Served double blind. Disgorged August 2017. Clearly Champagne and clearly a blend. Some tart apple. but also some nutty notes had me thinking this was 2002 rather than 2008 (the acidic profile isn't as sharp as I would have expected. Relatively low effervescence. Good weight and easily enjoyable.

Served double blind. Corked. My 12th, group's 12th.

Served double blind. Leathery, but sweet fruit that seems out of place for a Bordeaux this old (because it was a California wine). Quite tertiary, with ripe plummy qualities overall here. Definitely a very old wine. My 9th, group's 4th.

Served double blind. Cordier funk -- I was certain this was some old vintage of Gruaud Larose. Leathery and lacking fruit, and charmless as old Gruaud is. Structural above all else and definitely not the type of Bordeaux blend I like. My 11th, group's 8th.

Served double blind. Dark fruit and structural, especially for a wine of this age. Shows relatively young fruit, but still plenty of tannin. With air, this might have shown a bit of a TCA bloom, but my note here reflects my initial impression of the wine. My 10th, group's 11th.

Served double blind. Iron and rust with some oxidation here. High acidity, but there is also a thinness that feels like this is getting closer to vinegar than wine. Seems a bit tired, and the tannic structure is lacking. Browned fruit with notes of figs. My 6th, group's 9th.

Served double blind. Older nose, with a woodsy quality to it. Clearly Bordeaux with relatively youthful fruit and a nice acid backbone and structure. The tannins are fully resolved. My 5th, group's 5th.

Served double blind. Sweet, dried dates on the nose. Quite expressive with good overall freshness here. I thought based on the darker fruit and liveliness that this was something from the 90s. A good dose of pyrazines as well. My 3rd, group's 10th.

Served double blind. Detected a bit of American oak on the nose here. Ripe and sweet, the way a California wine can be. Still has some opulent black cherry/vanilla fruit, but without any bitterness to the oak. Impressive ripeness and depth. My 2nd, group's 3rd.

Served double blind. A really nice herbal/spice note on the nose here. Very generous with the fruit, and in a good spot as far as age goes -- this doesn't feel like it's browning or drying out. The fruit almost still has hints of primary to it. My 1st, group's 1st.

Served double blind. A touch of iron here. Leathery, pyrazines, and maybe even a touch of brett? Thought this could have been some modern analogue of the old Cordier wines, but generally cleaner and with a little more fruit. My 7th, group's 6th.

Served double blind. Textbook Bordeaux, but lacking anything that makes this stand out. Kind of like a wine that punches in, ticks all the boxes, and punches out right after. Nascent secondary characteristics developing, but the tannic structure is disproportionately intense. I do really like the label though. My 8th, group's 2nd.

Served double blind. Quite light, with a minerality and lightness that the other wines tonight didn't have. Feels like this has a good bit of age, with a mature profile that clearly tilted towards red fruit. Very much ready to drink now. My 4th, group's 7th.

Served double blind. From half-bottle. Clearly Sauternes, with an intense note of bitter orange marmalade on the nose and palate. Very fresh and youthful, and 2001 was a reasonably straight-forward guess.

Served double blind. From half-bottle. A bit more cloying than the 2001 Lafaurie-Peyraguey, and showing more age too. Thicker and denser, and lacking a balance that the Sauternes had (though I thought this was also Sauternes... just older than 2001). Kind of clunky with burned sugar notes.