The first two wines (2003 and 2002) were tasted with the starters. The other wines were tasted double blind since we didn't know the vintages, although we knew that they were being presented from youngest to oldest. All the wines were of incredible quality, from very good at a minimum to excellent on average and simply stunning in a few instances. Globally the 93 and the 94 were the 2 favourite wines of the tasting (about 50-50%) for different reasons. This means more that they were more ready to drink than anything about the recent vintages, all of which are showing very good potential.

We moved on to red wines from different regions, including at the end 4 Barolos whose names I didn't fully get, which is why they are not properly including. From my sketchy notes, the first was 2001 Cambi (?), with a spicy nose (aromatic herbs), nice fruit, a lot of acidity for an overall average impression. The second one was 1999 Bricco Delle Violle that I liked a lot without taking specific notes. Same for the third, 1999 Macchesi di Barolo Reserva which was my favourite of the flight. The fourth was 1998 Marcarini Brunate with animal notes on the nose, already quite evolved but not showing as well for me than the Macchesi di Barolo. We finished with a Barolo in a different style, a magnum a 1996 Roberto Voezio (?) Riserva showing much more oak at this stage that the others and particularly dry (wood) tannins. I had problems to come to terms with such dry tannins although some others seemed to enjoy it a lot.

Re: the other wines tasted, the Pride was really impressive. Regardless of issues of style, this is a great wine, period. Michael, Jean and I had a discussion about food pairing, going from the typical steak suggestion to fish with red wine sauce - we were all convinced this would work great. We were actually talking about sourcing some bottles to experiment with food paring ;)

Re: the CdP, I know Laurence (and others) thought the wine was dead, I know Francois is going to friendly mock me for my love of this beautiful region and its wines, but truth be told I couldn't care less - I enjoyed it tremendously and that's enough for me. For all other inquiries please refer to my signature :D

The selection of cheese (from Anthony (?) in Strasbourg) was great with 3y and 2y old Comte, Fourme d'Ambert and Reblochon. The wines paired admirably well with all the cheeses. The first wine in the flight was the 2003 Gewürtztraminer Altenbourg from Weinbach which was very good but failed to make as much a lasting impression on me as the other 2 that you can find below. Eating an incredibly good 3y Comte with the 2001 Furstentum VT from Weinbach is I must say quite an experience - heartily recommended.