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Dinner with Friends (French wines). Yquem, Cos, B2K 2nds and a few more.

University Circle

Tasted June 12, 2016 by Loren Sonkin with 487 views

Introduction

Last night my wife and I met our friends Tom and Kathy for dinner at one of our favorite local places. As is our habit, we brought way too many wines, sampled them all and left the remains for the staff. We told the staff to just bring us food and left it in their hands. I brought the whites and dessert, Tom brought the reds. Great night. So many laughs, great food and stories.

Flight 1 (1 note)

A bubbly to start:

White - Sparkling
2004 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année France, Champagne
94 points
Always delicious. Great way to start an evening. Light golden in color. Lots of small bubbles. The nose is slightly nutty but also some fresh pears. On the palate, this seems to be at peak. Lots of pears and depth, but also just a bit of nuttiness that is delicious. Layers of complexity. Very good acidity. Going back later in the evening, it had really opened up.
1 person found this helpful Comment

Flight 2 (2 notes)

A couple of whites:

White
2013 Domaine Pascal Cotat Sancerre La Grande Côte France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
91 points
This is good, but i had hoped it would be a bit better. Perhaps just the vintage and maybe it does improve with age. Light silvery/green/gold in color. The nose is mild with citrus and some pear. Lacking that mineral streak on the nose. On the palate, there is some minerality. Nice limes. With air it got a bit rounder but never really had the intensity I was looking for that I get in other vintages of this wine. Still quite good though and worked great with food.
2 people found this helpful Comment
White
2013 Maison Dampt Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
94 points
This wine exceeded my expectations. It did need some time to open up and while great right away, even better with a couple of hours of air. Light golden in color. The nose is chalky but seems more red apple than green initially. The green comes out with air. On the palate, great texture. Good bite. Nice green apple, chalk and minerals. It tastes like Grand Cru Chablis. I no longer try to age white Burgs, but this seems like it would make old bones. Beautiful wine. A Fass Selection.
2 people found this helpful Comment

Flight 3 (3 notes)

Some Bordeaux:

Red
1982 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
flawed
Tom opened this at home and thought he got some TCA. He brought it and it seemed ok so we decanted it. It was glorious for about 20 minutes and then some TCA came out. Never outrageous but it was there and as the wine slowly faded, we moved on. Sure seemed like a great wine underneath. Ducru had some tough years in the 80's. This bottle was from a case bought by me a few years back and this is the second bottle to be corked.
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
1978 Château Cos d'Estournel France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
92 points
What an excellent showing for this bottle. Tom said the cork had crumbled upon opening and smelled old. He let it breathe all day and by dinner, it was showing very well. Never a great vintage, even in its youth, I had low expectations. Ruby/purple in color with just a touch of browning on the edges. Really not that much. The nose has cassis, soy sauce, some dried fruits and dried flowers. On the palate, there is a slight shrillness in the mid-palate but that is the only real sign of age or vintage. Good cassis and some dried fruit and forest floor. Great with food, especially a mushroom wood fired pizza. Nice finish. Happy to drink this wine any time.
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
2000 Château Lynch-Bages France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
flawed
Tom opened at home and said the wine was awesome. After a day of air, a small amount of TCA started to show itself. Once in the glass, it got more persistent. Again, not a lot of tca and the wine itself seemed pretty powerful but enough to hamper enjoyment and it kept getting worse. Very disappointing as this likely would have been the WOTN.
2 people found this helpful Comment

Flight 4 (4 notes)

B2K second labels:

Red
2000 Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
93 points
Beautiful showing for this wine. Alluring and elegant. Ruby/purple in color. The nose is perfumed with cassis, dried fruits, a bit of spice and slight graphite. On the palate, this is a really pretty wine. Delicious. Plenty of cassis with some dried leaves and spice. Very feminine. Great balance. Wonderful wine that is pretty much at peak.
2 people found this helpful Comment
Red
2000 Les Forts de Latour France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
94 points
Wow. Killer wine. Probably at prime or at least close. Great to drink next to the Pavillon Rouge this was the Yang to its Ying. Very masculine wine. Purple in color. The nose is deep with cassis and cedar. Great texture. Layers of complexity. Cassis and earth and forest floor. Great acidity. Very nice with food. This is still a powerful wine but showing a great complexity.
3 people found this helpful Comment
Red
2000 Carruades de Lafite France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
92 points
This took some time to open up. Purple in color. The nose is classic with cassis, slight cedar and pencil lead. On the palate, this may develop further or may be as good as it gets. Hard to tell. Still some tannins. Good juicy texture. Some complexity. Lots of cassis fruit left on the palate. Very good wine and certainly worth the release price. No hurry though.
2 people found this helpful Comment
Red
2000 Château Bahans Haut-Brion France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan
90 points
This is very good but not at the level of the other B2K First growth second labels. Purple in color. The nose has black cherries, cassis and I suppose some gravel. Good juicy texture. Nice cassis fruit. Not the depth or complexity but a very nice wine.
2 people found this helpful Comments (3)

Flight 5 (1 note)

And dessert:

White - Sweet/Dessert
1996 Château d'Yquem France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
96 points
From a 375. Golden in color. The nose has nice peaches, honey, vanilla and creme brulee. On the palate, more fruit driven. Some complexity with honey and peaches layered. Slightly sweet. Amazing long finish. Beautiful end to a fun evening.
2 people found this helpful Comment

Closing

Can't wait to do it again.

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