Two visitors, three birthdays and seventeen wines from all over.

Manuel and Josie Camblor were back visiting the city they love, but left and unbeknownst to our group for all these years, Manuel, Jeff Grossman and Jayson Cohen have birthdays in April that fall within eleven days of each other. This was more than enough reason to jeeb, so a dozen of us gathered at a nice Turkish restaurant, as with '68 and '70 birth years, there was bound to be a bunch of lamb friendly Bordeaux and Rioja. The wines largely showed beautifully with the whites really stealing the show and, as usual, a great time was had by all.

• 1997 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Demi-Sec

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  Alright. False alarm. This bottle, from the same source as my previous bottles, was terrific and the best bottle of it that I've had in years. It did take a little while to get going, but it blew up big. Fresh, vibrant and with an intensity that the past few bottles have lacked. It shows ripe quince with orange citrus and a hint of stone fruits and candied ginger along with the usual mineral notes. Terrific length and showing firmer acids than usual that balance out the light sweetness perfectly. A wonderful showing. A/A-.

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• 1992 Prager Riesling Smaragd Trocken Weissenkirchnen Klaus

  Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau

  Deep yellow in color, but without the golden hues of the '97 Foreau. Like a grand English actress from a period piece, the wine shows refinement, breed and great depth. There's a wonderful lemon profile on the nose and palate, but without the normal tartness that follows, lots of stone character and stone fruit with that aged patina. Beautiful balanced, the wine has weight, but does not come off as heavy at all. The fruit and structure continued to build all night. This wine also held special meaning as it came from the Chambers Street sale of our friend Joe Dougherty's Austrian cellar. Needless to say, we all lifted a glass to Joe! Solid A-.

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• 1990 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile

  France, Alsace

  From magnum and as Kool & the Gang would say, "she's fresh (fresh,) exciting!" No real sign of petrol in this bottle, but it's full of its typical lime character with plenty of stoney mineral and light peach notes. Beautiful balance and depth here with age having rounded the edges off the acid spine, giving it a friendlier mouthfeel. A-/A.

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• 1985 Domaine du Closel-Château des Vaults Savennières

  France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières

  Classic old school Savennières. Sulfur has kept the wine remarkably young and it has a bit of a lean and mean persona, which accurately reflects the vintage. It's waxy with bright quince flavors and aromas, a touch of bitter almond and mushroom with a strong mineral streak. Bone dry with sharp acids, the wine could use a little more flesh to drape over the structure, but I enjoy the raciness and leanness of the wine. Finishes with a hit of bitter pith. B+/A-.

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• 1996 Yves Boyer-Martenot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières

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

  Not my style, but showing well for what it is. It has an unctuous texture with plenty of ripe peach and orchard fruit flavors and aromas. Lots of butterscotch character, though the oak is integrated. A little bit higher acid levels would perk things up, but it's certainly not low acid. Mature, but without a lot of oxidation showing. B+.

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• 2011 Vouette et Sorbée Champagne Blanc d'Argile Extra Brut

  France, Champagne

  Quite high in acidity and the bead is initially a bit too frothy for my taste, but there are pleasant apple, citrus, biscuit and chalky mineral flavors and aromas. Clean and refreshing and much better once the bubbles calm down. B+.

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• 2008 Clos Roche Blanche Touraine Cuvée Gamay Flawed

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine

  Corked.

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• 1968 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Pretty well maderized and beef brothy with balsam notes and a surprisingly intact core of cherry fruit, but the wine really dries out and turns austere on the back half of the palate. Drink up as it's on life support and the priest is in the room. B-/C+.

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• 1970 Château Palmer

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

  From magnum and normally one of my top five or six favorite vintages of Palmer, I found this bottle a bit wanting. Suave and elegant in persona, there's wonderful earth, herb and cherry flavors and aromas and the complex secondary development one would expect from a top Bordeaux of this age, but there's usually more fruit and flesh showing and I certainly expected there to be more than there was from magnum. The acids also were rather high and stuck out a little. Not bad, but I expected more. B+.

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• 1970 Château La Fleur-Pétrus

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol

  My favorite of the '70 Bordeaux flight and consistently one of my favorites from 1970. This shows a thick texture and plenty of black cherry fruit along with tobacco, herb and earth notes. There's more coarseness than I'm used to seeing with some char to the wood. Tannins are still firm and there's a touch of a coffee note on the finish. No need to rush with this one. A-.

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• 1970 Château Magdelaine

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Like the Palmer, this is more about elegance and restraint and relatively little fruit. Intensely mineral with a bit of iron and shades of cherry, it's lithe and shows plenty of development, but the wine is all about the soil and could use a little bit more fruit. B+/A-.

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• 1970 Château La Gaffelière

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Softened, yet a bit clunky and simple. While it may not have the elegance and sophistication of the Magdelaine and the Palmer, it has something those two wines were a bit lacking in...fruit! Plenty of sweet cherry fruit with hints of chocolate, spice and earth. The structure is slipping just a bit here, so I'd drink sooner rather than later. A-/B+.

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• 1995 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Always nice to check in on this sentimental beauty as it was the first Jamet I tried on release. The wine is still going strong and shows delicious black and red fruit, nice smokey and meaty elements with spices and herbs. Feminine in profile with terrific depth, elegance and juicy acidity. My red WOTN. A/A-.

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• 1970 Bodegas Franco-Españolas Rioja Royal Reserva

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  Classic old Rioja with it's cherry, spicy cedar and citrus profile. Still has a good core of fruit and shows a touch more depth and balance than the Montecillo. Fairly resolved and finishes with citrus and leather. Solid B+.

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• 1968 Bodegas Montecillo Rioja Viña Monty Gran Reserva

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  Shows ripe, slightly roasted black fruit with a hint of licorice and maybe a little too much charred wood. The wine is bigger and fresher than the Franco-Españolas, with more vibrant fruit, but the char is just a little too distracting. Still, a solid drink. B+.

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• 1986 Château Climens

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

  From .375 ml. Showing quite nicely with pronounced butterscotch and tropical fruit flavors and aromas. The wood, though obvious, is nicely integrated and there's a surprising amount of acidity (not up to '88 levels) that keeps the wine svelte and not too heavy. Plenty sweet with a lovely rich mouthfeel. It finishes long with orange citrus and pineapple. A/A-.

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• 1989 François Pinon Vouvray 1er Trie

  France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

  A lovely if somewhat atypical showing for this wine. I hadn't had it since the re-release about 5-6 years ago and at that time, the wine showed a lot of power, a fairly rich texture and more of an apricot profile than anything else. This bottle was understated, elegant and more dominated by pear, apple and quince than just apricot and orange citrus, though they was certainly there. Additionally, there was an intriguing high quality black licorice note I've never experienced before. Beautifully balanced and singing a pretty song, but not at the top of its lungs. A-/A.

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The white and dessert wines.


The reds.