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Happy Birthday Kevin!
Kevin and Vicki's House
Tasted May 11, 2017 by galewskj with 497 views
Introduction
Good friends who bring (Good Wines) + (Good Food) = (A Great event). Thanks to Kevin and Vicki for creating such an amazing event. Happy Birthday to Kevin who is man enough to acknowledge his birthdays. This was a good time.
Wine of the night, without question, was 1966 Domaine de Chavalier. Other than that, everyone stepped up. The 1990 Montelena was really good. The 1982 Sociando Mallet, for a little wine, was quite good also. We had 2 good Sauternes, and came to the conclusion that it's great to have a Sauternes at the end of the night, but they "don't count". YMMV
Flight 1 (4 notes)
White - Sparkling
2006 Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut La Grande Dame
92 points
Drank a small pour to start a tasting. Pretty good when this is the starter bottle. The nose and initial attack is toasty and leesy. The palate has bracing acidity and laser-like intensity.
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White - Sparkling
2004 Dom Pérignon Champagne
89 points
Drank a small pour at a tasting. Although this is of good quality, it did not impress me much, but it impressed many others at the tasting. I was bothered by a bitterness on the finish. I didn't find it that interesting.
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White
2012 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay Art Series
93 points
At past tastings, others have liked this wine more than me. At this tasting, I think I liked it better than everyone else. Tropical fruit and vanilla. Good mouthfeel. This seems lighter, fresher, and more lively than I remember it, but there is unquestionably a fair amount of oak. I got some nice complexity on the palate, while others thought it was simpler than previous bottles. It was pointed out that this has no malo, at least that's how it tastes.
White
2010 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons
92 points
I'm not the biggest Chablis fan, but this wine drinks well. Great minerality, it feels like being at the sea. A hint of oak, with just a touch of vanilla. Very fresh tasting.
Flight 2 (7 notes)
Red
1966 Domaine de Chevalier
94 points
This was a pop and pour. Minor breaking around the edges. Initially, lean. The nose has a rather bizarre locker room aroma. There is a lot of secondary and tertiary flavors here, a LOT. Cedar, cigar box, tobacco, beef blood. This wine is ponderous, elegant, a joy to drink.
Red
2008 Domaine de Chevalier
92 points
Opened from a half bottle, at this moment, it is tannic to all hell. But there is a lot of complexity here. It really impressed me. My thoughts were that it was clearly too young but I was happy to drink it today. And I'm sure that people that can tolerate tannins would enjoy it even more. From this 1/2 bottle, my observation is that Chevalier is a producer that should not be ignored.
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Red
1982 Château Sociando-Mallet
92 points
Decanted about an hour. Initially, a nice coffee smell that blew off. Lots of earth. Surprisingly good texture for this age,. Really well-integrated while still being quite lively. Must wait at least 1 year to open my last bottle. Solid 92.
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Red
1990 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate
93 points
Pop and pour. This tastes like an old Montelena. It is the oldest I've had, and the best one I've had so far. Lots of complexity, red fruit, saddle leather, earth.
Red
2000 Château Lynch-Bages
90 points
I think slow O for 7 hours and 5 hours decant? Well, that wasn't enough. Dark fruit. Not heavy. Lots of spice. Still quite tannic. This was not very enjoyable today, although you can sense the quality here. I personally think this was kind of a waste to open at this age.
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Comments (1)
Red
2011 Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon Don Melchor
89 points
Slow o'd 20 hours or so. Rich and green. This drank better as a pop and pour 1.5 years ago. At this stage, I think you've got to wait these out until they turn the corner, at least 5 years, probably longer. Which is too bad, because I've been tempted to open one lately. I was very happy to drink someone else's bottle of this, but clearly too young.
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Red
2008 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée
91 points
Slow o'd an hour, and cooled down slightly such that it was probably served a little below 55F. Thoroughly enjoyable, but not transcendent. Just a satisfying bottle of wine, and consistent with previous notes. A hint of funk, not a lot, still some rich red fruit is present. Once again, I get a lot of minerality from Pegau mixed in with the red fruit and funk. This is not an epiphany wine, but I think everyone enjoyed it. I can personally say that I enjoyed this wine better than most CDP's these days.
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Flight 3 (3 notes)
White - Sweet/Dessert
2003 Château Guiraud
91 points
From a half bottle, the 1st of 3 Sauternes we had. Personally, I think these Sauternes just contribute to my alcohol/sugar hangover in the morning. But onto the wine. This was better than I expected. Quite light and tropical for a 2003. I really enjoyed the freshness and the tropical aspect of the fruit which made it light. For Guiraud, especially for a 2003, this was quite good.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
2005 Château La Tour Blanche Sauternes
93 points
What a great end to a fantastic tasting. My wife's favorite white (??!!) but I did also score it quite high. Spicy, fruit, floral, great integration and balance. In other words, thsi is all that and a bag of chips for a Sauternes at this moment in time. Drinking great from a 750 right now.