Various Wines Last Night

Last night, after the annual golf tournament of an Austin-local, we convened at his house to taste through a ton of wines. I didn't take formal notes, so please excuse me if I only mention the wine that truly stood out (good and bad):

1996 Arns Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa): Fair to midland. Clearly older and getting a little tired, and some raisiny notes that I often find in riper CA Cabs when they get some age on them and lose some of the freshness.

1997 Lewis Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa): Again...fair to midland, but much richer and riper than the Arns. Even more pruney and raisiny. Not my cup of tea.

2003 Vieux Donjon CdP: Still way too primary. Hot vintage shows in the very ripe Grenache that makes you think of dried figs and dates. High glycerin and a general lack of freshness. This may never come around to be great, but I can see it be good at some point, but that is at least 5 years in the future.

1997 Albino Rocca Barbaresco Bric Ronchi: Ah. Finally we have a huge winner. What a great wine. Showed nice and mature notes with earth, leaves, forest floor, and mushroom/truffle. Hint of balsamic and a great finish. Got to love this wine.

1996 Dominique Laurent Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru "Les Argillieres": Another winner. Slightly reductive, but great balance and not a hint of the famous Dominique Laurent oak. Just a great wine that is not close to peak in my estimation. Needs 5+ years in the cellar.

2002 Olga Raffault Chinon "Les Picasses": Another winner. Great nose, great texture, and this may just turn out as good as the 1989 I recently had (Lyle Fass thinks it will and I don't doubt him one bit). Great wine and at $19.99 this is one of the best red wine buys in the world in my opinion.

2000 Cos D'Estournel: Great wine with lots of stuffing, but the beginning of some secondary notes. Loads of graphite and cigar box and extremely elegant.

1996 Pichon Lalande: Another gem. This was popped and poured and a tad bit tight, but what potential...I wish I had a number of these to follow the improvement and aging process.

1995 Dominus (Napa): If they still made Cab like this in Napa, I'd be a buyer. Awesome freshness, depth, layers, and great character. Just a great wine that would be a dead-ringer for Bordeaux in any blind-tasting.

Great evening and I didn't even taste half the wines that were poured. Thanks to Mark and looking forward to next year.