With Roy's wife out of town it's time to P-A-R-T-Y!

Okay, actually it was more like time to chill, especially considering how hot it had been the last couple of days. And chill is exactly what we did! Roy Hersh and Justin Wells came over to share some wine, ribs & more wine. I'm sure Justin had no idea I'd put him to work making a dressing for the salad! Well, actually I did give him a clue and he came armed with some amazing olive oil.

Let's not forget that Justin just passed his Sommelier II exam, (or was that III - sorry Justin couldn't remember.) He'll probably be pissed at me if I mention he earned the second highest score, only missing two questions, so I won't mention it. Congratulations again Justin!

My bad. I have a ton of champagne but had my head buried so deep in the ribs I didn't think to pull one. Doh!
Now, about those whites - do I serve them before the salad or do I wait? What the hell am I doing, just open the damn Chablis already! :)

Oh, the salad - mixed greens with chilled lobster, seard Mexican scallops and JW vinaigrette.

• 1997 Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  I found this to be very tight and closed. I couldn't get much of a nose. The palate showed grapefruit rind an earthy - slate.

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• 1990 Jaffelin Montagny 1er Cru Blanc 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Montagny 1er Cru

  Nice deep golden color, you can tell this has some age. Very earthy on the nose, loads of mushroom and a touch of smoke. The palate was citrus - lemon or grapefruit? Very smooth, nicely integrated with a respectably long finish. I really liked this wine.

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Wahahahah... the Syrah was corked! Oh well, on to the Henschke.

Did I mention, I got the recipe for the ribs from... you guessed it, JUSTIN! Holy cow, (or pig in this case), I mean HOLY COW those were good ribs. Don't worry Justin, your secret's safe with me. ;) Let's not forget Joan's scalloped potatoes and the asparagus, mmm.... m.

Oh yeah, this is a wine board - later in the meal Justin had me give the Dehlinger a good hard spin and take a whiff. I'll be danged if some of the fruit didn't show past the cork. Shame, you could tell that was one helluva wine.

• 1999 Dehlinger Syrah

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Not sure if I got the correct bottling of this. In any case, it doesn't really matter as it was... Corked!

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• 1996 Henschke Shiraz Mount Edelstone 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley

  I typically don't like Shiraz, this was different. The nose was classic shiraz with a touch of mint and a hint of oak. For me, the palate was peppery with wonderfully bold black fruit, not jammy, but thick. I also got a hint of creamed corn, (which I often get due to my sensitivity to oak). This showed perfect balanced and complemented the baby back ribs superbly.

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After dinner we retired to the front room to sip on some Burgundies and some cheese. No, really, Jaboulet wishes his La Chapelle was a Burgundy! (Okay, I know, I'm goin' ta hell fer that one.)

Did I mention Justin and I have a common love of Morbier? Roy, where do you stand on the Morbier?

• 1989 Domaine Louis Remy Latricières-Chambertin 84 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Very light in color and body. Wow! Definite bleu cheese on the nose which eventually blew off and turned to a subtle oily scent reminiscent of your local gas station. The palate was musty earth with perhaps some mushroom and a hint of light cherry. The finish was short and a bit sour. Clearly this wine had seen better days but is now past it's prime.

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• 1991 Fougeray de Beauclair Bonnes Mares 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

  This was the darker of the two Burgundies. I had a difficult evaluating the nose on this wine. I got pine tar, cherry cough drops, hints of wet earth. The palate took me back to my childhood and those juice filled wax candies, in cherry. A little later I found rosewater and a pleasant touch of oakiness on the nose. The finish was rather clipped. I really couldn't figure this wine out, it showed hints of greatness but was sadly over the hill.

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• 1983 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 91 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  When I initially opened this it was fairly light and brown in color, I thought "uh oh, this is clearly over the hill." However, the nose did give off some wonderful stable aromas, (if you're into that sorta' thing.) I was pleasantly surprised later when we poured this as the color had actually darkened to more of a reddish brown. It still had some subtle stable aromas along with pepper, earth and leather. I found the palate matched the nose and frankly had a hard time finding the fruit at first. Eventually, the fruit came through with a hints of tobacco and smoke giving wayt to a very smooth, very pleasant glass of wine.

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Now we're in Roy's territory. I had no idea how to deal with this monster, (the wine, not Roy), so of course I asked Roy. It was fun to follow the evolution of this thing over the course of 7 hours. It really needed no food, even the stilton couldn't do it justice. I found it best to just sip and smile. Frankly, I liked the peppery heat of this baby but I think others preferred the slightly chilled version, (see the note).

• 1963 Quinta do Noval Porto Vintage Nacional 98 Points

  Portugal, Douro, Porto

  On Roy's advice I decanted this at 4:00 so it would be ready to drink at 9:00.
  
  4:00 - Deep red translucent brown, thick body with a flavor of dark brandied cherries. Sweet, zippy with an absolutely HUGE finish.
  4:45 - Went into the cellar to cork off the '83 La Chapelle and was consumed by the aroma of the port. The color was noticeably deeper red. Wow!
  10:24 - Okay, so we missed the targeted 9:00, must be having a good time! Deep, brilliant, translucent red with a bricking on the edges. What a fantastic wine! Strawberries and cherries with a touch of brown sugar. This is drinking so young I can't detect any movement towards the tawny phase. The body is thick, the finish is long, the acidity is awesome. This wine shows amazing balance with both power and elegance - it really lives up to its reputation.
  
  11:30 - (or so, who's counting.) Roy tells me to put the port in the fridge for 10 minutes. I humor him and oblige. The chilled port became thicker, (I said waxy & saw some eyes roll), and the alcohol was more subdued, it lost it's pepperiness. Very smooth and classy.

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All in all Joan and I had a helluva time and hope everyone else did too. I still have the bottle from the '63 Nacional, (and a bit of the cork well preserved IN THE BOTTLE!) ;)

Thanks for all the advice Roy. Thank you both immensely for the wines!

Congratulations Justin!!!

Damn those ribs were good, DAMN!