My 2nd DP in 2-days; The 1st being a '99 the prior day. Served in a white-wineglass, it had that signature DP toast note, but a lot less apparent; plus lemons, some smoke and perfume which all seemed to be melded together and creeping up on you gently, or almost ethereally. And wow, the palate was where it struck (a home-run) - notes of apples, lemons in a rounded but nervy package, deep & intense yet perfectly balanced with freshness, and a palate-staining finish that went on almost forever. A DP epiphany!

Served blind after the DP, and oh, this was so classy. Tell-tale notes of petrol pointed to aged Riesling, together with scents of herbs and very delicate (light) notes of tropical fruits. Bone dry on the palate, it had that stony minerality, bright acidity intermixed with notes of apples, a bit of nectarines which all glided across the palate so elegantly and weightlessly, which culminated in a finish not quite as long as the DP, but still very respectable. Great!

What a coincidence - a 2nd Dauvissat in as many days (just like the DP)! 'cept that this was a Les Clos! long considered the best plot in Chablis... Unfortunately, this bottle seemed to be on an "accelerated maturation" path, and nosed a bit advanced - the kind of oxidative notes, but it still managed some trickles of honeysuckle in-between. On the palate, it felt oily, tasted oxidative although there was certainly still minerality and acidity present. I can't help but imagine how a good bottle would be...

Next up was an interesting pair, served blind. This nosed like a classic Bord-blend - spice/sandalwood, leafy capsicum, graphite. On the palate, almost all of us ruled out '90 Bord as it was quite light/thin, although it still had that plummy, earthly secondary notes, plus the typical inky, leathery tones of mature Bord... Unfortunately, none came close to getting this right when it was unveiled to be a Dominus! I can't recall Dominus to be this light, though all I've had were all younger than this '90...

2nd-oldest (other than the '71) Magdelaine I've had, this was blinded together with the Dominus (both being Moueix properties). I certainly preferred this to the Dominus. Nice mature nose, plummy, earthly, chocolates, coffee. Palate was better too - it still had structure, was fresh, with plummy, both red & dark berries notes, 'cept it still didn't feel like it had the weight of a '90 Bord. Suppose most of my encounters had been wines that were bigger, fruitier in their youth. In anycase, still a nice wine!

My 1st Calera, as far as I can recall... Blinded, this nosed like a great Burg with some age - cherries, raspberries and some earth (giving it that aged note). Most of us agreed that this probably had the best nose of the evening... However, it was on the palate that things fell a bit short. It was red-fruited, texture silky but the finish was kinda left wanting due to the very high (in fact, shrill) acidity, throwing it a bit off-balance. Would like to try another btl/vintage to see if this is a one-off...

Final trio of reds for the evening, all served blind alongside each other. They all nosed like aged-Bords, and we were supposed to state our preferences. This was the one that we almost unanimously "ruled out", or ranked lowest amongst the 3. This started off barnyard(y), and continued that way with some notes of tobacco, leather peeking thr'. Palate was a bit "strange", with some burnt rubber/plastic kinda note. According to those with more experience with the '90 Poyferre, this was likely an off-btl :(

Next up (for me and most) was this Pape Clement. If I recalled correctly, none of us nailed this as Graves. It had that nice nose of tar, ink, tobacco; And on the palate, still a lot of structure, both red and black fruits, more ink, bit of leather, right dose of acid/freshness. Somehow, that smoky and earthly characteristics of a Graves didn't seem to manifest much... Most agreed this was left-bank, and oscillated between Pauillac and St. Julien. Such is blind-tasting... :) In anycase, a very nice drink!

This started off barnyard(y) just like the Poyferre, pretty much obscuring its pedigree. However, after 15mins in the glass, it started to morph. The funky stink blew off and wow, it started developing milky/vanillin notes, then leather, smoke, earth, chocolates etc. - the whole array of fireworks! On the palate - silky, lush but fresh, with notes of plums, meat, chocolate. So velvety and beautiful. Makes a good James Bond drink! WOTN for most (if not all)...

Our final drink to end the night, together with a cheese platter. This was again blinded, but nose wise, it was more or less a giveaway for a Sauternes... which one? Orange-peel, apricots, honey etc... that continued from nose to palate. However, there was exceptional freshness and as such, it didn't come across as heavy nor cloying at all. Some wondered in the direction of the famed d'Yquem... Gosh, we marveled when it was unveiled to be a Rieussac, albeit a very good one!