and intensity. And then with air, freaking A, this really spreads its wings and starts to strut and sing. Excellent showing for a wine that is still seemingly 10 years from peak drinkability.

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• 1982 Château La Mission Haut-Brion 97 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Wow, right off the bat the nose is crazily ripe, like a carton of rasperries, just oozing with juice and right on the edge of spoiling. With air more coffee notes start to sneak out of the glass. Underneath this is some leather on the powerfully chewy and young palate, clearly old world and so intriguing. I kept flip-flopping between this and the Las Cases as the favorite for the flight, but who really needs to choose?

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Next up was a home-run red dish of Nebraska beef and braised short ribs, potato-bacon pave, and short rib jus. Yummy! The 1989 Haut Brion was surreal amidst two other very impressive wines.

• 1989 Château Clinet 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  This was the most overtly tannic of the 89's, showing some sur maturite on the nose. The palate is grippy and slowly, patiently, this spreads to reveal first red fruit and then more of the Merlot element I would expect. That said, alongside the others, this was just too tannic and unforgiving. A tough flight to be in...

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• 1989 Château Haut-Brion 100 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  OK, here we go. Finally, tonight I saw the 1989 Haut Brion strut, and it is a freaking wonder. OMFG, smoke, tobacco, leather, soy and salt abound on this wildly complex nose. And the palate gets an OMFHG, huge, seamless, endless, bloody, sweet, savory, so powerful and yet at the same time so smooth and seamless. Wow, this really speaks to you, and the comparison to the other wines in the flight was dramatic. They were simply all hard, choppy and tannic by comparison to this stunning youngster. Wow, I am hooked!

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• 1989 Château La Mission Haut-Brion 96 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

  Well this was another gorgeous La Mission, but in comparison to the 1982 La Mission and the 1989 Haut Brion this was between a rock and a hard place. A sweet core with notes of coffee, yet nowhere near as extravagant as its brethren from 1982. And gorgeous as it was, in comparison to its cousin the 1989 Haut Brion this was tannic, choppy and tight and seemed to close down hard with air. All that said, this an absolutely stunning youngster of a wine that will come around to reveal more over the next 10 years.

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• 1989 Château Latour Grand Vin 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  This was a competent wine but horribly overshadowed in this flight.

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We finished off with a pair of cheeses and pair of 1990s'. As brilliant as these wines were, they were a little troubling due to flaws (brett, VA) and some feeling they were overextracted.

• 1990 Château Montrose 96 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  It's not a bad four day stretch when you have the 1990 Montrose twice! Like the bottle last Friday at Citronelle, this one was impressive yet also somewhat marred by a massive, nearly overwhelming brett element. This stuff smells, actually reeks, and tastes of horseshit. Interestingly, a bottle enjoyed a few months ago showed no brett?!? Still, with air the remarkable fruit and extract on this rise to the challenge and try to swallow up the horse. Maybe more decanting is required. The grip, power and natural extract here is off the charts, easily the biggest Cabernet-based wine I have ever tasted.

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• 1990 Château Troplong Mondot 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  The nose shows latex, volatile acidity (ethyl-acetate, e.g. it smells like a Sharpie pen), and some chocolate. A little off putting at first. However, with air this gets swallowed up a bit. The palate is a better story, rich, deep, chocolatey, powerful, a young, extracted wine. I am a little worried about the VA here, but this is enjoyable.

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With caramelized apple crepes and fleur de sel caramel ice cream we finished up with a pretty Barsac

• 1976 Château Climens 90 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

  Airy, delicate, precise with a hint of tangerine and well controlled acidity and botrytis. I actually rather liked this lighter, more delicate style of Sauternes/Barsac.

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Two down, one to go. Thanks Jeff for organizing yet another fantastic tasting!